Food & Dietary Supplements

Steptoe & Johnson LLP provides a broad range of international legal and regulatory services related to the production and marketing of finished food, food ingredients, food contact materials (including packaging materials), and dietary supplements.

Our team consists of experienced attorneys, scientists, and non-attorney regulatory specialists who work with clients to develop innovative compliance strategies for individual products and product lines.  Steptoe is well connected to the industry and their overseeing regulatory bodies, such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Agriculture (USDA), EU Member States authorities, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and similar authorities throughout the world.  With state-of-the-art technical knowledge, our team brings a profound understanding of the underlying science to this highly technical practice area, providing a comprehensive response to clients’ regulatory and commercial needs.

We assist clients with regulatory aspects of the product development and marketing process, including: 

• Interpretation of scope of relevant legislation and regulations;
• Analysis of regulatory status and assistance in obtaining approval of ingredients and packaging material components; 
• Compliance advice on labeling and point-of-purchase material, including health-related claims; 
• Advise on product certificates, traceability issues, and product recalls;
• Advise on advertising claims and promotional materials, including electronic media; 
• Food additive approvals in the EU, US, and China; 
• Manufacturing practices compliance; and  
• Import and export issues.

The firm also advises clients on a broad range of compliance and enforcement issues related to food production, including international regulatory approaches to genetically modified organisms, state requirements such as California's Proposition 65, and product recall strategies.

Steptoe attorneys represent clients in negotiations on matters related to food and dietary supplements with various regulatory agencies including the Food and Drug Administration, the US Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Federal Trade Commission. 

Click here to e-mail the Food & Dietary Supplements team with questions or comments.

Select News & Events

• Steptoe Broadens Food Safety Practice with Addition of FDA's Cheeseman and Simmons
• European Voice Quotes Darren Abrahams on GM Cultivation
• Food Manufacture Quotes Dr. Anna Gergely in "Industry Radio Silence is Not Moving Nanotechnology Debate Forward"
• Craig Simpson and Darren Abrahams Publish on Functional Foods in Life Sciences Industry Report
• Webinar on Global Food Contact Compliance: Special Focus on Nanotechnology
• Food Contact Presentations on Transatlantic Issues, Plastics in Contact with Foodstuffs 2011
• “Recent Regulatory Developments in Food Additives,” C5’s Forum on Food Safety, Health Claims, and Regulation in Europe
• “Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology in the EU Regulatory Framework,” Annual ERA Conference on European Food Law 2011

More Seminars & Events »

Publications

• Food Contact Materials Lie Within REACH
  February 2012, Chemical Watch
• Court Ruling on Food Contact Additive Sets New Precedents
  November 14, 2011, Chemical Watch
• Where Is “Agronanotechnology” Heading in the United States and European Union?
  Volume 26, Number 1
  Summer 2011, Natural Resources & Environment
• Regulatory Perspectives on Nanotechnologies in Foods and Food Contact Materials
  November 2010, International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies

More Publications »