Food labeling, penalties up to 100,000 euros

Law no. 75/2026 – which, as seen, has reformed the regime of criminal penalties e administrative in the food sector in Italy – drastically toughens penalties also in the field of food labeling.

The pecuniary administrative sanctions for certain violations of Food Information Regulation (EU) No 1169/11, FIR, can now reach 3% of the operator's annual turnover, up to a limit of 100,000 euros.

The Italian legislator is particularly harsh against SMEs, which already face significant burdens in accessing a complex and constantly evolving legislation. An in-depth analysis.

Fair information practices

Regulation (EU) no. 1169/11 establishes the general criteria governing Fair information practices, in the following terms.

‘1. The information on food are not misleading, in particular:

a) as regards the characteristics of the food and, in particular, the nature, identity, properties, composition, quantity, shelf life, country of origin or place of provenance, method of manufacture or production;

b) attributing to the food product effects or properties it does not possess;

c) suggesting that the food possesses particular characteristics, when in fact all similar foods possess the , the same characteristics, in particular explicitly highlighting the presence or absence of certain ingredients and/or nutrients;

d) suggesting, through the appearance, description or illustrations, the presence of a particular food or of a ingredient, whereas in fact a naturally occurring component or an ingredient normally used in that food has been replaced with a different component or a different ingredient.

2. The information on food is accurate, clear and easily understandable for the consumer.

3. Without prejudice to the exceptions provided for in Union legislation concerning natural mineral waters [Mineral Waters Directive 2009/54/EC, ed and foods intended for a particular nutritional use [Food for Special Groups Regulation EU No 609/2013, ed], the information on food do not attribute to such products the property to prevent, treat or cure a disease in humans, nor refer to such properties.

4. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 also apply to:

a) to the advertising;

b) to the presentation of food, in particular shape, appearance or packaging, packaging material used, the way they are arranged o the context in which they are displayed’ (Reg. EU No 1169/11, Article 7).

Sanctions

The Legislative decree 231/2017 which implements in Italy the regulation (EU) no. 1169/11 and defines the specific sanctions provided that – ‘unless the act constitutes a crime and except for cases specifically sanctioned by other provisions of this decree’ – the violation of the rules referred to in article 7 of the said regulation entailed for the responsible operator the application of an administrative pecuniary sanction ranging from 3,000 euros to 24,000 euros (article 3.1).

The new sanction, introduced by law 75/2026 is instead «from 4,000 euros to 32,000 euros or of 3% of the total annual turnover realized in the last fiscal year ended prior to the ascertainment of the violation when this amount is higher than 32,000 euros. The maximum sanction cannot in any case exceed 100,000 euros» (law 75/2026, article 9.1.a).

Name of the food

The Name of the food is the first among the mandatory label information established in article 9.1.a of regulation (EU) no. 1169/11 which defines its conditions of use in the following terms in the subsequent article.

‘1. The name of the food is its legal nameIn the absence of this, the name of the food is its usual name; where there is no usual name or it is not used, a descriptive name.

2. The use in the Member State of marketing of the name of the food under which the product is legally manufactured and marketed in the State of production. HoweverHowever, when the application of other provisions of this regulation, in particular those referred to in article 9, would not allow consumers of the Member State of marketing to know the real nature of the food and to distinguish it from products with which they might confuse it, the name of the product in question is accompanied by other descriptive information which appear near the name of the food.

3. In exceptional cases, the name of the food in the Member State of production do not is used in the State member of marketing when The product that it designates in the Member State of production is so different, from the point of view of its composition or manufacture, from the product known in the Member State of marketing under that name that paragraph 2 is not sufficient to guarantee, in the Member State of marketing, correct information for consumers.

4. The name of the food do not è replaced with a protected designation as intellectual property, trademark or brand name.

5. TheAnnex VI establishes specific provisions on the name of the food and on the indications accompanying it’ (Reg. EU No. 1169/11, Article 17).

