Non-registered users must accept explicitly the following General conditions of use before searching or viewing a food item.
Please read the following General conditions of use. If necessary, scroll down to the bottom of the page to reach the buttons.

Print View Print View

General conditions of use

The present English version of the General conditions of use is based on the original version, which is in French and which is the reference. Readers are advised that the present English version is presented for information purposes only and that in case of doubt or inconsistency between the present English version and the French version of the General conditions of use, the French version shall prevail.

General conditions of use of the sites
www.wikifood.lu
www.wikifood.eu
www.wikifood.de
www.wikifood.be
www.wikifood.ch
www.wikifood.at

between

the Centre de Recherche Public Henri Tudor, founded as part of the Institut Supérieur de Technologie by the Grand-Ducal regulation of 31 July 1987, whose statutes are managed in accordance with the forms and methods stipulated under heading II of the law of 21 April 1928 on not-for-profit associations and establishments of public utility, without prejudice from the specific provisions of the law of 9 March 1987, and whose head office is located at 29, avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg-Kirchberg, hereafter referred to as the "Host", and

you, the user of the www.wikifood.lu website (the "Site"), hereafter referred to as the "User".

Whereas

By viewing and/or using the Site provided by the Host, the User fully accepts the terms of these general conditions of use of the Site (the "Terms of Use") and undertakes to comply with them. Refusal to accept the Terms of Use prohibits access to and use of the Site. The User is advised to read the Terms of Use carefully before accessing and using the Site. If the User does not agree with the Terms of Use for any reason, his or her only course of action is to stop viewing the Site.

Article 1: Subject

The Site is made available by the Host, which is an establishment of public utility whose main aim is to promote technological innovation in both the private and public sectors. It offers a set of services and activities for this purpose: R&D projects, technology transfer, technological support and consultancy, technology and standards monitoring, high-level training and qualification, doctoral research, leading innovation networks and high-tech business incubation. Its main fields of technological interest are information and communication technologies, industrial technologies and materials, environmental technologies and healthcare technologies.

The Site is an Internet platform on which the ingredients of various food products are listed in records ("Product Sheets"), which makes it possible for example to provide shopping and consumption information for people with allergies or specific diets. The information about the ingredients of food products is provided purely for guidance, and comes from sources such as the food manufacturers themselves, users of the Site or the operators of databases containing such information. The Site also provides a forum (bulletin board) where users can discuss and publish food and health related topics.

The Site and the information it contains are not intended to replace a medical opinion.

The Site and the information it contains should not be used for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.

Article 2: Access to the Site and the Product Sheets

The Product Sheets on the Site can be viewed, published and modified free of charge. The use of the forum (bulletin board) is also free of charge. The publication and modification of Product Sheets on the Site by the User require the use of a password allocated to the User after his or her acceptance of the Terms of Use and the creation of an account on the Site. This password gives the authorization to publish forum posts.

The User confirms that he or she is aged at least eighteen when accepting the Terms of Use. If this is not the case, the Site can only be accessed with the supervision of a legal representative or any person with responsibility for the minor.

The User undertakes not to divulge his or her password to any third parties. The User is responsible (1) for protecting his or her password and (2) the actions taken and information and other content published on the Site using his or her user name and/or password, whether the connection to the Site is made from his or her personal computer or from a computer freely accessible by the public (cybercafés, Internet access terminals in public places etc.).

The Host reserves the right to stop or interrupt the Site's availability at any time without prior notice at its own discretion, or to suspend the User's access to the Site and the services offered by the Site, particularly in cases of clear breach of these Terms of Use by the User.

The User is informed and acknowledges that access to the Site may be interrupted for reasons such as modifications, maintenance and updates, breakdowns or other technical reasons, cases of force majeure or other events beyond the control of the Host. Moreover, the User acknowledges that, despite the best efforts of the Host, the Internet has specific technical features that make it impossible for the Host to guarantee absolutely continuous access to the Site, response times and the security of data transmissions.

Article 3: Publishing content on the Site and Hyperlinks

The supply and updating of information on the Site depend on voluntary contributions from web users.

The User undertakes to publish on the Site only information and content (of any nature or type: text, images etc.) which:
- corresponds to the Site's purpose;
- the User considers in good faith to be relevant, accurate and complete;
- has been obtained by legal means;
- does not infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties (which undertaking includes the User's obligation, when publishing information on a food product, to specify the brand name associated with the product and the owner of the brand as precisely as possible);
- avoids advertising, i.e. does not aim to promote the food product in question or any other product;
- complies with the laws and regulations in force and with public order laws.

