The Food Safety Act 1990 is vital to every consumer. In addition it is also vital to every producer, processor, manufacturer and retailer. Consumers expect that the food they buy and eat will be safe and will do them no harm. The Food Safety Act 1990 affects everyone who works in a business associated with food, including self employed people, non-profit making organisations as well as farmers, growers and caterers.

The Act aims to ensure that all food produced for sale is safe to eat, is of a particular quality and is not misleadingly represented. It also provides legal powers and penalties. The Act is enforced by central and local government. Environmental health officers have powers to enable them to enforce the Act and supplementary legislation.

Food legislation is changing on 1 January 2006.  This website will be updated.

What are the main offences under the Food Safety Act?

The main offences are:

• Selling, possessing for sale, food which does not comply with food safety requirements
• Rendering food injurious to health
• Selling to the purchasers prejudice, food which is not of the nature or substance or quality demanded
• Falsely or misleadingly describing or presenting food.

What are the food safety requirements?

The food safety requirements are that food throughout the food chain must not:

• Have been rendered injurious to health
• Be unfit
• Or be contaminated whether by extraneous matter or otherwise that it would be unreasonable to expect it to be eaten.

What is meant by rendering food injurious to health?

As well as being an offence to sell food which is harmful to health, it is also an offence to do anything which would make food harmful either by adding something to it or removing something from it.

When is food not of the nature or substance or quality?

This description covers such things as a product sold as haddock but which in fact is cod.

How can food be falsely or misleadingly described or presented?

This offence can occur when statements or pictorial material concerning food are untrue.

What is the defence of due diligence?

Under the Food Safety Act 1990 the principal defence is the defence of "Due Diligence".

It is designed to balance the proper protection of the consumer against defective food with the right of traders not to be convicted of an offence they have taken all reasonable care to avoid committing. This defence enables someone to be acquitted if they can prove they took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence.

What penalties can be imposed under the Food Safety Act?

A Magistrates Court can impose a fine up to £20,000 per offence and a prison sentence of up to six months. For most offences Crown Courts may impose unlimited fines and/or send offenders to prison for up to two years.

Is the Food Safety Act the only piece of legislation used?

No, many of the key provisions in food law are contained in regulations, which are specific to certain areas relating to food. For example there are regulations which relate to food labelling, food hygiene, temperature control and the registration of food premises.

Date Published: 28/03/08