Food Labelling Regulations 1984
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1984/1305 |
| Year | 1984 |
1984 No. 1305
FOOD
LABELLING, DESCRIPTIONS, ETC.
The Food Labelling Regulations 198415thAugust 1984
29thAugust 1984
19thSeptember 1984
ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Regulation
1. Title and commencement.
2. Interpretation.
3. Exemptions.
PART II
PRESENTATION
4. Prohibition of misleading presentation.
PART III
FOOD TO BE DELIVERED AS SUCH TO THE ULTIMATE CONSUMER OR TO CATERERS
Scope and general labelling requirement
5. Scope of Part III.
6. General labelling requirement.
Name of the food
7. Name prescribed by law.
8. Customary name.
9. Indication of true nature of food.
10. Form of name.
11. Trade marks, brand names and fancy names.
12. Indication of physical condition or treatment.
List of ingredients
13. Heading of list of ingredients.
14. Order of list of ingredients.
15. Names of ingredients.
16. Compound ingredients.
17. Added water.
18. Ingredients which need not be named.
19. Foods which need not bear a list of ingredients.
Ingredients given special emphasis
20. Indication of minimum or maximum percentage of ingredients.
Indication of minimum durability
21. Form of indication of minimum durability.
22. Foods which need not bear an indication of minimum durability.
Instructions for use
23. Requirements relating to instructions for use.
Omission of certain particulars
24. Food which is not prepacked and similar food.
25. Fancy confectionery products.
26. Indication of additives.
27. Small packages.
28. Food for immediate consumption where sold.
29. Other food for immediate consumption.
Additional labelling requirements for certain categories of food
30. Food sold from vending machines.
31. Alcoholic drinks.
Manner of marking or labelling
32. General requirement.
33. Food to which regulation 24, 25, 28 or 29 applies.
34. Intelligibility.
35. Field of vision.
PART IV
CLAIMS AND MISLEADING DESCRIPTIONS
36. Claims.
37. Supplementary provisions relating to claims.
38. Misleading descriptions.
39. The word "wine".
PART V
OFFENCES AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
40. Offences and penalties.
41. Enforcement.
42. Defences.
43. Application of various provisions of the Act.
PART VI
AMENDMENT, REVOCATIONS AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISION
44. Amendment of Cocoa and Chocolate Products Regulations 1976.
45. Revocations.
46. Transitional provision.
SCHEDULES:
Schedule 1 — Names prescribed by law.
Schedule 2 — Indications of treatment.
Schedule 3 — Generic names in list of ingredients.
Schedule 4 — Categories of additives which must be identified in a list of ingredients by their category name.
Schedule 5 — Serial numbers for additives.
Schedule 6 — Claims:
Part 1 - Prohibited Claims.
Part 11 - Restricted Claims.
Schedule 7 — Misleading descriptions.
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Social Services and the Secretary of State for Wales, acting jointly, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 4, 7 and 123 of the Food and Drugs Act 1955(a), and now vested in them(b), and, being Ministers designated(c) for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972(d) in relation to the presentation and packaging of food intended for sale for human consumption, acting jointly, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by the said section 2(2), and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following regulations, after consultation in accordance with section 123(6) of the said Act of 1955 with such organisations as appear to them to be representative of interests substantially affected by the regulations:—
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Title and commencement
1. These regulations may be cited as the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 and shall come into operation on 19th September 1984.
Interpretation
2.— (1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—
"the Act" means the Food and Drugs Act 1955;
"additive" means any substance, not commonly regarded or used as food, which is added to, or used in or on, food at any stage to affect its keeping qualities, texture, consistency, appearance, taste, odour, alkalinity or acidity, or to serve any other technological function in relation to food, and includes processing aids in so far as they are added to, or used in or on, food as aforesaid, but does not include—
(a) vitamins, minerals or other nutrients in so far as they are used solely for the purpose of fortifying or enriching food or of restoring the constituents of food,
(b) herbs or spices when used as seasoning,
(c) hops,
(d) salt,
(e) yeast or yeast extracts,
(f) the total products of any hydrolysis or autolysis of food protein,
(g) starter cultures,
(h) malt or malt extract,
(a) 1955 c.16 (4 & 5 Eliz. 2); section 4 was amended by paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 4 to the European Communities Act 1972 (c.68); section 123 was amended by section 4 of the Food and Drugs (Amendment) Act 1982 (c.26), and by section 46 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c.48).
