EU court says ‘Italian’ isn’t just a look: Lidl faces setback in pasta label fight

(CN) — A bag of pasta dressed up as Italian landed a supermarket staple in Europe’s top court Thursday, with EU judges saying slick packaging can still get you fined if it leaves shoppers with the wrong idea.

Lidl put pasta on shelves wrapped in cues that screamed Italy, highlighting wheat milled in Italy even though the grain itself came from a mix of EU and non-EU sources. Italian regulators said that contrast could leave shoppers with the wrong impression and moved in with a 1 million euros ($1.17 million) fine.

The company fought back, arguing only food labeling rules should apply, not broader consumer protection law. After losing in lower courts, Italy’s Council of State turned to the Court of Justice of the European Union to settle whether both rulebooks could be used at once.

Judges in Luxembourg said they could, making clear regulators are free to act on more than one front when packaging risks misleading consumers.

Under EU law, food labeling rules and consumer protection law are not rivals. They work side by side and, as the court put it, “therefore pursue a common objective which is to ensure a high level of consumer protection against misleading information and to prevent those consumers from being deceived, in particular, in relation to certain characteristics of a product or, more specifically, of a foodstuff.”

There is a limit to that overlap. Where a product fully complies with detailed food information rules, authorities will generally not layer on additional penalties under consumer law. But that shield falls away when the overall presentation risks misleading consumers. In those cases, both regimes can come into play.

That is where Italian regulators stepped in. They did not say Lidl’s statements were false. They argued the packaging, taken as a whole, could nudge shoppers toward the wrong conclusion about the product’s origin. That broader impression was enough to treat the marketing as misleading and justify a fine.

The court backed that approach. EU food law and consumer law form a layered system, the judges said, with technical labeling rules ensuring accuracy, and consumer law policing how products are presented and understood.

For legal watchers, it is not new law but tougher enforcement, said Nikhil Gokani, senior lecturer in consumer protection and global public health law at the University of Exeter. “This is an important case because the court has confirmed that misleading food labelling is not trapped within the food law silo,” he said, adding that authorities can now use broader tools with “stronger enforcement tools and heavier penalties.”

From the consumer side, the ruling lands as a push for clearer labels. BEUC, the EU’s consumer watchdog, said the case exposes how products like pasta, tomato sauce, olive oil and honey can carry strong national branding even when their key ingredient is grown abroad, as long as processing happens locally. “This is a problem for consumers because they expect origin claims to reflect where the key ingredient was grown, not just where it was processed,” said Samuele Tonello, a senior food policy officer.

Tonello said the judgment closes that gap by confirming “the overall presentation of a product must not give consumers a false impression, even if all claims on the label are technically accurate” and called it a signal for the EU to revisit its labeling rules so origin disclosures reflect the source of the main agricultural raw material, not just where it was processed. “Clearer rules would benefit both consumers and responsible businesses,” he added.

Italy’s competition authority declined to comment on the substance of the ruling.

Lidl did not respond to a request for comment.

The case now heads back to Italy’s top administrative court, the Council of State, where judges will apply the Court of Justice’s ruling to Lidl’s appeal. The guidance from the top court is final and cannot be appealed, tightening the legal frame and leaving the court to deliver the last word.

That leaves little doubt about the direction of travel. For Lidl, the message is simple: The look has to match the reality, not just the label.

Courthouse News reporter Eunseo Hong is based in the Netherlands.