Food and nutrition

The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) promotes the healthy enjoyment of food. An important basis for this is providing information about a healthy diet at all stages of life, for example via the National Action Plan "IN FORM – German national initiative to promote healthy diets and physical activity".

Another requirement is that the labelling and presentation of foodstuffs must always be accurate, transparent and comprehensible. In order to protect valuable resources, the BMEL is involved in campaigning against food waste and fosters the sustainable consuption of food products.

Overview of topics

Healthy diet

Consumers in Germany have a wide range of high quality and healthy foods to choose from. Food is precious and can taste wonderful. Healthy eating is a pleasure – and a properly balanced diet is the best recipe for maintaining optimum health.

Various foods: vegetables, mushrooms, maize, vegetable oil, meat

Food labelling

Labels with information about the ingredients and properties of a foodstuff serve to protect consumers and assist them in making better-informed choices. People want clarity on certain issues. Does the product contain any additives, allergens or genetically modified organisms? How much energy, sugar, fat and salt does the foodstuff provide?

A woman in a supermarket is reading the label of a food item

Food waste

To reduce the amount of food waste in Germany significantly is one aim of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). It has the objective to reach as many consumers as possible and reduce food waste with joint effort and a national strategy along the entire chain.

Sustainable consumption

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, the United Nations agreed on global sustainability goals (SDGs). In the following, we focus on sustainable development goal 12, which is to "Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns", and highlight some related activities that the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculure (BMEL) is carrying out.

A woman is holding a fabric bag filled with vegetables in her hands

"Good Food for Germany” - the Federal Government's Food and Nutrition Strategy

We are making it easier to eat good food - a benefit for us and our planet. This is the goal of the Federal Government’s Food and Nutrition Strategy. In the coalition agreement, the SPD, the Green Party and the FDP agreed to adopt a Food and Nutrition Strategy, with a particular focus on children and young people. On 17 January 2024, the Cabinet adopted the "Good Food for Germany" Food and Nutrition Strategy submitted by Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Various types of fruit and vegetables are arranged next to each other sorted by colour: from green beans and cucumbers to yellow apples and peppers to red tomatoes and finally blue berries and eggplant.

Publications

Understanding food safety - Facts and background

10 golden rules to prevent food waste

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Responsibility for Sustainable Development

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Empowering Agriculture for Global Food and Nutrition Security

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Nutrition in pergnancy - publication based on illustrations (no words)

Cover der Broschüre mit Illustrationen eines Paares, einer schwangeren Frau und einer Frau mit Kinderwagen

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All publications

Recommendations

National Strategy for Food Waste Reduction (topic:food-waste)

The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s National Strategy for Food Waste Reduction, which was presented in February 2019, has the goal of reducing food waste along the entire food supply chain. To achieve this, the strategy is continually refined and developed. The BMEL’s aim is to halve the quantity of food waste by 2030 and to reduce food losses.

Black trash can filled with vegetables and fruits

The National Reduction and Innovation Strategy for Sugar, Fats and Salt in Processed Foods (topic:reduction-strategy)

Processed foods have become part of a modern lifestyle. Quite often, they tend to be high in sugar, fats and salt. The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) wants to support consumers in choosing a health-promoting diet and ensure that processed foods become healthier.

Eine Person steht mit Einkaufskorb vor dem Kühlregal im Supermarkt

Implementing the Food and Nutrition Strategy (topic:Ernährungsstrategie)

Ansicht von oben auf einen Tisch mit Obst, Gemüse, Öl, Nudeln, Nüsse und ein Ei

Learning German via the Topics of Eating, Drinking and Exercise (topic:nutritional-information)

And that is exactly what the IN FORM cooperation projects EBALPHI, run jointly with the Federal Centre for Food and Nutrition and ALPHItEB of Europauniversität Flensburg, have been doing. EBALPHI is the German abbreviation for the name of the project, which promotes dietary education and exercise in the context of literacy and integration. The German abbreviation ALPHItEB is short for “Literacy and integration through dietary education and promotion of exercise”.

Jungs lernen in einer Schulküche das Kochen

Quality of life in old age: a healthy diet is key (topic:senior-citizens)

We cannot and will not do without the contribution that senior citizens make to our society and the potential they have. Their life experience and advice are important. We want them to be able to stay healthy and active , participate in social and cultural life and grow old on their own terms for as long as possible. But it is also a fact that 68.2 percent of above 65 year-old men and 56.3 percent of women in this age group are overweight or even obese. And the middle education group is the most affected for both genders in this age group.

"Good Food for Germany” - the Federal Government's Food and Nutrition Strategy (topic:healthy-diet)

German regulations on the import of food (topic:food-controls)

There are a number of national and EU regulations that apply regarding the import of food to Germany

Social media accounts of the Ministry