UK Offence Report

Amendments to the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013

regulation 2(4) of The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014

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

4 In Schedule 6 (restrictions on the sale of raw milk intended for direct human consumption)— a after paragraph 1, insert the following paragraphs— 1A Any person who sells raw milk in contravention of paragraph 7A commits an offence. 1B Any person who sells raw milk in contravention of paragraph 7B commits an offence. b after paragraph 7, insert the following paragraphs— 7A Subject to paragraph 7C, and except in cases to which paragraph 7B applies, the container in which any raw milk intended for direct human consumption is sold must be marked or labelled with the words “This milk has not been heat-treated and may therefore contain organisms harmful to health. 7B Subject to paragraph 7C, in the case of any raw milk intended for direct human consumption which is not prepacked and is sold at a catering establishment there must appear— a on a label attached to the container in which that milk is sold, or b on a ticket or notice that is readily discernible by an intending purchaser at the place where the purchaser chooses that milk, the words “Milk supplied in this establishment has not been heat-treated and may therefore contain organisms harmful to health”. 7C The provisions of paragraphs 7A and 7B do not apply to raw milk from buffaloes. c in paragraph 8— i before the definition of “distributor”, insert the following definition— “catering establishment” means a restaurant, canteen, club, public house, school, hospital or similar establishment (including a vehicle or a fixed or mobile stall) where, in the course of a business, food is prepared for delivery to the final consumer and is ready for consumption without further preparation; ; ii before the definition of “occupier”, insert the following definition— “labelling”, in relation to a food, includes any words, particulars, trade mark, brand name, pictorial matter or symbol relating to the food and appearing on the packaging of the food or on any document, notice, label, ring or collar accompanying the food; ; and iii after the definition of “occupier”, insert the following definition— “prepacked”, in relation to a food, means put into packaging before being offered for sale in such a way that the food, whether wholly or only partly enclosed, cannot be altered without opening or changing the packaging and is ready for sale to the final consumer or to a catering establishment, and includes a food which is wholly enclosed in packaging before being offered for sale and which is intended to be cooked without opening the packaging and which is ready for sale to the final consumer or to a catering establishment; .

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 2(4)?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person sells raw milk in contravention of paragraph 7A.
  2. Selling the goods under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 where the instrument prohibits the sale outright.
  3. Supplying without carrying out a check the instrument requires first, even where the sale would otherwise be lawful.
  4. Offering for sale counts as well as selling: displaying stock is enough where the provision reaches an offer.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2014-12-13); the standard scale is keyed to the date the offence was committed, and for conduct today the same words mean an unlimited fine.

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
29 October 2014
In force from
13 December 2014
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 make certain amendments to the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/2996) to make continuing provision for the labelling of raw milk intended for direct human consumption with prescribed information relating to the absence of heat treatment (regulation 2(2) and (4)). These Regulations also correct two typographical errors in regulation 41(2) of S.I. 2013/2996 (regulation 2(3)). These Regulations provide that the Food Standards Agency must carry out a periodic review of the operation and effect of these Regulations (regulation 3). A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen. The Explanatory Memorandum is available at www.legislation.gov.uk.

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 0.96.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits an offence”
Confidence
0.96 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