SCIENCE-BASED & INTERDISCIPLINARY
DESIGN THINKING
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
WHAT WE CREATE
Creative regulatory solutions for food innovations!
The project contributes to the research on regulation of innovation in food production. It is a critical project in that it will analyse the EU pre-market regulatory regimes vis-à-vis fostering/hindering of food innovations. It contributes to the body of literature on the critical legal analysis and the functional analysis of law, conducted for the first time in the area of food innovation regulation. It is also a reform project, in that it proposes new frameworks to better advance socially acceptable goals in the context of food production: innovation and the protection of health, safety and environment. There are tensions between these goals, exacerbated by regulatory design, which need to be highlighted, explained and resolved. By applying insights from a number of disciplines, using the ‘interdisciplinary communication’ approach, the research contributes to the still under-researched body of literature concerning the interdisciplinary analysis of EU law.
GET STARTED TODAYWHAT WE DO
Working packages

Responsive Design
To describe how the EU regulates innovations in food production at pre-market level. The hypothesis is that the EU regulatory regime may not adequately balance the protection of health, safety, and the environment and the fostering of innovations. If the hypothesis is proven correct then this work package will attempt to create a new regulation more enabling as regards food innovations as well more effective in protecting human health, safety and the environment.

Benefits
To understand the concept of benefits of new technologies in biosciences under EU law concerning pre-market regulation and integrate that understanding into a newly proposed regulatory framework for biosciences applications in the food sector.

Scientifically Sound Design
To examine the available scientific evidence relating to pre-market regulation of new technologies in the food sector for the purposes of regulatory decision making and propose scientifically sound criteria for the relevant regulatory definitions and triggers (such as food novelty and benefits).

Fit for Purpose Labelling
To follow a process-oriented approach to labelling. The hypothesis is that new products, such as plant-based alternatives or artificially reproduced animal foods are inadequately labelled. Improper labelling leads to uncertainty and confusion from the market and consumer perspective. To remedy this, a a regulatory framework for product-based labelling could be developed. For example, depending on whether some or all inherent traits of novel foods are the same as the conventional ones, the products can be either completely or partially substitutable.
In this work package, we will analyze the legal framework of food labelling in the EU and assess whether it is fit for novel foods and suggest reforms to the EU labelling legislation.
OUR WORK
Portfolio
Regulating Food Innovation 1 – The Case of Novel Foods
Regulating Food Innovation 2 – The case of CRISPR
Regulating Food Innovation 3 – The Case of Labelling
Mercator Fellow
OUR PARTNERS
Partners Testimonials
Here’s what our partners say:

Julia von Thienen
Hasso Plattner Institut

Laura König
University of Bayreuth
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Our Team

Prof. Dr. Kai Purnhagen
Project Leader

Alessandro Monaco, MSc.
Researcher

Mgr. Alexandra Molitorisová
Researcher

Federica Ronchetti, Dipl.-Ing.
Researcher

Prof. Dr. Dennis Eriksson
Mercator Fellow
Latest from Our Blog
Project Kick-Off
Our project „Innovate Food Law“ is a unique interdisciplinary project run by a team of researchers of the Chair of Food Law, Faculty of Life Sciences: Food, Nutrition and Health[…]
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