ABOUT
EXPERTS IN EUROPEAN FOOD LAW
History
Legal Foods® is a boutique regulatory affairs firm specialising in European and UK food law. Based in Cambridgeshire (60 minutes from central London), we provide expert and tailored advice to food businesses, multinational corporate bodies, and trade organisations. The firm advises and represents the food industry in matters related to food law and the science supporting its application. Our experts have a breadth of experience grounded in unique relationships with Europe’s Member States, competent authorities, policy makers, and industry leaders.
The reality for those in the food industry is that excessive regulation and strict compliance can result in lost sales if not all your competitors are obeying the rules. Our firm takes these issues into consideration when providing food law guidance. Legal Foods® offers a number of alternative strategies to assist with compliance with the law without restricting your ability to effectively connect and communicate with your consumers.
With over ten years of hands-on experience across multiple food categories and channels we deliver practical insights into the level of compliance required, whilst retaining your competitive edge in an aggressive consumer industry.
With one of the broadest client bases, Legal Foods® is unsurpassed in its ability to provide expert context to Europe’s complex food laws.
GET IN TOUCH
We at Legal Foods® know that finding the right food law team to represent you is a choice not to be taken lightly. That’s why we offer free consultations to walk you through your needs, the scope of your goals, and your budget.
FOOD LAW EXPERTS
Dr Mark J. Tallon, PhD MA LLM
Managing Partner & Founder
From working in product development and European food law for a number of multi-national food firms Dr Tallon founded Legal Foods® Ltd. He is regarded as an expert in European food law and has over 20 years of working within the food industry. He holds higher degrees in law and has an academic and applied background in nutrition science. He is a chartered scientist, biologist and registered nutritionist with over 200 published articles in trade and peer reviewed journals covering sports nutrition, functional foods and the impact of European food law regulations.
He is past chair of the Food Law group of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and vice-chair of European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance (ESSNA). He holds fellowships with the Royal Society of Medicine, Royal Society of Biology, Institute of Food Science and Technology, and is editorial board member of the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
Mark is a trained expert witness since 2013 having worked for a number of law firms and clients as a specialist in EU food law. He is a member of the UK Expert Witness Institute.
Education
Kings College London Dickson Poon School of Law
MA., European Law (Distinction)
De Montfort University De Montfort Law School LLM., Food Law
University of Oxford Faculty of Law PGDip Intellectual property law & Practice
Southampton University University of Chichester
PhD., Nutrition & Muscle Biochemistry
Liverpool University University of Chester MSc., Nutrition Science
Kingston University BSc., Sports Science
Activities & Affiliations
• European Food Law Association (EFLA), Member
• Food & Drug Law Institute (FDLI), Member
• Food Law Group (IFST), Past Chair & Founder
• Fellow Institute Food Science & Technology (FIFST)
• Fellow Royal Society of Medicine (FRSM), London, UK
• Fellow Royal Society of Biology (FSB)
• Registered Nutritionist, Nutrition Society (RNutr)
• Certified Nutritional Councillor, Cornell University (USA)
James O’Byrne, MBA
International Marketing Director
Accomplished nutrition industry consultant with extensive knowledge and over 25 years hands-on experience and insight into the active nutrition, healthy snack and beverage categories within world-class nutrition companies across North America and EU.
Roles include board advisor to start ups and supporting senior decision makers in established ventures with identifying challenges and growth opportunities, strategic brand development, establishing KPIs and objectives and merger & acquisition activity.
Experienced in trans-global business models across multiple channels including Food, Drug & Mass, Specialty, B2B (international and domestic) distribution and e-commerce. Highly driven and passionately translates ideas from concept to consumer in the active nutrition marketplace..
Education
University of Leicester
MBA, Business & Marketing Communications
Dr Robert Child, MSc PhD
Head of Research & Development
Dr Rob Child is formally Chief Scientific Officer at the UK based sports nutrition company Science In Sport (SIS) and head of Research & Development at Maxinutrition (GSK). His work involved formulation development as well as nutrition and health claims development. Dr Child was awarded a doctorate for work on ‘Exercise and free radical induced damage to human skeletal muscle’. This was followed by post-doctoral research at the Department of Medicine Liverpool University on ‘Exercise and stress proteins expression in human muscle’, with subsequent work on ‘Protein supplementation and cellular antioxidant protection’. His research has been published in books and sports medicine, physiology and clinical journals. In addition to laboratory based studies he has also performed applied research, working with World Champions from a multitude of sports including cycling boxing, sailing, swimming and Formula 1. Dr Child can provide business guidance on technical dossier development, clinical trial protocols, health claim substantiation and assessment of the science to underpin patent development or challenges.
Education
University College Chichester
Post Doctoral Research, Nutritional Biochemistry
Liverpool University
Post Doctoral Research, Muscle Biochemistry
University of Wolverhampton
PhD., Exercise Physiology & Biochemistry
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
MSc., Adapted Physical Activity
Manchester Metropolitan University
BSc., Sports Science
Activities & Affiliations
• Team Katusha - Pro Cycling, Head of Nutrition (2016-2017)
• MTN-Qhubeka - Pro Cycling, Head of Nutrition (2012-2015)
• Cervelo Test Team - Pro Cycling, Head of Nutrition (2009-2010)