Labelling of Food Order, 1953
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1953/536 |
| Year | 1953 |
1953 No. 536
The Labelling of Food Order, 195325thMarch 1953
26thMarch 1953
5thApril 1953
The Minister of Food, in pursuance of the powers conferred upon him by Regulation 2 of the Defence (Sale of Food) Regulations, 1943(a), as continued in force by the Emergency Laws (Continuance) Order, 1952(b), and of all other powers him enabling in that behalf, hereby orders as follows:—
PART I
Citation, Commencement and Interpretation
Citation and Commencement
1. This Order may be cited as the Labelling of Food Order, 1953, and shall come into operation on the 5th day of April, 1953; provided that the provisions referred to in Column 1 of the Fourth Schedule to this Order shall not have effect until the days specified in relation thereto in Column 2 of the said Schedule.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In this Order—
"The Minister" means the Minister of Food.
"Advertisement" includes any notice, circular, label, wrapper or other document, and any public announcement made orally or by any means of producing or transmitting light or sound.
"Biscuits" include shortbread, wafers, rusks, crispbreads, oatcakes, matzos and biscuits wholly or partly covered with chocolate.
"Flour confectionery" includes cake, pastry and ready-made puddings (other than canned puddings and Christmas puddings) but does not include biscuits or any product containing a filling that has as an ingredient any meat or fish.
"Food" means any article used as food or drink for human consumption and includes any substance which is intended for use in the composition or preparation of food, any flavouring, sweetening matter or condiment, and any colouring matter intended for use in food, and an article shall not be deemed not to be food by reason only that it is also capable of being used as a medicine.
"Food imported on government account" means food imported into the United Kingdom the property in which was at the time of importation vested in, or which was at that time consigned directly to, Her Majesty or a government department, or a person acting as agent for Her Majesty or a government department, in connection with any of the purposes specified in sub-section (1) of section one of the Supplies and Services (Transitional
(a) S.R. & O. 1943/1553: 1945/1454; 1943 II, p. 70; 1945 II, p. 95.
(b) S.I. 1952/2095; 1952 I, p. 945.
Powers) Act, 1945(a), as extended by the Supplies and Services (Extended Purposes) Act, 1947(b), and the Supplies and Services (Defence Purposes) Act, 1951(c).
"Intoxicating liquor" means spirits, wine, beer, cider, perry and sweets and any fermented, distilled or spirituous liquor which cannot be lawfully sold without an excise licence.
"Pre-packed" means packed or made up in advance ready for retail sale in a wrapper or container, and where any food packed or made up in a wrapper or container is found on any premises where such food is packed, kept or stored for sale, the food shall be deemed to be pre-packed unless the contrary is proved, and it shall not be sufficient proof of the contrary to show that the food had not been labelled in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
"Public Analyst" has the same meaning as in the Food and Drugs Act, 1938(d).
"Retail sale" means any sale to a person buying otherwise than for the purpose of re-sale, but does not include a sale to a caterer for the purposes of his catering business, or a sale to a manufacturer for the purposes of his manufacturing business.
(2) Any reference in this Order to a label marked on a wrapper or container shall be construed as including a reference to any legible marking on the wrapper or container however effected.
(3) Where any food is referred to in this Order, any description or definition of that food in any other Order of the Minister for the time being in force shall, unless a contrary intention appears, apply for the purposes of this Order and if such food is described or defined in an Order of the Minister regulating prices and also in any other Order of the Minister, only the description or definition mentioned in the first mentioned Order shall apply for the purposes of this Order.
(4) References in this Order to any Order or Regulations shall be construed as referring to that Order or those Regulations as amended by any subsequent Order or Regulations whether made before or after the making of this Order and, if any Order or Regulations referred to in this Order is or are replaced by any such subsequent Order or Regulations the references shall be construed as referring to that subsequent Order, or those subsequent Regulations.
PART II
Labelling of pre-packed food for sale by retail
3. No person shall sell by retail or display for sale by retail any pre-packed food, unless there appears on a label marked on or securely attached to the wrapper or container a true statement as to the matters hereinafter mentioned in this Part of this Order.
