UK Offence Report

Condemnation of food

regulation 17 of The Food Additives (England) Regulations 2009 (revoked)

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

17 Where any food is certified by

a food analyst as being food which it is an offence under these Regulations to use, sell or place on the market, that food shall be treated for the purposes of section

9 of the Act (under which food may be seized and destroyed under an order of

a justice of the peace) as failing to comply with food safety requirements.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
selling or supplying something the instrument restricts
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 17?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Selling the goods under the Food Additives (England) Regulations 2009 where the instrument prohibits the sale outright.
  2. Supplying without carrying out a check the instrument requires first, even where the sale would otherwise be lawful.
  3. Offering for sale counts as well as selling: displaying stock is enough where the provision reaches an offer.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
7 December 2009
In force from
20 January 2010
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations apply in relation to England only. They revoke in so far as they apply to England the Food Additives Labelling Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/1978), the Sweeteners in Food Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/3123), the Colours in Food Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/3124) and the Miscellaneous Food Additives Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/3187) (each of which extends to the whole of Great Britain) and re-enact with changes and on a transitional basis certain provisions of the last three of those instruments. These Regulations provide for the execution and enforcement in relation to England of Regulation (EC) No. 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on food additives (OJ No. L354, 31.12.2008, p.16) (“the Regulation”) and give effect in England to Commission Directive 2009/10/EC amending Directive 2008/84/EC laying down specific purity criteria on food additives other than colours and sweeteners (OJ No. L44, 14.2.2009, p.62). These Regulations prohibit— the use in or on any food of any colour other than a permitted colour and the use of any permitted colour unless specified requirements are satisfied (the terms “colour” and “permitted colour” are defined in regulation 2(1)) (regulation 3); the use for health marking and other marking of certain meat and meat products of colours other than certain permitted colours (regulation 4); the use of a colour for the decorative colouring of eggshells or the marking of eggshells as provided for in a specified EU instrument other than a permitted colour (regulation 5); the sale — of any colour for use in or on any food unless the colour is a permitted colour, direct to consumers of any colour other than a specified permitted colour (the term “specified permitted colour” is defined in regulation 2(1)), or of any food having in or on it any colour other than a permitted colour that has been used in or on the food without contravening specified provisions of these Regulations (regulation 6); the use in or on any food of any miscellaneous additive other than a permitted miscellaneous additive (the terms “miscellaneous additive” and “permitted miscellaneous additive” are defined in regulation 2(1)) (regulation 8(1)); subject to a specified EU provision, the use of a permitted miscellaneous additive listed elsewhere in the EU instrument in which that provision appears in or on a food listed in a specified part of that instrument (regulation 8(2)); subject to a specified EU provision in the case of the prohibition imposed by regulation 8(3), the use of certain permitted miscellaneous additives in or on specified foods unless specified requirements are satisfied (regulation 8(3), (4) and (5)); the use of any miscellaneous additive primarily as a carrier or carrier solvent unless the additive is a permitted miscellaneous additive listed in a specified EU provision and its use complies with the restrictions, if any, mentioned in relation to the additive in that provision (the terms “carrier” and “carrier solvent” are defined in regulation 2(1)) (regulation 8(6)); subject to a specified EU provision, the use of any permitted miscellaneous additive in or on food for infants or young children unless it is listed in a specified EU provision and it is used only in accordance with the conditions contained in that provision (the term “food for infants or young children” is defined in regulation 2(1)) (regulation 8(7)); the use in or on any food for infants or young children of any relevant food additive in combination with a miscellaneous additive used primarily as a carrier or carrier solvent unless the miscellaneous food additive is listed in a specified EU provision and its presence in or on the food is in accordance with the conditions contained in that provision (the term “relevant food additive” is defined in regulation 2(1)) (regulation 8(8)); the sale of any miscellaneous additive for use in or on food other than a permitted miscellaneous additive (regulation 9(1)); the sale of any miscellaneous additive for use primarily as a carrier or carrier solvent unless the additive is a certain type of permitted miscellaneous additive (regulation 9(2)); the sale direct to consumers of any miscellaneous additive other than a permitted miscellaneous additive (regulation 9(3)); the sale of any food having in or on it any miscellaneous additive other than a permitted miscellaneous additive which has been used or is present in or on the food without contravening specified provisions of these Regulations (regulation 9(4)); the sale of any relevant food additive in combination with a miscellaneous additive used primarily as a carrier or carrier solvent unless the miscellaneous additive has been used in respect of the relevant food additive without contravening the requirements of regulation8(6) (regulation 9(5)); the placing on the market of any sweetener intended for sale to the ultimate consumer or for use in or on any food other than a permitted sweetener (the terms “sweetener” and “permitted sweetener” are defined in regulation 2(1)) (regulation 11(1)); the use of any sweetener in or on any food other than a permitted sweetener which— is used in or on a food listed in a specified EU provision in an amount not exceeding the maximum usable dose for the sweetener that is listed in relation to that food in that provision, and is listed in relation to that food in that provision (regulation 11(2)); the sale of any food having in or on it any sweetener other than a permitted sweetener which has been used in or on the food without contravening regulation 11(2) (regulation 12). These Regulations also— re-enact with changes on a transitional basis (see paragraph 1 above) certain provisions included in the Sweeteners in Food Regulations 1995, the Colours in Food Regulations 1995 and the Miscellaneous Food Additives Regulations 1995 (regulations 7, 10 and 13); provide that a person who contravenes or fails to comply with specified provisions of these Regulations or (subject to a transitional provision contained in Article 34 of the Regulation) the Regulation, is guilty of a summary offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (£5,000) (regulation 14); make provision for the execution and enforcement of these Regulations and the Regulation (regulation 15); apply with modifications for the purposes of these Regulations certain provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 (regulation 16); provide that, where food is certified as being food which it is an offence under these Regulations to use, sell or place on the market, the food will be treated for the purposes of section 9 of the Food Safety Act 1990 as failing to comply with food safety requirements (regulation17); make consequential amendments to the Mineral Hydrocarbons in Food Regulations 1966 in so far as they apply in relation to England (S.I. 1966/1073), the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars (England) Regulations 2003 (S.I.2003/1564), the Condensed Milk and Dried Milk (England) Regulations 2003 (S.I.2003/1596), the Meat Products (England) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/2075) and the Jam and Similar Products (England) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/3120) (regulation 18); and make a minor amendment to the Specified Sugar Products (England) Regulations 2003 (S.I.2003/1563) (regulation 19). A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Food Composition and Labelling Division of the Food Standards Agency, Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NH and is annexed to the explanatory memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source