28. August 2024 – In its decision of 23 July 2024, the Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal challenging the classification of the appellant’s dietary supplement as a novel food requiring authorization from the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO). The court affirmed the legality of the product recall by the Consumer Protection and Veterinary Service (le Service de la consommation et des affaires vétérinaires) of the Canton of Geneva.

The court clarified that the classification of ingredients as novel foods falls under both federal and cantonal jurisdiction. It supported the decisions made by the cantonal authority and confirmed by the cantonal court, establishing that the ingredients in question were not listed among the approved novel foods and thus required prior authorization from the FSVO.

The court rejected the appellant’s claims that the analysis of the evidence was inadequate and that comparisons with similar products on the market violated the principle of equal treatment. The court found the findings of the cantonal authority and the cantonal court to be well-founded and noted that the appellant failed to demonstrate that the products analyzed contained essentially identical ingredients.

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