Foodstuffs Act (FSA)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Section 1 Foodstuffs
Art. 7 Food safety
1 Only safe foodstuffs may be placed on the market. 2 Foodstuffs are deemed to be unsafe if it must be assumed that they: a. are harmful to health; or b. are unsuitable for human consumption. 3 The following must be considered when deciding whether a foodstuff is safe: a. its normal conditions of use at all production, processing and distribution levels; b. its normal conditions of use by consumers; and c. the information given or otherwise made generally available to consumers on avoiding certain effects of a specific foodstuff or specific category of foodstuff that may be harmful to health. 4 The Federal Council shall stipulate the requirements for food safety. 5 It may introduce a licensing or notification requirement for: a. novel foods; b. foodstuffs intended for people with special nutritional requirements due to health reasons; c. foodstuffs that are advertised as having special nutritional-physiological or other physiological effects; d. foodstuffs from animals that have been a
Art. 8 Primary production
Any person who produces animals or plants for manufacturing foodstuffs, must produce them so that the foodstuffs manufactured do not present a risk to human health, nor give rise to deception.
Art. 9 Meat production
1 The Federal Council shall determine the animal species whose meat may be used as foodstuffs. 2 It shall determine the species of animal that may only be slaughtered in slaughterhouses licensed under Article 11. 3 It shall regulate the slaughter of animals which are sick, suspected of having a disease or injured.
Art. 10 Hygiene
1 Any person who handles foodstuffs must ensure that such foodstuffs are not adversely affected in hygiene terms by such handling. 2 Persons who are sick or injured and may therefore put the health of consumers at risk by handling foodstuffs must take special protective measures. 3 The Federal Council shall issue hygiene regulations relating to: a. the handling of foodstuffs; b. the premises in which foodstuffs are handled and their equipment; c. the areas and equipment in slaughterhouses required depending on the types and numbers of animals to be slaughtered. 4 The Federal Council may specify hygiene knowledge requirements for the persons who handle foodstuffs.
Art. 11 Licensing and reporting requirements for businesses
1 Slaughterhouses and businesses that handle foodstuffs of animal origin require an operating licence from the canton. 2 Other businesses active in the production, processing or distribution of foodstuffs must report their activities to the cantonal enforcement authorities. 3 The Federal Council may make exceptions for businesses: a. which operate exclusively in primary production; or b. whose activities present a negligible risk to food safety.
Art. 12 Mandatory labelling and information
1 Any person who places pre-packaged foodstuffs on the market must provide purchasers with the following information about the foodstuffs: a. the country of production; b. the specific designation; c. the ingredients. 2 The Federal Council may specify exceptions to the indication provided on the country of production and the ingredients in the case of processed products. 3 The specific designation may be accompanied by other designations provided these do not mislead consumers. 4 The specific designation may be omitted provided the nature of the foodstuff is obvious. 5 On request, it must be possible to provide the same indications about foodstuffs placed on the market without packaging as for pre-packaged foodstuffs.
Art. 13 Special labelling
1 The Federal Council may stipulate further indications, in particular with regard to: a. storage life; b. method of storage; c. origin of the raw materials; d. method of production; e. method of preparation; f. specific effects; g. specific dangers; h. nutritional value. 2 It may issue regulations on how businesses that supply prepared meals to consumers must label such meals on their menus. 3 It may issue regulations on labelling to protect the health of persons exposed to specific health risks. 4 It shall regulate: a. the admissibility of nutrition and health claims; b. the labelling of foodstuffs to which substances that are considered essential for life or physiologically useful have been added. 5 The Federal Council may stipulate that scientific data and information used to justify health claims may not be used for a certain period to justify the same health claims for a different product. 6 These regulations should not lead to a disproportionate additional administrative burden
Art. 14 Restrictions on the supply and advertising of alcoholic beverages
1 The supply of alcoholic beverages to young people under the age of 16 is prohibited. 2 The Federal Council may restrict the advertising of alcoholic beverages that is directed specifically at young people under the age of 18. 3 Restrictions on supply and advertising under the following federal acts are reserved: a. Federal Act of 24 March 2006 on Radio and Television; b. Alcohol Act of 21 June 1932.
Para. 3 let. a — SR 784.40 Para. 3 let. b — SR 680
Art. 14a Test purchases of alcohol
1 The competent cantonal authority may conduct or order test purchases in order to verify compliance with the age restriction for the supply of alcoholic beverages. 2 A test purchase is the purchase or attempted purchase of an alcoholic beverage by an underage person who has been authorised to participate in the test. 3 The findings obtained from the test purchases may only be used in criminal or administrative proceedings if the following requirements are met: a. The test purchases are conducted by the cantonal authority or by a recognised specialist organisation. b. The underage person and a person with parental responsibility for the underage person have given written consent to participating in the test purchases. c. The cantonal authority or a recognised specialist organisation establishes that: 1. the underage person is suitable for the intended activity; and 2. he or she is adequately prepared for the activity. d. The underage person shall act anonymously and shall be accompanie
Art. 14a — Inserted by Annex 3 No 2 of the Tobacco Products Act of 1 Oct. 2021, in force since 1 Oct. 2024 (AS 2024 457; BBl 2019 919).
