Food law | UK Regulatory Outlook October 2026

UK

UK and EU set for a second summit in November to finalise food deal

The prime minister, Andy Burnham, will attend the second UK-EU summit in Brussels on 20 November, meeting the European Council president, Antonio Costa, and the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen. The summit follows the first UK-EU summit, held in London in May 2025, at which the two sides agreed a new strategic partnership.

Downing Street says the prime minister will use the summit to cut costs and red tape for British farmers and food businesses, including by agreeing a deal to align the UK with EU animal, plant and food health laws. Leaders will also review progress since the first summit and agree practical next steps on security, illegal migration and crime.

The Conservative Party has said it would scrap any deal requiring the UK to dynamically align with EU rules.

FSA consults on authorisation of 16 regulated novel food products

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has opened a consultation on the proposed authorisation of 16 novel foods for use in food and food supplements in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The products include various human milk oligosaccharides and other ingredients produced using derivative bacterial strains.

The FSA has completed its risk assessment and is now seeking stakeholder views on its risk management proposals and the terms of authorisation for each product, including labelling. Food Standards Scotland is running a parallel consultation. The consultation closes on 16 November.

Once a UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement takes effect, Great Britain would align with EU market authorisations, so the EU's approved conditions could apply instead of the corresponding GB ones, and existing GB approvals would cease to apply. Businesses relying on novel food authorisations will be considering how to factor this into their planning.

BSI launches world's first standard for food loss and waste management

The British Standards Institution (BSI) has published BS ISO 20001:2026, which it describes as the world's first management system standard dedicated to food loss and waste management. The standard sets out requirements for preventing and minimising food loss and waste across the food supply chain. It was developed with input from the UK-based Waste and Resources Action Programme, or WRAP, drawing on the environmental campaign group's food waste monitoring and reduction expertise.

The standard provides a voluntary framework to help organisations manage, prevent and minimise food loss and waste systematically, and to support monitoring, reporting and continual improvement. BSI says it is designed for businesses across the food supply chain, from primary producers to retailers and food service organisations, with the aim of helping them build structured food waste management systems and demonstrate progress to customers, regulators and investors.

Adopting the standard is voluntary and does not itself create a legal obligation. Food businesses looking to strengthen their sustainability credentials, or respond to customer and investor pressure on food waste, may find it a useful benchmark against existing practices.

EU

Council of the EU agrees position on food and feed safety simplification package

The Council of the EU has agreed its negotiating position on the remaining part of the EU's "Omnibus X" food and feed safety simplification package. This follows an earlier Council position, agreed in May 2026, covering food contact plastics and drone-based pesticide use. The new mandate covers regulations on maximum residue levels, plant protection products, biocidal products, feed additives, and genetically modified food and feed.

On maximum residue levels, the mandate lowers existing residue limits to technical zero for particularly hazardous pesticide residues in imported food, following an impact assessment. It extends this approach to substances posing unacceptable risks to bees or groundwater, with transitional provisions allowing already-compliant stock to continue being sold in order to avoid food waste.

On plant protection products, biocontrol substances will get fast-track assessment and low-risk substances will receive unlimited approval. Other substances will have their approval periods extended to 15 years for first approval and 25 years for renewals, with data protection extended to 13 years (15 years for low-risk products). New safeguards will require the European Food Safety Authority to periodically review the scientific literature.

Biocidal product approvals are similarly extended, to 15 years for first approval and 25 years for renewals. Feed additive rules remove the systematic renewal requirement and streamline authorisation changes, while the genetically modified food and feed rules clarify that fermentation products made using genetically modified microorganisms are not "produced from GMOs."

The package has faced opposition over the absence of a full impact assessment. In September, 573 scientists and doctors called on the European Parliament to pause negotiations pending an independent assessment, warning that removing periodic renewals could make it harder to revisit approvals when new evidence emerges. Five independent UN experts subsequently raised concerns about the proposals’ implications for health, the environment and the precautionary principle, and sought clarification on whether a full impact assessment would be undertaken.

The Council presidency aims to reach a provisional agreement with the European Parliament on the overall package by the end of the year, with an indicative first-reading plenary date of 23 November. Food and feed businesses, particularly those involved in pesticide, biocide and feed additive approvals, will be looking to monitor the trilogue negotiations, since the extended approval and data protection periods would represent a significant change to current timelines.