Unlocking the future of food with food law
Our approach
Creating the future of food does not necessarily mean starting from scratch, it rather requires harnessing the untapped potential of existing innovations and breakthroughs from other industries like pharmaceuticals or chemistry.
We help you unlock the potential of your ingredients to create a better global food system.
Training
Food regulations may be difficult to grasp for professionals without a legal background. Our in-person and online courses are designed to help you easily navigate the regulatory framework applicable to your products.
Food law support
With an innovative product often comes regulatory challenges. We help you navigate complex issues to unlock new markets and opportunities.
Services
About
Mathilde Do Chi is the Founder and Managing Director of Forward Food Law.
She is an international food law, regulatory, and public policy consultant. She has worked across the board in the food industry for private and public sectors ranging from law, IP, and public affairs consultancy firms, governmental research bodies, NGOs, and the United Nations to a multinational. Her experience gave her a significant advantage in tackling legal and policy challenges from diverse angles.
Eager to help trailblazers and change-makers in the food industry, Mathilde is an expert consultant and mentor for EIT Food, an EU-funded organization accelerating innovation to build a future-fit food system that produces healthy and sustainable food for food.
She also sits on the Advisory Board of the Global Plant-Based Food Alliance and is a member of an investment committee for a VC firm investing in alternative proteins.
She holds a first LLM in International Trade & Investment Law from Maastricht University, a second LLM in Food Law from LUISS Guido Carli University, and a diploma in Food Psychology.
Our expertise
Plant-based ingredients
Fermentation-derived ingredients
Cell-based products
The potential of the Kingdom Plantae remains largely untapped as we only consume about 6% of the edible species. Species not normally eaten will most likely have to go through a stringent approval process. Their field of applications must be carefully selected to ensure you are not missing any potential markets.
Fermentation-derived production methods are far from being a novelty in the food industry. However, certain methods used to create groundbreaking products may trigger the application of unforeseen regulations impacting the placement of the products on the market. We help you understand how to navigate legal provisions and assess any potential issue.
The insatiable need for animal proteins has created a dire situation by accelerating environmental destruction and worsening animal welfare. Cellular agriculture can be the answer to satisfy the growing demand for animal proteins more sustainably and ethically. We assist you in demonstrating the safety of your products to the responsible authorities.
Traditional foods
Traditional foods from third countries may not be authorised in a certain market as they might first require a risk assessment by local authorities. We guide you through the procedure to have traditional foods approved in the desired market.
Single-cell proteins
Derived from microorganisms such as yeast, fungi, algae, and bacteria, they may have not been authorised as ingredients yet. We conduct a thorough assessment to check whether your product needs regulatory approval.
Novel foods
New sources of food like insects or innovative ingredients will usually trigger the application of novel food regulations. We help you navigate the regulatory framework to determine whether a pre-market approval is needed and build a dossier if needed.
We help you navigate the regulatory landscape applicable to your ingredients in the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.
Other markets may be considered on demand.
Bioengineered ingredients often require pre-market approval as regulatory authorities consider a mandatory risk assessment regarding their impact on humans, animals, and the environment. At the same time, they may fall into new categories such as new genomic techniques (NGTs) that do not necessarily require pre-market approval. We assist you in determining the best regulatory strategy to bring these ingredients to the market.
GMOs and GMMs
Sustainability
Health and nutrition claims
Food production is responsible for 26% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. The food industry is working towards creating better food products with a lower environmental footprint. Such products are often labeled as sustainable which due to the lack of clear legal rules may backfire on companies since these claims could be viewed as misleading by consumers. We help you check that your claims are not only compliant but are also displayed in a non-misleading way.
Food is medicine but health and nutrition claims are subject to conditions to be lawfully used. We verify that your claims are compliant with the applicable regulations or help you file for an authorisation if needed.
Forward Food Law works with a broad range of actors operating along the whole supply chain from startups, multinationals, accelerators, incubators, and research labs to management consultancies, VCs, and NGOs.
We meet our clients where they are to provide them with the best approach as we believe the intricacies of food law should be accessible to professionals without a legal background.
Clientele
"Mathilde clearly brings both deep subject matter expertise and personal drive to the novel foods sector. I would recommend her to companies navigating the overlooked intricacies of commercializing a novel food product across borders."
"I can highly recommend Mathilde's expertise when it comes to food regulatory frameworks in Europe, the US and beyond. She is able to take complicated concepts and break them down in to easy to understand bites. I recommend her to any alternative protein startup looking to prepare their route to market, as well as to any corporates looking to offer trainings on food law.”
- EIT Food
"Mathilde provided a detailed overview of the regulatory landscape applicable to products derived from precision fermentation. Her insight allowed us to assess risks and opportunities for both the European (EU and UK) and US markets. The level of detail and expertise in this area allowed our team to feel confident in making any assumptions about this market to our customers."
- Ezassi
”Mathilde is an outstanding professional that combines in-depth industry and regulatory knowledge with a hands-on and flexible collaborative approach.
She is a fantastic supporter, and was able to extensively support our organisation at Formo across various departments, from R&D to product development, to packaging and more.
I would strongly and highly recommend her, especially when it comes to launching a new product into the market. Her expertise and knowhow definitely makes your life a lot easier.”
- FORMO
Mathilde is regularly featured on podcasts, food industry news magazines, and websites, and talks at conferences to make food regulations more accessible to non-lawyers.
She also breaks down complex food law and policy topics on LinkedIn where she built a following of more than 9500 people across the world.
In 2024, she writes monthly on regulations and public policy for vegconomist.com, the first global vegan business magazine covering the latest news in the alternative protein industry.
Media coverage
FoodTech Congress, Warsaw, Poland, May 2024
