Lisanne Steenbergen

Associate | Lawyer (Advocaat)

T +31 20 305 30 60
E ls@hoogenhaak.nl

Lisanne is a lawyer with a strong focus on food and advertising law - areas where her curiosity and eagerness to learn truly thrive. Her expertise has been recognized by Chambers, and Legal 500 awarded her the title of Leading Associate for Industry Focus: Food.

She advises leading brands across sectors such as retail, food & beverages, FMCG, feed and fashion. Her work covers a broad range of topics, including nutrition, health and medical claims, food safety (including recalls), labelling, sustainability claims, precautionary allergen labelling (PAL), packaging, single-use plastics, feed, and promotions.

Lisanne frequently assists clients facing enforcement actions by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), such as product seizures, warnings, administrative fines, and recalls. She also represents clients in litigation before both civil and administrative courts, during hearings at the NVWA, and in proceedings before the Advertising Code Committee (ACC). A recent highlight in her practice was representing three clients before the Council of State, the highest administrative court in the Netherlands, in a landmark case on whether medical claims for food supplements should be fined under the Dutch Medicines Act.

Beyond her practice, Lisanne is committed to sharing her knowledge. She delivers guest lectures to undergraduate students at Leiden University on the principles and latest developments in advertising law. She presented on food law to businesses in the sector as part of an insights program of a large bank, during the Netherlands’ largest tennis tournament. Lisanne has also been featured as a food law expert on national radio and in the podcast Jong Juridisch, where she spoke about protected designations of origin, protein claims, and the role of food influencers.

Lisanne is a member of the Netherlands Advertising Law Association (VvRr), the Dutch Association for Food Law (NVLR), and the European Food Law Association (EFLA).

Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, traveling to discover new countries and cities, and admiring (modern) architecture.

Recent work

• Landmark case on the fundamental question whether medical claims made for food supplements should be fined under the Dutch Medicines Act or under the food (supplements) legislation.  

• Represented a Dutch B-corp in a case concerning comparative advertising related to a self-made sugar score.

• Advising a major coffee brand on packaging materials legislation.

• Assisting businesses in negotiations with Verpact on the interpretation of the Single Use Plastics Regulation.

• Advising a major company in the chocolate and snack sector on the application of the new rules on cross-contamination (Precautionary Allergen Labelling).

• Representing an international beverages company in a case before the NVWA on the border between information and health claims.

• Legal advisor to a major multinational in various recall situations.

• Advising a large Dutch retail chain of household products on the use of advertising claims for plastic products.

• Advising an international health product company on health and cosmetic claims and enforcement by Dutch supervisory authorities such as the NVWA and KOAG/KAG Inspection Board.

• Carrying out various label checks (control of food information) on foodstuffs, such as alcoholic beverages, pasta, sports bars, food supplements and beverages.

• Drawing up general terms and conditions, e.g. for promotional games of chance and promotions.

• Advising on non-food such as the certification of building materials, electronic products and food contact materials.