The User undertakes not to publish information and content likely to damage the image of the manufacturer of the food product in question and/or that is defamatory, derogatory, insulting, pornographic, discriminatory, racist or likely to incite hatred or violence.
The foregoing provisions apply to forum posts, too.

If the User takes and publishes on the Site one or more photographs of a product's packaging, he or she undertakes to ensure that the photographs are of the best possible quality so that the image is not degraded and the product/brand in question can be easily identified, and so that the accuracy of the information published on the Site on the composition/ingredients of the product can be easily verified.

The registered User (i.e. User with a password) can at any time modify the information published on the Site by him/her or by any user, exept with respect to the information about food products, which was supplied by the manufacturer(s) of those products. Modification is also denied for forum posts, which have been already published. Moreover, if the User finds an error in the information about a food product supplied by the manufacturer, he or she can contact the manufacturer via the e-mail address published on the Site by the Host.

With regard to hypertext links and linked sites, only simple surface links (showing only the Site's URL) to the Site's home page, rather than deep links, are allowed. The Host will not allow the Site to be incorporated into other websites in any way, in whole or in part, by means of techniques such as framing or insertion by hypertext link (inlining) without its prior agreement.

Article 4: Use of the content available on the Site - Liability

The information and Product Sheets available on the Site are provided for guidance only, and the Host offers no guarantees that they are accurate, complete and/or up to date. The Host simply makes the information available to the Users, and declines any and all liability.

The User acknowledges that the Host cannot be held liable for the content of the information and Product Sheets published, and where relevant modified, on the Site. The User retains sole liability for the information, opinions and evaluations of food products and, in general terms, all content he or she publishes on the Site.

Given that food product ingredient lists may be entered by volunteer web users and that manufacturers are not necessarily obliged to supply a full list of ingredients or elements used in the composition of food products (e.g. spice mixtures), the Product Sheets, information and other data contained on the Site may include typing errors, be inaccurate or be incomplete, and should be checked by the User before the product is consumed.

The User takes sole responsibility for the use he or she makes of the information and Product Sheets presented on the Site.

In no case can the Host be held liable for:
- damage of any kind arising directly or indirectly from the use of the Site and the information it contains, such as operational losses, financial losses or commercial losses, the loss of programs and/or data, particularly in the User's computer system,
- damage of any kind arising directly or indirectly from the content and/or use of websites linked to the Site or accessed by the User via the Site,
- any omissions and/or errors the Site may contain.

Neither can the Host be held liable for any breakdowns, downtime, interruptions or errors occurring at the Site or for any consequences that may arise from such breakdowns, downtime, interruptions or errors for the User or third parties.

The Host does not check the content of all websites linked to the Site via hypertext links. The Host cannot therefore accept any liability or provide any guarantee as to the content presented on websites linked to the Site, with regard to the legality, accuracy or relevance of such content and, where applicable, the way such sites handle personal data.

No provision in the Terms of Use should be taken to exclude the Host's liability in cases of gross or intentional fault on its part.

The User declares that he or she will take no action against the Host if proceedings are brought against him or her by a third party due to the illicit use and/or exploitation of the Site.

The Host is not liable for any virus transmission via the Site. The User is responsible for protecting his or her computer equipment and any data it contains when downloading information from the Site, using regularly updated antivirus software for example.

Article 5: Protection of personal data

Any personal data provided by the User to the Site (the "Data") will be processed in accordance with the Luxembourgian law of 2 August 2002 on protecting people with regard to the processing of personal data (the "Law").

The User may be asked to provide certain Data such as his or her name, postal address, e-mail address and other details such as his or her country and town of residence or any other information, requested from the User via forms designed for the purpose, particularly when registering for the services available or in the "Contact/Legal Notice" section of the Site. In these cases, the User will be informed whether or not the information is obligatory. Failure to provide obligatory information will prevent the User from accessing the services that require registration.

The Host undertakes to use the Data collected via the site solely for the purposes of the Site's technical management and to fulfil the legal obligations associated with managing the Site. The Data will not be used for any other purpose, and will not be kept any longer than is necessary to operate the Site and the services that require registration. The Data will not be transferred to any commercial company or other organisation within Luxembourg or abroad. The Host does however reserve the right to communicate the Data to a third party with the prior consent of the User or if the law or an authority with appropriate jurisdiction obliges it to do so.

