NEWS

Announcement on EU Guidance Document No 23 on Food-imitating Toys

On 3 July 2026, the European Commission published Guidance Document No 23 on the classification and safety of food-imitating toys and other food-imitating products. Although non-binding, it reflects the authoritative views of the Toy Safety Expert Group. National authorities must assess each product on a case-by-case basis.

Food-imitating products are non-food items that, by form, colour, odour, packaging, size or other characteristics, are likely to be confused with real food by consumers, especially children, leading to mouthing, sucking or ingestion, with risks of choking, poisoning, etc.

Regulatory framework: food-imitating toys fall under the Toy Safety Directive (TSD); other food-imitating products (e.g., decorations, candles, soaps) fall under the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) or sectoral rules. GPSR explicitly requires that product appearance be considered in safety assessments where it may lead to misuse.

Classification criteria: to determine whether a product is a toy, account shall be taken of the manufacturer’s intended use, play value, place of sale, and reasonably foreseeable use. A “not a toy” claim must be substantiated by the manufacturer. Products with a dual function (decoration and play) that have play value and are marketed to children may still be classified as toys.

Obligations for businesses: conduct a case-by-case risk assessment for each product, considering children’s behaviour and abilities by age. The annex provides classification examples for fruits, bakery, sweets, slimes, and others.

For more information, please click the hyperlink
https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/document/download/4fe524c8-2efc-4bd4-aa3c-a11c3f64245c_en?filename=Guidance%20doc%20No%2023_Food%20imitating%20toys.pdf