Germany:Germany/4/en

The central legal foundation for food legislation in Germany is the Food and Feed Code (Lebensmittel- und Futtermittelgesetzbuch, LFGB). This primarily gives the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) legislative competence in this area. Infringement of food regulations can lead to measures under criminal law and consumer damage claims under civil law, whereby the final decision rests with the courts. Government measures with regard to food safety are generally based on scientific risk assessments.