In accordance with the Law, the User has the right to access, modify or object to any processing of Data held about him or her. To exercise this right, the User may contact the Host via e-mail at the following address: admin@wikifood.lu.

The IP address of the User's computer is automatically logged by the Host's system. This information does not identify the User personally, and the User remains anonymous unless he or she intentionally provides the Data.

The Host takes all the necessary precautionary measures to ensure the Data is secure. However, it is not possible to guard against all the risks associated with the use of the Internet. The User should thus be aware when sending Data that other Internet users may be able to see the Data.

Article 6: Changes to the Site and its content

The Host reserves the right to modify the Site, and in particular its presentation (structure, layout, graphical elements etc.) and technical interface.

The Host also reserves the right to remove or modify immediately and without warning any content on the Site that does not comply with the conditions of article 3 of the Terms of Use, and in particular any information or data entered on to the Site by the User that is plainly inaccurate and/or irrelevant.

The Host is free to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, publish and distribute any information and, in accordance with the provisions of article 7 ("Intellectual property"), any content protected by intellectual property law (such as photographs) relating to products and foods published by the User on the Site.

Article 7: Intellectual property

The User transfers his or her copyright to the Host for the use, reproduction, modification, adaptation, translation, publication and distribution of the Product Sheets, information and any content about food products he or she publishes on the Site, to the extent that the Product Sheets, information and other content is protected by copyright (such as, for example, photographs of products/packaging taken and published on the Site by the User).

The Site and all its elements, including its structure, layout, presentation, text, images, photographs, logos and other graphical elements, trademarks, drawings and models, software and any other elements the Site contains (the "Elements") are protected or likely to be protected under the regulations on intellectual property by the respective intellectual property rights of the Host, any partners of the Host, the manufacturers of the food products concerned or the operators of databases mentioned in article 1. In the context of these Terms of Use, these regulations should be taken to include regulations on literary, artistic and industrial property, in both Luxembourg law and in the relevant regulations of other countries or international regulations (the "Legislation"). The intellectual property rights described above include but are not limited to copyright, rights over databases and trademark rights. The User acknowledges that certain Elements may have been registered in a particular country or territory.

The User is authorised to download on to his or her computer and to print out the Elements and information available on the Site for her or her personal use, excluding any commercial use, in accordance with the applicable Legislation and the Terms of Use. All other forms of reproduction of the Elements are forbidden, and may in some cases contravene the applicable Legislation. The User may not modify, adapt, translate, publish, represent, distribute, concede under licence, transfer, sell or make available to third parties all or part of the Elements or use them for commercial purposes without the prior written consent of the Host or entitled party. The User may not create works derived from the Elements or create a database using the Site and the Elements and information it contains, for commercial purposes for example, without the prior written consent of the Host or entitled party.

Any infringement of the intellectual property rights described in this article may give rise to civil or criminal proceedings.

Article 8: Modifications to the Terms of Use - Nullity

The Host reserves the right to modify the provisions of these Terms of Use at any time, without prior notice or any compensation, in cases such as legislative changes or in response to developments in the Site's functions. The User is therefore advised to review them regularly.

If the User does not agree (or cannot comply) with the Terms of Use as modified by the Host, his or her only option is to stop visiting the Site. Visiting the Site after the publication on the Site of the changes made to the Terms of Use will be considered as the User's tacit acceptance of the modified Terms of Use.

If at any time a provision of the Terms of Use were found to be invalid, illegal, null or unenforceable by a court, or in any other circumstance, this invalidity, illegality, nullity or unenforceability would not affect in any way the validity, legality and enforceability of the other provisions of the Terms of Use, which would thus remain valid, legal and enforceable.

Article 9: General provisions

These Terms of Use constitute the sole agreement existing between the User and the Host with regard to the Site, and replace any previous agreements on the same subject.

Article 10: Applicable law - Allocation of jurisdiction

These Terms of Use are subject to Luxembourg laws.

Any disagreement as to the validity, interpretation and execution of these Terms of Use, as well as any dispute about the use of the Site, will be settled under Luxembourg laws and, in the absence of an amicable agreement between the Host and the User, will be submitted to the exclusive authority of the courts with jurisdiction in Luxembourg.

Last changes: $Date: 2008-11-17 09:45:31 $, $Author: herbst $


By clicking on the "Accept" button below, I declare and acknowledge having read, understood and accepted the General conditions of use of this website.
In case you haven't read them yet, please do so before proceeding or select "Decline".