Italy Enacts Tougher Food Fraud Law

Italy has put a new food fraud law into force that sharply raises the stakes for companies accused of misleading consumers about what is in their products, where they come from and how they are labeled.

The measure, Law 75/2026, took effect in recent hours and creates a specific criminal offense for food fraud. It also changes the way fines are calculated, tying many penalties to a company’s turnover instead of using fixed amounts. Officials say the goal is to make sanctions more effective against counterfeiting, false claims and deceptive labeling across the food chain.

Under the new rules, prosecutors can pursue cases when a product does not match what is stated on the label in terms of origin, quality or quantity, or when symbols and references are used in ways that could mislead buyers. Investigators will also have broader tools, including wiretaps and undercover operations, which were harder to use under the previous framework.

The law comes as Italy faces persistent problems with food fraud in sectors that rely heavily on protected names and geographic indications. The government has said it wants to reduce fake products and misleading information that can damage consumers and legitimate producers alike.

One of the most significant changes is in enforcement. Administrative fines are now expected to rise substantially in many cases, and larger companies can face much heavier penalties because the amounts will be linked to revenue. That shift is meant to prevent big operators from treating fines as a routine cost of doing business.

The law also targets language used for plant-based foods. Terms such as “milk” and “cheese” may no longer be used for vegetable-based drinks and foods, even with qualifiers like “soy milk” or “vegetable cheese.” Authorities say the aim is to avoid confusion for consumers and protect traditional dairy terms.

In addition to fines, the law allows for seizures of goods and advertising materials. Food that is confiscated but still safe to eat can be donated to people in need or to charitable organizations. Using those products for other purposes will now be treated as a separate offense.

The legislation also introduces a temporary official hold on goods during inspections so that suspicious products cannot keep circulating while checks are underway. That measure is intended to give inspectors time to verify whether labels, ingredients and claims comply with the law.

Several sectors received special provisions. For buffalo milk, Italy will create a single movement register in the national SIAN database and a national inspection plan for DOP and IGP products. In wine, penalties increase for companies that fail to pay the control bodies overseeing DOC, DOCG and IGT designations. In fisheries, sanctions have been adjusted for catches beyond authorized limits.

The beer sector is also under closer scrutiny. Unionbirrai and Italy’s food fraud inspection agency ICQRF renewed a three-year protocol focused on the use of the term “craft beer,” with reports on supermarket shelves, trade fairs and advertising due each year by Nov. 1 to guide inspections.

To coordinate all these controls, the agriculture ministry has set up a new steering body at Masaf. The idea is to reduce overlap among agencies and make inspections more consistent nationwide.

Legal experts say the new system may still raise questions about how criminal and administrative penalties will interact. Neva Monari, a food law specialist cited by Il Fatto Alimentare, has pointed to possible overlap between the new criminal offense and existing EU rules on fair information practices under Regulation 1169/2011, which are enforced administratively by ICQRF. She also noted that Italy’s competition authority can act against unfair commercial practices.

European case law has allowed parallel sanctions for the same conduct in some circumstances, as long as proportionality is respected and double jeopardy rules are not violated. Even so, lawyers expect close attention will be needed as prosecutors, inspectors and regulators begin applying the new law in practice.