Food Safety Act 1990

Part I — PRELIMINARY

Meaning of “food” and other basic expressions.

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• (1) In this Act “food” has the same meaning as it has in Regulation ( EC ) No. 178/2002 .

• (2) In this Act “Regulation ( EC ) No. 178/2002 ” means Regulation ( EC ) No. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety.

• (3) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “business” includes the undertaking of a canteen, club, school, hospital or institution, whether carried on for profit or not, and any undertaking or activity carried on by a public or local authority;

• “commercial operation”, in relation to any food or contact material, means any of the following, namely—

• (a) selling, possessing for sale and offering, exposing or advertising for sale;

• (b) consigning, delivering or serving by way of sale;

• (c) preparing for sale or presenting, labelling or wrapping for the purpose of sale;

• (d) storing or transporting for the purpose of sale;

• (e) importing and exporting;

and, in relation to any food source, means deriving food from it for the purpose of sale or for purposes connected with sale;

• “contact material” means any article or substance which is intended to come into contact with food;

• “food business” means any business in the course of which commercial operations with respect to food or food sources are carried out;

• “food premises” means any premises used for the purposes of a food business;

• “food source” means any growing crop or live animal, bird or fish from which food is intended to be derived (whether by harvesting, slaughtering, milking, collecting eggs or otherwise);

• “premises” includes any place, any vehicle, stall or moveable structure and, for such purposes as may be specified in an order made by the Secretary of State, any ship or aircraft of a description so specified.

• (4) The reference in subsection (3) above to preparing for sale shall be construed, in relation to any contact material, as a reference to manufacturing or producing for the purpose of sale.

Extended meaning of “sale” etc.

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• (1) For the purposes of this Act—

• (a) the supply of food, otherwise than on sale, in the course of a business; and

• (b) any other thing which is done with respect to food and is specified in an order made by the Secretary of State,

shall be deemed to be a sale of the food, and references to purchasers and purchasing shall be construed accordingly.

• (2) This Act shall apply—

• (a) in relation to any food which is offered as a prize or reward or given away in connection with any entertainment to which the public are admitted, whether on payment of money or not, as if the food were, or had been, exposed for sale by each person concerned in the organisation of the entertainment;

• (b) in relation to any food which, for the purpose of advertisement or in furtherance of any trade or business, is offered as a prize or reward or given away, as if the food were, or had been, exposed for sale by the person offering or giving away the food; and

• (c) in relation to any food which is exposed or deposited in any premises for the purpose of being so offered or given away as mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) above, as if the food were, or had been, exposed for sale by the occupier of the premises;

and in this subsection “entertainment” includes any social gathering, amusement, exhibition, performance, game, sport or trial of skill.

Presumptions that food intended for human consumption.

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• (1) The following provisions shall apply for the purposes of this Act.

• (2) Any food commonly used for human consumption shall, if sold or offered, exposed or kept for sale, be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to have been sold or, as the case may be, to have been or to be intended for sale for human consumption.

• (3) The following, namely—

• (a) any food commonly used for human consumption which is found on premises used for the preparation, storage, or sale of that food; and

• (b) any article or substance commonly used in the manufacture of food for human consumption which is found on premises used for the preparation, storage or sale of that food,

shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to be intended for sale, or for manufacturing food for sale, for human consumption.

• (4) Any article or substance capable of being used in the composition or preparation of any food commonly used for human consumption which is found on premises on which that food is prepared shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to be intended for such use.

Ministers having functions under Act.

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Food authorities and authorised officers.

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• (1) Subject to subsections (3) and (4) below, the food authorities in England . . . are—

• (a) as respects each London borough, district or non-metropolitan county, the council of that borough, district or county;

• (b) as respects the City of London (including the Temples), the Common Council;

• (c) as respects the Inner Temple or the Middle Temple, the appropriate Treasurer.

• (d) as respects the Isles of Scilly, the council of the Isles of Scilly.

• (1A) Subject to subsection (3)(a) and (b) below, the food authorities in Wales are, as respects each county or county borough, the council of that county or county borough.

• (2) Subject to subsection (3)(a) below, the food authorities in Scotland are the councils constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.