(b) In the case of the Secretary of State for Social Services by virtue of S.I. 1968/1699 and in the case of the Secretary of State for Wales by virtue of S.I. 1978/272.
(c) S.I. 1981/833.
(d) 1972 c.68.
(i) any substance which is present in food solely as a result of its addition to animal, bird or fish feedingstuffs or its use in a process or treatment carried out in crop husbandry, animal husbandry, veterinary medicine or storage (including any pesticide, fumigant, sprout depressant or veterinary medicine), or
(j) air or water;
"the additives regulations" means the Colouring Matter in Food Regulations 1973(a), the Antioxidants in Food Regulations 1978(b), the Preservatives in Food Regulations 1979(c), the Emulsifiers and Stabilisers in Food Regulations 1980(d), and the Miscellaneous Additives in Food Regulations 1980(e);
"advertisement" has the same meaning as in the Act, except that it does not include any form of labelling, and "advertise" shall be construed accordingly;
"alcoholic strength by mass" and "alcoholic strength by volume" have the meanings assigned to them by the Alcohol Tables Regulations 1979(f);
"aromatised wine" means vermouth or any other wine flavoured with aromatic extracts;
"biscuits" includes wafers, rusks, oatcakes and matzos;
"carbohydrate" means any carbohydrate which is metabolised in man and includes sugar alcohols;
"catering establishment" means a restaurant, canteen, club, public house, school, hospital or other establishment (including a vehicle or a fixed or mobile stall) where, in the course of a business, food is prepared for delivery to the ultimate consumer for immediate consumption;
"chocolate confectionery" means any food which is ready for consumption without further preparation, of which a characterising ingredient is chocolate, cocoa or non-fat cocoa solids, and includes food of which a characterising ingredient is carbohydrate sweetening matter and which has a chocolate or chocolate-flavoured coating, but does not include any biscuits, chocolate products, flour confectionery or edible ice;
"chocolate product" has the meaning assigned to it by the Cocoa and Chocolate Products Regulations 1976(g);
"confectionery product" means any item of chocolate confectionery or sugar confectionery;
"disease" includes any injury, ailment or adverse condition, whether of body or mind;
"edible ice" includes ice-cream, water ice and fruit ice, whether alone or in combination, and any similar food;
(a) S.I. 1973/1340; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1975/1488, 1976/2086, 1978/1787.
(b) S.I. 1978/105; the relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1980/1831.
(c) S.I. 1979/752; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1980/931, 1981/1063, 1982/15.
(d) S.I. 1980/1833; the relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1982/16, 1983/1810.
(e) S.I. 1980/1834; the relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1982/14.
(f) S.I. 1979/132.
(g) S.I. 1976/541.
"flour confectionery" means any cooked food which is ready for consumption without further preparation (other than reheating), of which a characterising ingredient is ground cereal, including shortbread, sponges, crumpets, muffins, macaroons, ratafias, pastry and pastry cases, and also includes meringues, petits fours and uncooked pastry and pastry cases, but does not include bread, pizzas, biscuits, crispbread, extruded flat bread or any food containing a filling which has as an ingredient any cheese, meat, offal, fish, shellfish, vegetable protein material or microbial protein material;
"ingredient". means any substance, including any additive and any constituent of a compound ingredient, which is used in the preparation of a food and which is still present in the finished product, even if in altered form;
"intense sweetener" means acesulfame potassium, aspartame, saccharin, sodium saccharin, calcium saccharin or thaumatin;
"labelling", in relation to a food, includes any words, particulars, trade mark, brand name, pictorial matter or symbol relating to the food and appearing on the packaging of the food or on any document, notice, label, ring or collar accompanying the food;
"liqueur wine"—
(a) in relation to a drink produced in the European Economic Community, has the meaning assigned to it by Annex II to Council Regulation (EEC) No. 337/79(a) on the common organization of the market in wine, and
(b) in relation to a drink produced elsewhere, has the meaning assigned to it by article 2 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 339/79(b), as amended(c), defining certain products falling within heading Nos. 20.07, 22.04 and 22.05 of the Common Customs Tariff and originating in third countries;
"prepacked", in relation to a food, means put into packaging (including a confining band) before being offered for sale in such a way that the food, whether wholly or only partly enclosed, cannot be altered without opening or changing the packaging and is ready for sale to the ultimate consumer or to a catering establishment, and includes a food which is wholly enclosed in packaging before being offered for sale and which is intended to be...
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