REGULATORY FOCUS: THE COST OF NON COMPLIANCE

🔍 Sarasvet Regulatory Focus:  February 2026 | Part 1

Can you say anything you want on a complementary feed label? 🚫🐾  

In Europe, animal feed - including complementary feeds - is a regulated category.

You cannot write “whatever sounds good” on packaging or online. 

📊 What did the French authority observe? In its latest investigation (6 February 2026): 

• 84 warnings were issued to animal feed operators → mainly linked to prohibited therapeutic claims, misleading wording or unsubstantiated marketing messages

• 58 injunctions followed, including around 20 targeting online sales
• 4 criminal reports were issued for misleading commercial practices

 🔎 Key issues identified: 

• ❌ Prohibited or misleading claims, including therapeutic wording
• 🌿 “Natural”, origin or environmental claims without scientific substantiation
• ✍️ Incorrect regulatory terminology for complementary feeds
• 💻 Non-compliant online product descriptions, subject to the same rules as on-pack labelling

 👉 Take-home message

Complementary feeds are not medicines, but they are not unregulated either.
Their claims & wording are strictly framed by EU feed law.