• (3) Where any functions under this Act are assigned—

• (a) by an order under section 2 or 7 of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, to a port health authority or, by an order under section 172 of the Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897, to a port local authority;

• (b) by an order under section 6 of the Public Health Act 1936, to a joint board for a united district; or

• (c) by an order under paragraph 15(6) of Schedule 8 to the Local Government Act 1985, to a single authority for a metropolitan county,

any reference in this Act to a food authority shall be construed, so far as relating to those functions, as a reference to the authority to whom they are so assigned.

• (4) The Secretary of Statemay by order provide, either generally or in relation to cases of a particular description, that any functions under this Act which are exercisable concurrently—

• (a) as respects a non-metropolitan district, by the council of that district and the council of the non-metropolitan county;

• (b) as respects the Inner Temple or the Middle Temple, by the appropriate Treasurer and the Common Council,

shall be exercisable solely by such one of those authorities as may be specified in the order.

• (5) In this section—

• “the appropriate Treasurer” means the Sub-Treasurer in relation to the Inner Temple and the Under Treasurer in relation to the Middle Temple;

• “the Common Council” means the Common Council of the City of London;

• “port local authority” includes a joint port local authority.

• (6) In this Act “authorised officer”, in relation to a food authority, means any person (whether or not an officer of the authority) who is authorised by them in writing, either generally or specially, to act in matters arising under this Act; but if regulations made by the Secretary of State so provide, no person shall be so authorised unless he has such qualifications as may be prescribed by the regulations.

Enforcement of Act.

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• (1) In this Act “the enforcement authority”, in relation to any provisions of this Act or any regulations or orders made under it, means the authority by whom they are to be enforced and executed.

• (2) Every food authority shall enforce and execute within their area the provisions of this Act with respect to which the duty is not imposed expressly or by necessary implication on some other authority.

• (3) The Secretary of State may direct, in relation to cases of a particular description or a particular case, that any duty imposed on food authorities by subsection (2) above shall be discharged by the Secretary of State . . . or the Food Standards Agency and not by those authorities.

• (4) Regulations or orders under this Act shall specify which of the following authorities are to enforce and execute them, either generally or in relation to cases of a particular description or a particular area, namely—

• (a) . . . , . . . the Secretary of State, the Food Standards Agency, food authorities and such other authorities as are mentioned in section 5(3) above; and

• (b) in the case of regulations, the Commissioners of Customs and Excise;

and any such regulations or orders may provide for the giving of assistance and information, by any authority concerned in the administration of the regulations or orders, or of any provisions of this Act, to any other authority so concerned, for the purposes of their respective duties under them.

• (4A) In the application of subsections (3) and (4) to Scotland, the references to the Food Standards Agency are to be read as references to Food Standards Scotland.

• (5) An enforcement authority in England and Wales may institute proceedings under any provisions of this Act or any regulations or orders made under it . . ..

• (5A) The Secretary of State may take over the conduct of any such proceedings which have been instituted by some other person.

• (5B) The Secretary of State may direct the Food Standards Agency to take over the conduct of any such proceedings which have been instituted by some person other than the Agency.

• (5C) The Food Standards Agency may take over the conduct of any such proceedings which have been instituted by some other person, but (unless the Agency has been directed to do so under subsection (5B) above) only with the consent of the person who instituted them.

• (6) In this Act “authorised officer”, in relation to an enforcement authority, means any person (whether or not an officer of the authority) who is authorised by the authority in writing, either generally or specially, to act in matters arising under this Act and regulations and orders made under it; but if regulations made by the Secretary of Stateso provide, no person shall be so authorised unless he has such qualifications as may be prescribed by the regulations.

Part II — MAIN PROVISIONS

Food safety

Rendering food injurious to health.

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• (1) Any person who renders any food injurious to health by means of any of the following operations, namely—

• (a) adding any article or substance to the food;

• (b) using any article or substance as an ingredient in the preparation of the food;

• (c) abstracting any constituent from the food; and

• (d) subjecting the food to any other process or treatment,

with intent that it shall be sold for human consumption, shall be guilty of an offence.

• (2) In determining for the purposes of this section whether any food is injurious to health, regard shall be had to the matters specified in sub–paragraphs (a) to (c) of Article 14(4) of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Selling food not complying with food safety requirements.

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• (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) For the purposes of this Part food fails to comply with food safety requirements if it is unsafe within the meaning of Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 and references to food safety requirements or to food complying with such requirements shall be construed accordingly.

