Food safety legislation

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Food safety legislation is based on the requirements of EC Directives and Regulations:

• Regulation (EC) 852/2004 relates to the hygiene of foodstuffs
• Regulation (EC) 853/2004 lays down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin
• Regulation (EC) 854/2004 lays down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption.

Food Safety Act 1990

The main piece of legislation that we use is the Food Safety Act 1990. The act is concerned with all aspects of food production and sale. It includes the offences associated with producing or selling unfit or contaminated food and falsely describing food. The powers available to the Food Safety Team are included in the Act as are the defences open to food businesses. The vast majority of food regulations are made under the Food Safety Act 1990.

The Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006

These regulations contain all the specific requirements made of food businesses. This includes things like providing hand wash basins, keeping premises clean and protecting food from contamination. It also requires people handling food to be suitably trained and for food businesses to assess the risks they present to food safety (Hazard analysis).

It also sets the temperatures at which food must be kept. Food should either be kept chilled below 8°C or kept hot above 63°C. The regulations contain some exceptions to these rules.

For more information on the training required of food handlers please see our food safety training page.

For more information on hazard analysis please see our hazard analysis for food businesses page.

Specific types of food production premises are controlled by Regulation (EC) 853/2004 and Regulation (EC) 854/2004. These include producers of:

• Dairy Products
• Meat Products
• Egg Products
• Fish and Fish Products

Other legislation that we commonly use includes:

• The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982
• The Private Water Supplies Regulations 1991
• The Public Health (Control of Infectious Disease) Regulations 1984

Last updated: 12 July 2011