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On 08/11/2019, the Council of the European Union officially adopted the Omnibus Consumer Protection Directive, which was tentatively agreed with the European Parliament in March 2019. The Directive updates EU consumer protection law and facilitates the enforcement of consumer rights, including laying down stricter measures against unfair or misleading commercial practices, unfair contract terms, or dual quality food. Following the adoption of the Directive, Member States have 24 months to implement the measures necessary for implementation. The measures will take effect 6 months later. However, some MEPs are dissatisfied with the rules on dual quality food and are ready to call for amendments to the Directive as part of a revision that will take place 2 years after the Directive enters into force.
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On 04/11/2019, the European Commission launched a public consultation on EU food quality systems; farmers and their organizations may be involved; consumers and consumer organizations; processors and processors' organizations; merchants, wholesalers, retailers; public authorities responsible for implementing EU quality schemes in EU Member States; and the general public. Consultation focuses on GI - EU protects more than 3000 names of specific food products, public consultation aims to get comments on understanding and opinion of available EU quality schemes. The public consultation is intended to contribute to the objectives of evaluating the overall functioning of EU quality schemes, focusing on registered product names from Member States and third countries sold on the EU internal market. The consultation is open until 27/01/2020.
More information is available here.

Vegetable substitutes for meat products are also gaining popularity in fast food chains, and the market for plant alternatives is growing significantly. Burger King launched a new vegetarian burger in Europe last week, the Unilever licensed Rebel Whopper is now available in more than 2,500 stores in 25 countries. Burger was created by Vegetarian Butcher, a Dutch-based company that specializes in the production of vegetable meat substitutes. Also competing McDonalds has recently teamed up with Nestlé SA and Beyond Meat to produce their own vegetarian burgers, which should also be available in the European Union; Smithfield Market, the UK's largest meat wholesale market, also began selling meat substitutes for the first time in its 800-year history.

The cereal and snack maker Kellogg Europe committed itself to reducing organic waste by 50% by 2030 on 12/11/2019. Organic waste is produced during food production due to e.g. cleaning processes or quality controls. Kellogg is interested in innovative organic waste processing - in the UK, for example, the company has partnered with the Seven Bro7hers brewery to process organic cereal waste into beer. Kellogg plans to donate pre-packaged products that cannot be sold due to, for example, packaging damage during shipping.

The Council of the European Union asks the European Commission to review and update the rules on the protection of animals during transport. In particular, according to the draft Council conclusions, the Commission should intensify cooperation with individual EU Member States and demand more effective enforcement of the existing rules on the protection of animals during transport. The Ministers of Agriculture should then approve the final version of the Council conclusions at the December Council.
More information is available here.