The Commission published the results of the first coordinated official controls of Internet marketed foods carried out by 25 EU Member States, Switzerland and Norway. In September 2017 the competent national authorities checked nearly 1100 websites for offers of non-authorised novel foods and food supplements. They found 779 offers for the sale of products clearly not complying with the EU legislation, whether in terms of labelling, false claims or lack of authorisation.

This was the first time that the national authorities pooled their experience and resources, showing their preparedness to respond to the challenges of the online world and to protect the citizens from unsafe and misleading products offered online.

The main objectives of this first Coordinated Control Plan on the Internet sale of food ('CCP-efood') in the Union were:

• practice and strengthen the cooperation and administrative assistance between Member State authorities on the control of Internet sales;
• practice the exchange of information via rapid alert notifications according to Article 50 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 (RASFF) and notification under the Administrative Assistance and Cooperation system (AAC system) according to Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/19181,2;
• gain insight into misleading practices in the sale of food supplements;
• gain insight into the prevalence of unauthorised novel foods sold via Internet;
• highlight that Internet sales of food are subject to official controls;
• build know-how on food law enforcement in Internet sales by the authorities.

The Commission has published a new Regulation that significantly tightens the restrictions on the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food contact materials. It lowers the regulatory limit (specific migration limit or 'SML'), which is the amount allowed to migrate from the plastic material into food while keeping it safe, and extends this restriction to coating materials, which are used to line food and drink cans. The new Regulation also extends the ban from 2011 on the use of BPA in baby bottles by prohibiting the use of BPA to manufacture infant 'sippy' cups as well as the migration of BPA from coated materials containing food intended for infants and children 0–3 year olds. The new Regulation will apply from 6 September 2018.

More on BPA: https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/cs_fcm_qa_bisphenol_a.pdf

In December 2019, these acts will become the official controls for food of animal origin. Members of EWFC reviewed the published text and came with a short report on their findings. The text of the proposal shows that Members of the European Parliament Environment Committee, during the creation of regulation 2017/625, did a very good job of protecting the European consumers: 

"The question of who should perform meat inspections was extensively discussed during the negotiations concerning Regulation (EU) 2017/625 with the Council and the European Parliament during all stages of the ordinary legislative procedure."

The Commission also consulted the public, "The question of who should perform meat inspections was extensively discussed during the negotiations concerning Regulation (EU) 2017/625 with the Council and the European Parliament during all stages of the ordinary legislative procedure."