Section 2 Consumer Products
Art. 15 Safety of consumer products
1 Only safe consumer products may be placed on the market. 2 A consumer product is deemed to be safe if it presents no danger or only minimal danger when used normally or in a reasonably foreseeable manner or only such danger as is commensurate with its normal use and which is reasonable while preserving of a high level of protection for the health of consumers and third parties. 3 In order to guarantee the health of consumers and third parties, the following aspects of the consumer product must be considered in particular: a. its properties, its composition, the conditions for its assembly, its installation and its initial operation; b. its maintenance and its service life; c. its effect on other products or the effect of other products on it if it is reasonably foreseeable that it will be used with these other products; d. its presentation, its packaging, its labelling, if applicable warning notices, its instructions for use and operation and the instructions for its disposal as well
Art. 16 Labelling and advertising
1 Consumer products must be labelled in such a way that the protection of health and, in accordance with Article 18, protection against deception is guaranteed. 2 The Federal Council may stipulate requirements for the labelling of consumer products and for their advertising.
Art. 17 Reporting requirement for businesses
The Federal Council may impose a reporting requirement on businesses that handle consumer products.
Section 3 Common Provisions for Foodstuffs and Con
Art. 18 Protection against deception
1 All information relating to foodstuffs, food contact materials and cosmetics must be factually correct. 2 The presentation, labelling and packaging of products under paragraph 1 and their advertising must not mislead consumers. The provisions of the Trademark Protection Act of 28 August 1992 on indications of Swiss origin are reserved. 3 In particular any presentation, labelling, packaging and advertising that is liable to deceive consumers as to the manufacture, composition, condition, method of production, storage life, country of production, origin of the raw materials or components, particular effects or special value of the product is regarded as misleading. 4 In order to guarantee protection against deception, the Federal Council may: a. provide a description of foodstuffs and stipulate their designation; b. stipulate requirements for foodstuffs, food contact materials and cosmetics; c. issue labelling regulations for areas in which consumers as a result of the product or the f
Para. 2 — SR 232.11
Art. 19 Imitation and confusion
1 Substitute and imitation products must be labelled and advertised in such a way that consumers can recognise the true nature of the foodstuff and distinguish it from products with which it could be confused. 2 Products that are not foodstuffs may not be presented, labelled, stored, placed on the market or advertised in such a way that they could be mistaken for foodstuffs.
Art. 20 Restriction of production and treatment processes
1 The Federal Council may restrict or prohibit physical, chemical, microbiological or biotechnological processes for producing or treating foodstuffs or consumer products if a risk to the health of consumers cannot be excluded based on current scientific knowledge. In doing so, it shall ensure compliance with the requirements of the Gene Technology Act of 21 March 2003. 2 It may restrict or prohibit specific breeding methods for animals intended for the production of foodstuffs. If related detection methods are available, they must be used. 3 It may restrict or prohibit the placing on the market of cosmetics whose final formulation or ingredients have been tested in animal experiments in order to comply with the foodstuffs legislation.
Para. 1 — SR 814.91
Section 4 Duties of the Authorities
Art. 21 Risk analysis
1 Risk analysis comprises risk assessment, risk management and risk communication. 2 To ensure that the health of consumers is protected, the competent authorities shall rely on risk analysis, unless it is unsuitable in the circumstances or in view of the type of measure. 3 The risk assessment must be based on the available scientific knowledge. It must be carried out in an independent, objective and transparent manner. 4 In order to achieve the goals of this Act, risk management must be carried out based on the results of the risk assessment, in particular the official expert opinions and other essential factors, as well as the precautionary principle must be taken into account. 5 Risk communication is regulated in particular in Articles 24 and 54.
Art. 22 Precautionary principle
If, on evaluating the available information, a competent federal authority finds that a foodstuff or a consumer product could be harmful to health, but there is still scientific uncertainty, it may take temporary measures to ensure a high level of health protection until further scientific information is available that permits a more comprehensive risk assessment.
Art. 23 Protection measures
If a product meets the statutory requirements but new scientific findings indicate that the product poses a direct risk to consumers, the competent federal authority may instruct the enforcement authority to immediately restrict the placing on the market of the product or demand its recall from the market.
Art. 24 Information to the general public
1 The competent authorities shall inform the general public in particular about: a. its inspection activities and their effectiveness; b. foodstuffs and consumer products in respect of which there is sufficient reason to suspect that they may pose a health risk. 2 The competent federal authorities may communicate nutritional knowledge of general interest to the general public and to compulsory schools that is in particular relevant to health care, health protection and sustainable nutrition. 3 They may support the public information work of other institutions. 4 The following shall not be made available to the general public: a. official inspection reports and documents containing conclusions drawn from findings and information from inspections (Art. 32 para. 1); b. results of research work and surveys (Art. 40) if these allow producers, distributors or products to be identified; c. the risk classification of businesses by the enforcement authorities.