Updated guidelines for edible fats and oils

German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture introduces changes

June 2024. A new version of the guidelines for edible fats and oils was published in the German Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger) on 18 April 2024.^[1] The guidelines were drawn up by an independent committee from the areas of food monitoring, consumers and industry.

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Overview of the changes

In the following, we will show you what new features the revised guidelines contain.

Formal corrections and adjustments

Some changes in the guidelines for edilble fats and oils are purely formal corrections, with no change in content. These include:

• The correction of the unit on tocopherol content in crude oils: Tocopherols are important antioxidants in oils that influence their shelf life and nutritional values. The exact specification of their content is essential for quality control.
• The correction of the unit of sterol composition: Sterols are plant substances that occur in fats and can have positive effects on cholesterol levels. A correct indication of their content is important for consumer information.

The formal adjustments are designed to clarify and standardise the existing regulations in order to avoid misunderstandings and ensure consistent quality control.

Amendment of the example "shea butter"

The example of “shea butter” has been removed from the list of ingredients. This was done due to the protection of milk designations under EU law and the non-inclusion of “shea butter” as a permitted designation exception in EU Commission Decision 2020/791/EU for Germany. The amendment is intended to create clear guidelines for product names in order to avoid misleading information.

Updating the legal references

The legal references have been adapted in accordance with the current legal provisions. Regular updating of the legal references is necessary to reflect the dynamic changes in legislation and to ensure that the guidelines are always up to date.