• (4) For the purposes of this Part, any part of, or product derived wholly or partly from, an animal—

• (a) which has been slaughtered in a knacker’s yard, or of which the carcase has been brought into a knacker’s yard; or

• (b) in Scotland, which has been slaughtered otherwise than in a slaughterhouse,

shall be deemed to be unfit for human consumption.

• (5) In subsection (4) above, in its application to Scotland, “animal” means any description of cattle, sheep, goat, swine, horse, ass or mule; and paragraph (b) of that subsection shall not apply where accident, illness or emergency affecting the animal in question required it to be slaughtered as mentioned in that paragraph.

Inspection and seizure of suspected food.

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• (1) An authorised officer of a food authority may at all reasonable times inspect any food intended for human consumption which—

• (a) has been sold or is offered or exposed for sale; ...

• (b) is in the possession of, or has been deposited with or consigned to, any person for the purpose of sale or of preparation for sale;

or

• (c) is otherwise placed on the market within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002.

and subsections (3) to (9) below shall apply where, on such an inspection, it appears to the authorised officer that any food fails to comply with food safety requirements.

• (2) The following provisions shall also apply where, otherwise than on such an inspection, it appears to an authorised officer of a food authority that any food is likely to cause food poisoning or any disease communicable to human beings.

• (3) The authorised officer may either—

• (a) give notice to the person in charge of the food that, until the notice is withdrawn, the food or any specified portion of it—

• (i) is not to be used for human consumption; and

• (ii) either is not to be removed or is not to be removed except to some place specified in the notice; or

• (b) seize the food and remove it in order to have it dealt with by a justice of the peace;

and any person who knowingly contravenes the requirements of a notice under paragraph (a) above shall be guilty of an offence.

• (4) Where the authorised officer exercises the powers conferred by subsection (3)(a) above, he shall, as soon as is reasonably practicable and in any event within 21 days, determine whether or not he is satisfied that the food complies with food safety requirements and—

• (a) if he is so satisfied, shall forthwith withdraw the notice;

• (b) if he is not so satisfied, shall seize the food and remove it in order to have it dealt with by a justice of the peace.

• (5) Where an authorised officer exercises the powers conferred by subsection (3)(b) or (4)(b) above, he shall inform the person in charge of the food of his intention to have it dealt with by a justice of the peace and—

• (a) any person who under section 7 , regulation 19(1) of the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, so far as relating to the second entry in the list of specified EU provisions set out in column 1 of Schedule 2 to those Regulations or regulation 4(a) 4(b) of the General Food Regulations 2004 might be liable to a prosecution in respect of the food shall, if he attends before the justice of the peace by whom the food falls to be dealt with, be entitled to be heard and to call witnesses; and

• (b) that justice of the peace may, but need not, be a member of the court before which any person is charged with an offence under that section in relation to that food.

• (6) If it appears to a justice of the peace, on the basis of such evidence as he considers appropriate in the circumstances, that any food falling to be dealt with by him under this section fails to comply with food safety requirements, he shall condemn the food and order—

• (a) the food to be destroyed or to be so disposed of as to prevent it from being used for human consumption; and

• (b) any expenses reasonably incurred in connection with the destruction or disposal to be defrayed by the owner of the food.

• (7) If a notice under subsection (3)(a) above is withdrawn, or the justice of the peace by whom any food falls to be dealt with under this section refuses to condemn it, the food authority shall compensate the owner of the food for any depreciation in its value resulting from the action taken by the authorised officer.

• (8) Any disputed question as to the right to or the amount of any compensation payable under subsection (7) above shall be determined by arbitration.

• (9) In the application of this section to Scotland—

• (a) any reference to a justice of the peace includes a reference to the sheriff and to a magistrate;

• (b) paragraph (b) of subsection (5) above shall not apply;

• (c) any order made under subsection (6) above shall be sufficient evidence in any proceedings under this Act of the failure of the food in question to comply with food safety requirements; and

• (d) the reference in subsection (8) above to determination by arbitration shall be construed as a reference to determination by a single arbiter appointed, failing agreement between the parties, by the sheriff.

Improvement notices.

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• (1) If an authorised officer of an enforcement authority has reasonable grounds for believing that the proprietor of a food business is failing to comply with any regulations to which this section applies, he may, by a notice served on that proprietor (in this Act referred to as an “improvement notice”)—

• (a) state the officer’s grounds for believing that the proprietor is failing to comply with the regulations;

• (b) specify the matters which constitute the proprietor’s failure so to comply;