The Food Safety Act 1990 made substantial changes to strengthen and update the previous food safety law.
It replaced the existing primary food legislation in England and Wales and in Scotland with a single statute covering the whole UK. The main feature of the Act is the number of enabling powers that it contains. This allows Ministers to make further regulations to implement food safety measures and produce codes of practice to bring about more consistent standards of enforcement.
Food has a very wide definition under the Act by including virtually anything that is eaten, drunk or sold as a food product. The definition of food also includes tap water (not covered under previous food legislation) and products of no nutritional value which are used for human consumption, such as:
(a) releasing agents used in bakeries
(b) food additives or colourings
(c) bulking agents used as an ingredient in some processed foods
(d) chewing gum
The sale of food includes offering food as a prize or reward or giving it away, as well as exchanging food for payment. If food is provided at a public function, sports event, concert, etc then this also constitutes selling.
Where food, either a finished product or an ingredient, is on any premises it is presumed to be for human consumption unless it can be proved otherwise.
Food law is usually enforced by local authorities, although Ministers do have some powers relating, in the main, to national emergency situations:-
1. Matters relating to public health (i.e. fitness of food, food hygiene) are dealt with by district councils through Environmental Health Officers (EHOs).
2. Matters relating to consumer protection (i.e. compositional standards of foodstuffs, labelling) are dealt with by county councils through trading standards officers (TSOs).
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