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Optional Enquiry 19: Food Safety Notices

Document Cited authorities 5 Cited in Related
Vincent
AuthorKeith Pugsley/Ken Miles
Pages183-186
Optional Enquiry 19: Food Safety Notices

What outstanding statutory notices or informal notices have been issued by the local authority under the Food Safety Act 1990 or the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013?

This optional enquiry deals with improvement notices issued in respect of the premises under the provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990, and hygiene improvement notices issued under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/2996). It is appropriate to raise this enquiry only if the premises which are the subject of the search are used for the purposes of a food business, or are intended to be so used.

‘Food’ includes drink, articles of no nutritional value used for human consumption, chewing gum and substances used as ingredients in food preparation. The definition does not include live animals or fish, animal fodder or feeding stuffs, controlled drugs or medicines.

‘Business’ includes canteens, clubs, schools, hospitals or institutions and activities carried out by local authorities and the like.

The Food Safety Act 1990 is the basis of a system of food law designed to control food manufacture, composition, labelling and advertising. The regime, which consists of this Act and many detailed sets of regulations, also regulates food distribution practice. It is enforced variously by the county, district and London borough councils as food authorities for their areas.

A variety of offences is created by the Food Safety Act 1990, including the rendering of food injurious to health (e.g. by adulteration) and selling food not complying with food safety requirements (e.g. where it is unfit for human consumption). Authorised officers of food authorities may inspect food intended for human consumption at all reasonable times if it is being, or has been, offered for sale.

Improvement notices

An authorised officer of an enforcement authority may, if he has reasonable grounds for believing that the proprietor of a food business is failing to comply with certain regulations (for instance, for prohibiting the use of any process in the preparation of food, or for securing hygienic conditions and practices), serve on

184 Enquiries of Local Authorities and Water Companies

the proprietor an improvement notice under section 10 of the Food Safety Act 1990.

The notice must state the grounds for the officer’s belief in failure to comply with the regulations; specify the failure to comply and the measures which should be taken...

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