Food safety law and regulatory framework for artisan and small scale producers. Injurious food, inspection, detention, seizure, additives, alerts, recalls.

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The Food Safety Act 1990 predates general food law Regulation (EC) 178/2002 by some 12 years and remains the original source of domestic UK food law.

The Food Standards Agency summarises the main responsibilities of food businesses under the 1990 Act as being to ensure:

1. You do not include anything in food, remove anything from food or treat food in any way which means it would be damaging to the health of people eating it.
2. The food you serve or sell is of the nature, substance or quality which consumers would expect.
3. The food is labelled, advertised and presented in a way that is not false or misleading.

Sections 7 to 9 of the Food Safety Act 1990 comprise the core of the 1990 Act, which must be read in conjunction with Article 14 of general food law Regulation (EC) 178/2002. Food producers are prohibited from placing unsafe products on the market under the provisions of The General Product Safety Regulations 2005, which gave effect to EU Directive 2001/95/EC. Food and feed come within the remit of the 2005 Regulations; it has limited application in that it only applies where there is no provision with the same objective.

Section 9 of the Food Safety Act 1990 and regulation 29 of The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 set out the powers of an authorised officer to inspect, detain and seize suspected food. The powers to inspect and seize suspect food contained in section 9 of the Food Safety Act 1990 continued largely unaffected by Regulation (EC) 178/2002 although these now relate to the food safety requirements set out in Article 14. The Food Standards Agency’s Food Law Practice Guidance sets out the circumstances where the use of powers under section 9 to detain and seiz

Sections 7 to 9 of the Food Safety Act 1990 and Article 14 of general food law Regulation (EC) 178/2002 provide the framework for general food safety law. In addition, there are specific measures that deal with the chemical safety of food and control the extent to which certain groups of substances may be present in or on food. These groups comprise additives, flavourings, contaminants and residues.

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Investigating and managing incidents to ensure food safety is a key part of the work of the Food Standards Agency (FSA). The Incidents and Resilience Unit of the FSA maintains the Incident Management Plan for Non-Routine Incidents. The FSA defines a food incident as:

"Any event where, based on the information available, there are concerns about actual or suspected threats to the safety, quality or integrity of food and/or feed that could require intervention to protect consumers’ interests. Quality should be considered to include food standards, authenticity and composition."

The Food Standards Agency’s Incident Management Plan for Non-Routine Incidents defines a food incident as:

(A)ny event where, based on the information available, there are concerns about actual or suspected threats to the safety, quality or integrity of food and/or feed that could require intervention to protect consumers’ interests. Quality should be considered to include food standards, authenticity and composition.

The UK operates a system of food alerts but since 1 January 2021 no longer plays an active part in the EU Commission Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) network. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) continues to receive information that affects the UK.

Emergency measures may be taken under Article 53 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002 and the following measures:

  • Regulation 29 of The Trade in Animals and Related Products Regulations 2011
  • Regulation 35 of The Official Feed and Food Controls (England) Regulations 2009

In addition, there are powers under:

  • Section 13 of the Food Safety Act 1990
  • Section 1 of the Food and the Environment Protection Act 1985