13 May 2026

In its judgment of 13 May 2026, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) held that the mere finding of pest traces and droppings by the competent authority suffices to establish an infringement of the food hygiene obligations under Regulation No 852/2004, without any need to additionally prove that the food business operator had failed to take all available preventive measures.

The case arose from criminal proceedings in Belgium against Aldi SA. Between 2020 and 2022, the competent authority had repeatedly found rodent droppings as well as nibbled and soiled products in several Aldi shops and a warehouse. The first instance court had acquitted Aldi, finding that the regulation imposed on food business operators only a best-endeavours obligation with respect to pest control, and that the mere presence of pest traces did not in itself constitute an infringement. The Court of Appeal upheld that judgment, holding that Regulation No 852/2004 did not impose an obligation of result and relying in that regard on the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles under Article 5 of the regulation. The Public Prosecutor appealed on a point of law to the Court of Cassation, which referred the question to the CJEU, asking whether the relevant provisions of Annex II to Regulation No 852/2004 imposed an obligation of result or merely one of best endeavours. The Court of Justice held that repeated findings of pest presence were sufficient to establish that the operator had not put in place adequate pest control procedures. Only the obligation relating to the physical characteristics of the premises required a separate assessment of whether those characteristics actually prevented good hygiene practices from being implemented.

Parallels to Swiss food law: Swiss food law is closely aligned with EU Regulation No 852/2004.For example, the Federal Act on Foodstuffs and Consumer Products (FSA) and the Ordinance on Foodstuffs and Utility Articles (LGV) equally provide for the obligation to implement HACCP-based procedures (art. 26 FSA in conjunction with art. 75 let. a LGV).

For more information, see here.