The law sets out rules that cover the preparation, composition and labelling of food supplied for human consumption. In broad terms the quality must meet the expectations of the consumer, it must be as described and not presented in a way that misleads the consumer, and nothing may be added or removed that would make it harmful to health. The rules covering food safety can be divided into two broad areas: the preparation of a product (for example, hygiene) and the finished product (such as labelling and presentation).
Food businesses and handlers must ensure that their practices minimise the risk of harm to the consumer. Millions of people in the UK are affected by food poisoning each year, so food hygiene is a key priority if you prepare or handle food. There are a number of key risks, including illness or death from food poisoning, increased consumer complaints, loss of reputation, legal action and fines.
There are seven issues that must be considered by businesses that prepare and handle food:
- contamination
- temperature controls
- storage and preservation
- personal hygiene
- pest control
- cleaning and disinfection
- food safety management
This area is covered by Environmental Health rather than Trading Standards. Contact your local Environmental Health service for advice on these issues.
Food safety
Quality and composition
There are rules that cover the make-up of a range of foods that could be high risk if lower-quality ingredients or products have been used. These foodstuffs include bottled mineral water, jams and meat products. The composition and labelling requirements for such high-risk foods are covered in regulations that are designed to protect consumers from illegal changes to foods.
Quality and labelling
The law sets out what is required to be shown on food packaging. This is to allow the consumer to make an informed choice. Prepacked foods are supplied to you already packaged. Non-prepacked foods are those that are sold unwrapped – for example, in restaurants, bakeries, deli counters or salad bars. Foods may also be sold ‘prepacked for direct sale’, which is where the food is packaged on the same premises as they are sold, or from a mobile stall or vehicle used by the packer. Examples include meat pies or sandwiches packaged in and sold from a shop.
Prepacked food
If you sell food that is prepacked you must give the following information:
- a list of ingredients (unless the product is a single ingredient and the name of the product is the ingredient); allergenic ingredients must be emphasised in some way (such as bolding) each time they appear in the list
- a quantitative declaration (QUID) of certain ingredients
- the name and address of the responsible food business operator
- a nutrition declaration (unless exempt; see the In-depth Guide for more information)
- traceability information such as a lot number (unless the best-before / use-by date is sufficient for traceability purposes)
- any special storage conditions (if necessary)
- instructions for use or cooking (if necessary)
- origin marking (only if the customer would be misled as to the origin without it)
- any required warnings – for example, if food contains aspartame the following wording must be given: ‘Contains a source of phenylalanine’
Non-prepacked food
If you sell non-prepacked (loose, packaged at the request of the consumer) food in your shop or you run a catering business, the rules are different. You only need to show:
- the name of the food
- if any ingredients have been irradiated
- if any ingredients have come from GM sources
- certain warnings
- allergen information (or a notice advising that this is available on request)
Eggs
Eggs sold directly to the consumer from a farm, by door-to-door delivery, or from a market or boot sale do not need to be weight graded or stamped but must be labelled with a best-before date, a statement that eggs should be kept refrigerated after purchase, and in certain circumstances the production site’s name and address or individual code. These requirements do not apply to graded or cracked eggs. There are specific provisions for the labelling of free-range eggs and barn eggs.
If you sell your own eggs at a farmers’ market or car boot sale and have more than 50 laying hens you must be registered with, and be inspected by, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the eggs must be marked with the method of production, as below, together with your producer identity number and the country of origin.
A best-before date must be given (‘best before’ followed by a date) and this must be a maximum of 28 days after the date of lay. When applying the best-before date, consideration should be given to any thin-shelled eggs and the storage of eggs in high ambient temperatures. The best-before date does not have to be stamped on to the egg, but it must be at least supplied with it.
Appropriate storage information (such as ‘keep chilled after purchase’) should be provided. For local public markets or car boot sales, eggs must be individually stamped with a code that states the production site and farming method. A notice must be displayed explaining the meaning of the letters and numbers that form the code stamped on the egg.
Eggs sold in one of the three ways described above cannot be marked or advertised with a weight grade or class. For more information on this and other labelling requirements, please see ‘Retail sale and labelling of eggs’. The only exception to the above labelling requirements is where the eggs on sale are produced on the premises from which they are being sold. In this case the eggs need not be weight graded or marked with any information; however, a best-before date must be given.