Sanctions

The violation in Italy of the sales denomination rules laid down in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) no. 1169/11 was originally punished by Legislative Decree 231/17 with an administrative monetary penalty ranging from 2,000 euros to 16,000 euros, subject to the application of criminal law (Article 8.1).

Also in this case, Law 75/2026 increases the penalty to an amount «from 4,000 euros to 32,000 euros or of 3% the total annual turnover achieved in the last financial year closed prior to the detection of the violation when such amount exceeds 32,000 euros. The maximum penalty cannot in any case exceed 100,000 euros» (Article 9.1.b.1).

When the violation of the aforementioned rules concerns ‘exclusively formal errors or omissions’, the lighter penalty monetary penalty already provided for (from 500 euros to 4,000 euros) is in turn doubled, reaching «from 1,000 euros to 8,000 euros» (Law 75/2026, Article 9.1.b.2).

Violations of the rules set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/11 – already sanctioned with a penalty from 500 euros to 4,000 euros – are now punished with a sanction «from 1,000 euros to 8,000 euros or of 3% of turnover total annual turnover achieved in the last financial year closed prior to the detection of the violation when such amount exceeds 8,000 euros», within a limit of 25,000 euros (law 75/2026, article 9.1.b.3).

As for the violation of specific provisions concerning the naming of foods referred to in Annex VI to Regulation (EU) No 1169/11, the original penalty (from 1,000 euros to 8,000 euros) is increased «from 2,000 euros to 16,000 euros or by 3% the total annual turnover achieved in the last financial year closed prior to the ascertainment of the violation when this amount exceeds 16,000 euros», within a limit of 50,000 euros (law 75/2026, article 9.1.b.4).

List of ingredients

‘1. The list of ingredients bears a heading or is preceded by an appropriate indication consisting of the word «ingredients» or includes it. The list includes all the ingredients of the food, in order decreasing weight, as recorded at the time of their use in the manufacture of the food.

2. The ingredients are designated, if applicable, with their specific name, in accordance with the rules provided in article 17 and annex VI.

3. All ingredients present in the form of engineered nanomaterials are clearly indicated in the list of ingredients. The wording «nano»In parentheses, the denomination of such ingredients follows.

4. The technical requirements governing the application of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article are established in theAnnex VII [Indication and designation of ingredients, ed. (EU Reg. 1169/11, article 18).

The Food Information Regulation (EU) No 1169/11 also indicates the derogations from the obligation to report:

• the list of ingredients of certain foods, such as: fresh fruit and vegetables not peeled or cut; sparkling waters identified as such; fermentation vinegars produced from a single basic product without other ingredients; cheeses, butter, milk and fermented cream, ‘provided that no ingredients other than dairy-derived products, food enzymes, and microorganism cultures necessary for production or ingredients other than the salt needed for the production of cheeses that are not fresh or processed cheeses have been added’; single-ingredient products whose identity is evident in the food denomination (article 19);
• the presence of constituents of ingredients ‘temporarily separated during the manufacturing process and subsequently reintroduced in quantities not exceeding the original proportion’; additives and enzymes ‘carry-over’; technological aids; carriers and substances used as additives (without being such) and technological aids; water used ‘only to allow the reconstitution of an ingredient used in concentrated or dehydrated form’, or as a covering liquid ‘which is not normally consumed’ (article 20).

Sanctions

The penalties established regarding label indication of theList of ingredients have been increased as follows:

– the penalty for violating the rules in paragraphs 1 and 3 of article 18 and Annex VII of the FIR has increased from 2,000-16,000 euros (Legislative Decree 231/17, article 9.1) to 4,000-32,000 euros or the 3% of turnover total annual turnover achieved in the last fiscal year closed prior to the infringement ascertainment, when this amount exceeds 32,000 euros, up to a limit of 100,000 euros (law 75/2026, article 9.1.c.1).

