Higher Regional Court of Hamm: requirements for presenting nutrition facts on cereal boxes

In its decision on 13 June 2019, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm addressed questions concerning the way nutrition facts are presented under the German Food Identification Regulation (Lebensmittelinformationsverordnung, LMIV).

This was preceded by a dispute between a cereal maker and the Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentralen e. V. (Federal Association of the registered associations of Consumer Advice Centres) regarding where nutrition facts must be indicated on a cereal box.

The box of the cereal product in dispute had a food composition table printed on its right side. This table contained a comparison between 100g of cereal and a serving size of 40g of cereal with 60ml semi skimmed milk (1.5% fat).

The caloric value from the first serving indicated 448 kilocalories; the second serving indicated 208 kilocalories. The front of the cereal box included additional nutrition facts, but merely indicated the caloric value per prepared serving.

The Regional Court of Bielefeld (Landgericht Bielefeld) held that this box design violated the German Food Identification Regulation, on the grounds that if nutrition facts are indicated again on the front of the box, they must also indicate the caloric value per 100g of the prepared serving.

However, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm held a different opinion and upheld the cereal maker's appeal on points of fact and law.

According to the Court Division, (voluntarily) repeating nutrition facts on the front of a cereal box is in accordance with the German Food Identification Regulation, as the indicated facts refer to a prepared serving.

The Court Division added that the German Food Identification Regulation explicitly provided for this possibility. The Court granted leave to appeal on points of law.

Case Ref: (Ref. no. 4 U 130/18)