4.—(1) The said statement shall be clearly legible and shall appear conspicuously and in a prominent position on the label, and if the food is pre-packed in more than one wrapper or container, the label shall be marked on or attached to the innermost wrapper or container and, if it is not clearly legible through the outermost wrapper or container, a label bearing a like statement shall be marked on or securely attached to, or be clearly legible through, the outermost wrapper or container. For the purposes of this provision, a "liner" (that is to say, a plain immediate wrapping which under
(a) 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 10.
(d) 1 & 2 Geo. 6. c. 56.
ordinary conditions of use would not be removed from the next outer wrapper or container) shall not be counted as a wrapper or container.
(2) The said statement shall specify the name of either the packer or the labeller of the food and an address at which such person carries on business:
Provided that—
(a) where the food is packed or labelled on behalf of or on the instructions of another person and such other person carries on business at an address in the United Kingdom, the statement may specify the name and the said address of that other person instead of the name and address of the packer or labeller, as the case may be;
(b) it shall be sufficient if instead of the particulars specified in this paragraph there appears prominently on the label a trade mark (other than a certification trade mark) of which there is in the Trade Marks Register kept under the authority of the Trade Marks Act, 1938(a), a subsisting entry in respect of such food, and if there is associated therewith on the label the words "Registered Trade Mark".
(3) Except as respects intoxicating liquor pre-packed for sale as such, the said statement shall also specify—
(a) in the case of a food consisting of one ingredient the appropriate designation of the ingredient;
(b) in the case of a food made of two or more ingredients the common or usual name (if any) of the food and the appropriate designation of each ingredient, and, unless the quantity or proportion of each ingredient is specified, the ingredients shall be specified in the order of the proportion in which they were used, the ingredient used in the greatest proportion (by weight) being specified first:
Provided that—
(i) it shall not be necessary to state that the food contains water;
(ii) where a food contains an ingredient which is made from two or more constituents, the appropriate designations of those constituents shall be so specified and it shall not be necessary to specify the appropriate designation of that ingredient.
For the purposes of this paragraph "appropriate designation" means a name or description, being a specific and not a generic name or description, which shall indicate to a prospective purchaser the true nature of the ingredient or constituent to which it is applied.
(4) (a) In the case of intoxicating liquor pre-packed for sale as such the said statement shall also specify the appropriate designation of the product and (except in the case of beer, cider and perry and of wine obtained by the fermentation in the district of its origin of the juice of freshly gathered grapes which wine has not been subject to any process so as to alter its character) such one of the following declarations as may be applicable or such other declaration substantially to the like effect as may be allowed by the Minister, that is to say:—
(i) in the case of undistilled fermented liquor, not made from freshly gathered grapes, which in so far as it is derived from fruit, is derived exclusively from one variety of fruit:—
FRUIT BASIS EXCLUSIVELY (x)
NOT LESS THAN (y)
(a) 1 & 2 Geo. 6. c. 22.
(ii) in the case of undistilled fermented liquor, not made from freshly gathered grapes, derived from more than one variety of fruit:—
FRUIT BASIS (x) AND (x)
NOT LESS THAN (y)
(iii) in the case of undistilled fermented liquor which is not derived wholly or in part from fruit:—
NOT MADE FROM FRUIT
NOT LESS THAN (y)
(iv) in the case of brandy, gin, rum and whisky, the alcohol content of which is less than 65 per cent. proof spirit:—
DILUTED WITH WATER TO NOT
LESS THAN (y)
Provided that this requirement shall not apply to brandy the alcohol content of which has fallen below 65 per cent. proof spirit only through maturing in cask;
(v) in the case of any other intoxicating liquor to which the requirements of this paragraph (4) as to declaration apply:—
NOT LESS THAN (y)
The declaration shall be completed by inserting at (x) in cases (i) and (ii) a word or words accurately specifying the description of fruit or fruit products as used by the manufacturer in the process of fermentation and at (y) in cases (i) (ii) (iii) and (v), except as respects brandy the alcohol content of which has fallen below 65 per cent. proof spirit only through maturing in cask, the minimum alcohol content expressed in figures either as a percentage by volume or as a percentage of proof spirit and followed by the words "PER...
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