gastronomy not merely as culinary practice but as a rich cultural and socioeconomic phenomenon, deserving legal attention when it comes to heritage protection, food quality, and cultural identity. III. FOOD LAW IN EUROPE: SYSTEMIC LEGAL FRAMEWORK Whilst not addressing gastronomy per se, European food law—which supports gastronomic practice through regulation—provides legal infrastructure and principles highly relevant to gastronomy law: • General Food Law (Regulation EC No. 178/2002): • Establishes foundational principles of food safety, traceability, risk analysis, transparency, and consumer protection across the entire supply chain—from farm to fork. • Anchored in the precautionary principle, science-based risk analysis, and rigorous traceability mechanisms. • Introduced the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as an independent scientific advisory body. Although centred on food safety, food law underpins gastronomy by ensuring standards, consumer trust, and the legal recognition of food quality and origin— key pillars for gastronomy as cultural and economic activity. IV. ITALY: BEYOND FOOD, A LEGAL ANALYSIS OF GASTRONOMIC CULTURE In Italy, the exact label “diritto gastronomico” is rarely used in academic publishing; most legal scholarship sits under “cibo e diritto”, “diritto della ristorazione”, or, simply, the all-encompassing and, in fact, rather generic expression of “diritto alimentare”. The items above are those that directly address gastronomy (recipes, plating, restaurants, culinary creativity) or are explicitly framed as “cibo e diritto”. While it is difficult to provide a single, concise definition, Michele Antonio Fino’s approach considers the subject in a broad sense. He explores both the ‘macroscopic’ legal aspects related to food, such as designations of origin and food safety, and the ‘microscopic’ aspects, touching on the relationship between legal and gustatory language. His vision extends beyond product regulation to encompass all aspects of gastronomic 629 GASTRONOMY LAW IN ITALY
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