– the statutory penalty for the violation of the rules referred to inAnnex VII of the FIR with specific regard to the indication and designation of ingredients, already established at 1,000-8,000 euros (Legislative Decree 231/17, article 9.3), is increased to 2,000-16,000 euros or to 3% of turnover total annual, when it exceeds 16,000 euros, within a limit of 50,000 euros (law 75/2026, article 9.1.c.2);

The penalty remains unchanged, from 500 to 4,000 euros, for cases of only errors or formal omissions (Legislative Decree 231/17, article 9.2).

Country of origin or place of provenance

The indication on the label of Country of origin or of the place of provenance – pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1169/11, Article 26, paragraphs 2 and 3 – ‘is mandatory:

a) in the case where the omission of such indication could mislead the consumer regarding the real country of origin or place of provenance of the food, particularly if the information accompanying the food or contained in the label as a whole might otherwise suggest that the food has a different country of origin or place of provenance;

b) for meats of the Combined Nomenclature (CN) codes listed inAnnex XI’. The mandatory origin indication (countries of birth, rearing and slaughter) for meats bovine had already been introduced by Regulations (EC) No. 1760, 1825/2000. The European Commission subsequently introduced the obligation to indicate the origin (country/countries of rearing and slaughter) of meats pork, poultry, ovine and goat, through Reg. (EU) No. 1337/2013.

‘When the country of origin or place of provenance of a food is indicated and it is not the same as that of its primary ingredient:

a) the country of origin or place of provenance of such primary ingredient is also indicated; or

b) the country of origin or place of provenance of the primary ingredient is indicated as different from that of the food’. The implementation of these rules has been carried out through Regulation (EU) 2018/775.

Sanctions

The Legislative decree 231/2017 It was provided that violations regarding the indication of the country of origin or place of provenance referred to in Article 26, and related implementing acts, and Annex XI of Regulation (EU) No. 1169/11 would be punished with an administrative pecuniary sanction from 2,000 euros to 16,000 euros. Or with a sanction from 500 euros to 4,000 euros, only in the case of formal errors or omissions. Subject to the application of criminal law (legislative decree 231/2017, art. 13).

The reform introduced by law 75/2026 raises the base statutory penalty to 4,000-32,000 euros or to ‘3% of turnover total annual amount achieved in the last closed financial year prior to the verification of the violation when this amount is higher than 32,000 euros’, within a limit of 100,000 euros (law 75/2026, article 9.1.d).

Determination of administrative sanctions

The Italian legislator finally introduced a criterion for the determination of administrative sanctions, in the new paragraph 5-bis of article 27 of legislative decree 231/2017. Providing for this purpose that ‘the competent authority takes into account:

• of the seriousness of the fact;
• of the duration of the violation; of thework performed by the agent for the elimination or mitigation of the consequences of the violation as well as
• of the economic conditions of the same’ (law 75/2026, article 9.1.e).

Provisional conclusions

The update of the sanctioning regime operated by law 75/2026 introduces discriminations unjustified against micro-enterprises as well as small and medium enterprises operating in the food sector, potentially in conflict with articles 3 and 42 of the Italian Constitution.

Operators in the food and distribution sector today in any case face risks significant of passive contingencies related to non-compliance with labeling and advertising, the prevention of which requires particular care in reviewing their contents.

Our team of DO (Food and Agriculture Requirements) is available to operators who intend to guarantee the legitimacy and transparency of information relating to food products, to face the reform under examination and the evolution of the applicable regulations with serenity.

Dario Dongo

Credit cover  Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash

Bibliography

• Legislative Decree 8 June 2001, no. 231. Discipline of administrative liability of legal persons, companies, and associations even without legal personality, pursuant to Article 11 of Law 29 September 2000, no. 300. Normattiva (last update to the act published on 01/09/2026). https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.legislativo:2001-06-08;23
• Law 21 April 2026, no. 75, Sanctioning provisions to protect Italian food products. Official Gazette 14 May 2026 no. 110 https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2026/05/14/26G00089/SG 
• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers. Consolidated text: 01/04/2025. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2011/1169/2025-04-01