Food allergens and intolerance
In the UK about ten people die every year from an allergic reaction to food, and many more end up in hospital. In most cases, the food that causes the reaction is from a restaurant or takeaway. There is a list of 14 specific food allergens, the presence of which must always be brought to the attention of the consumer. Failure to do so is a criminal offence and, in the most extreme cases, could cause someone to die.
It is a general requirement of food law that unsafe food must not be placed on the market. Consumers will take into consideration any information provided by the business when deciding whether food is safe for them to eat. For people with food allergies, dishes containing the food they react to are ‘unsafe’ and, therefore, you must ensure that you give full and accurate information about which allergens are in the food.
You must declare if any of the following 14 allergens are present in the food:
- cereals containing gluten, such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut and their hybridised strains
- peanuts (also called groundnuts)
- nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios, macadamias and Queensland nuts
- fish
- crustaceans (includes crabs, lobsters, shrimps and prawns)
- molluscs (includes mussels, cockles, oysters, scallops, squid and octopus)
- sesame seeds
- eggs
- milk and milk products (including lactose)
- soy beans
- celery
- lupin
- mustard
- sulphur dioxide and sulphites at levels above 10 mg per kg or 10 mg per litre expressed as SO2
This requirement relates not only to the ingredients (and their components) that are used in the product but to anything that is still present in the final product, even in an altered form. This includes:
- additives present in the ingredients that are carried over into the final product – for example, sulphur dioxide, which is used as a preservative
- processing aids used to assist in the manufacturing process – for example, frying with peanut oil or using it to line trays and moulds
- solvents and media for additives or flavourings – for example, the liquids used to produce a suspension
- any other substances
Nutrition and health claims
A claim is any food information, message or communication that is not required by law and states, suggests or implies that food has certain characteristics. For example, a nutrition declaration that states the amount of protein in the food is not a ‘claim’ because a nutrition declaration is required by legislation; however, the statement ‘A good source of protein’ is a ‘claim’ because it is not required by legislation.
The definition of ‘claim’ includes both written and spoken information, and includes pictures, graphics and symbols. There are three types of claims made on foods: general claims, nutrition claims and health claims. General claims do not relate to nutrition or health and include all other statements made on food information – for example, ‘Made with 100% renewable energy’.
There are no specific rules for general claims such as these; however, every statement that appears on your product and in any commercial communication that relates to your product (websites, promotional material, etc) must be true. If it is not, the food information will be considered misleading, which is a criminal offence. Before making a claim, you should check to make sure that the information is accurate and, ideally, have some evidence to back up the claim should it ever be challenged.
Nutrition and health claims cannot be made if they:
- are false, ambiguous or misleading
- cause consumers to doubt the safety or the nutritional adequacy of other foods
- encourage people to eat excessive amounts of food or suggest that it is okay to do so
- state, suggest or imply that a balanced diet cannot provide sufficient nutrition
- refer to any change in bodily functions that could cause or exploit fear in consumers
Food hygiene for farmers and growers
Farmers and growers must follow basic hygiene procedures to ensure hazards such as contamination arising from soil, water, fertilisers, pesticides, handling of waste, etc are prevented. Records relevant to food safety must also be kept.
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs is aimed at ensuring that controls throughout the food chain are strengthened; it is executed and enforced in England by the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013. In particular, the legislation is intended to modernise, consolidate and simplify food hygiene legislation, and to apply effective and proportionate controls throughout the food chain from primary production to sale or supply to the final consumer (known as the farm-to-fork approach).
The farm-to-fork approach of the legislation includes requirements for primary producers. Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 contains various conditions and guides to good hygiene practice, which food businesses, including farmers and growers, will have to comply with as appropriate. The requirements for farmers and growers are fairly basic hygiene procedures. As food businesses, they will have to ensure that hazards are controlled appropriately.
Although the United Kingdom has left the European Union (EU), certain pieces of legislation (formally known as ‘retained EU law’) will still apply until such time as they are replaced by new UK legislation; this means that you will still see references to EU regulations in our guidance.
