UK Food Safety Laws and Regulations for Food Businesses

Food businesses must comply with a range of laws governing the production, preparation, handling, storage, transport, labelling and sale of food.

Understanding and following food law is essential for anyone working in a food environment. A lack of knowledge or understanding will not normally provide a defence when legal requirements have not been met.

Why Is Food Legislation Important?

Food legislation is designed to:

• Protect consumers from unsafe food
• Prevent foodborne illness
• Reduce contamination risks
• Ensure food is accurately described
• Provide essential allergen information
• Prevent consumers from being misled
• Establish consistent food safety standards
• Give enforcement officers powers to protect public health

Food law also provides a framework that helps businesses manage food safety consistently and demonstrate compliance.

How Has Brexit Affected UK Food Law?

Much of the UK’s food legislation originated from European Union regulations and directives.

When the UK left the European Union, many directly applicable EU requirements were retained within domestic law. In England, Scotland and Wales, this body of legislation is now generally described as assimilated law.

Some legislation has since been amended, replaced or interpreted differently. Northern Ireland also has separate arrangements under the Windsor Framework.

Food businesses must check which requirements apply in the country where they operate and where their products are sold.

The Food Safety Act 1990

The Food Safety Act 1990 is one of the principal pieces of UK food legislation. It provides the foundation for many food safety and consumer-protection requirements.

The Act applies to activities throughout the food supply chain, including:

• Food production
• Processing
• Storage
• Distribution
• Preparation
• Sale
• Service

Main Requirements of the Food Safety Act 1990

Under the Act, it is an offence to:

• Render food injurious to health
• Sell food that is not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by the purchaser
• Falsely describe or present food

Food businesses must ensure that the food they produce or supply is safe, suitable and accurately presented.

General Food Law

General food safety and traceability requirements are also established by assimilated Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, commonly called General Food Law.

Its key principles include:

• Food must not be placed on the market if it is unsafe
• Food is considered unsafe if it is injurious to health or unfit for human consumption
• Food business operators are responsible for ensuring compliance within the activities under their control
• Businesses must maintain suitable traceability systems
• Unsafe food must be withdrawn or recalled when necessary
• Relevant authorities must be informed when unsafe food has reached or may reach consumers

Food Traceability Requirements

Food businesses must be able to identify:

• Who supplied their food, ingredients or relevant materials
• Which businesses received the products they supplied

This is often described as the one step back and one step forward approach to traceability.

Traceability records may include:

• Supplier details
• Customer details for business-to-business supplies
• Product descriptions
• Batch or lot numbers
• Delivery dates
• Quantities supplied
• Invoices and delivery records

Effective traceability allows unsafe products to be identified, withdrawn and recalled quickly.

The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013

Food businesses operating in England must comply with the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.

These regulations support and enforce important food hygiene requirements, provide powers for authorised officers and establish offences and penalties.

Equivalent but separate legislation applies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Assimilated Regulation (EC) No 852/2004

Assimilated Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs establishes general hygiene rules for food businesses.

Food business operators must ensure that the stages of production, processing and distribution under their control meet the relevant hygiene requirements.

Requirements cover areas including:

• Premises design and maintenance
• Cleaning and disinfection
• Handwashing and toilet facilities
• Equipment and food-contact surfaces
• Food waste
• Water supplies
• Personal hygiene
• Food storage and transport
• Temperature control
• Preventing contamination
• Staff supervision and training
• Pest control

Food Safety Management and HACCP

Most food businesses must establish, implement and maintain permanent food safety procedures based on the principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, commonly known as HACCP.

A HACCP-based food safety management system should:

• Identify potential food safety hazards
• Determine where controls are needed
• Establish critical limits where appropriate
• Monitor the effectiveness of controls
• Specify corrective action when something goes wrong
• Verify that the system works effectively
• Maintain suitable documents and records

Smaller catering and retail businesses may use systems such as the Food Standards Agency’s Safer Food, Better Business pack, provided it is suitable for their activities.

Registering a Food Business

Most food businesses must register each establishment with the relevant local authority before beginning operations.

Registration may be required for businesses operating from:

• Restaurants and cafés
• Shops
• Factories and warehouses
• Mobile catering vehicles
• Market stalls
• Domestic premises
• Online food businesses

Businesses must also notify the authority when significant details or activities change.

Approved Food Establishments

Some businesses handling products of animal origin and supplying them to other businesses require formal approval rather than registration alone.

This may apply to certain establishments handling:

• Meat
• Fish and shellfish
• Dairy products
• Egg products
• Other products of animal origin

Additional hygiene requirements may apply under assimilated Regulation (EC) No 853/2004.

A business requiring approval must not begin the relevant activity until approval or conditional approval has been granted.

Food Information and Labelling Law

Food labelling and consumer information are regulated through legislation including:

• Assimilated Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers
• The Food Information Regulations 2014
• Other product-specific composition and labelling legislation

Depending on the product, legally required information may include:

• The name of the food
• A list of ingredients
• Emphasised allergenic ingredients
• The quantity of certain ingredients
• Net quantity
• A use-by or best-before date
• Storage and preparation instructions
• The responsible food business’s details
• Country-of-origin information where required
• Nutrition information

Food information must be accurate, clear and must not mislead consumers.

Allergen Information Requirements

Food businesses must provide accurate information about the presence of the 14 allergens regulated by food law.

For prepacked food, allergenic ingredients must be clearly emphasised within the ingredients list.

Food prepacked for direct sale, commonly known as PPDS food, must display:

• The name of the food
• A complete ingredients list
• The 14 regulated allergens emphasised within that list

Businesses supplying non-prepacked food must also make the required allergen information available to customers.

Food-Contact Materials and Equipment

Packaging, containers, utensils, equipment and other materials that come into contact with food must not:

• Endanger human health
• Cause an unacceptable change to the food
• Damage the food’s taste, smell or other characteristics

Food-contact materials are governed by specific legislation, including assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 and the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations 2012.

Only materials suitable for their intended food-contact use should be used.

Food Hygiene Training Requirements

Food handlers must be supervised and instructed or trained in food hygiene matters appropriate to their work.

People responsible for developing and maintaining HACCP-based procedures must receive appropriate training in HACCP principles.

Food handlers are not always legally required to hold a particular certificate, but the business must be able to demonstrate that they are competent for their roles.

Training may include:

• Formal food hygiene courses
• On-the-job training
• Workplace instruction
• Supervised practical training
• Refresher training

Environmental Health Officers and Food Inspections

Environmental health officers and other authorised food safety officers can inspect food businesses to assess compliance.

Depending on their authority and the legislation involved, officers may:

• Enter and inspect food premises
• Examine food, equipment and work areas
• Inspect and copy records
• Take photographs
• Take food samples
• Investigate complaints and outbreaks
• Detain or seize suspected unsafe food
• Serve statutory notices
• Recommend prosecution

Food Safety Enforcement Action

Minor problems may initially be addressed through advice, an inspection report or an informal request for improvements.

Where formal enforcement is necessary, an authorised officer may use measures including:

• Hygiene Improvement Notices
• Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notices
• Food detention or seizure procedures
• Remedial Action Notices in relevant approved establishments
• Food withdrawal or recall procedures
• Prosecution

Where there is an imminent risk of injury to health, an officer may serve a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice. This can immediately prevent the use of particular premises, equipment or processes pending consideration by a court.

Penalties for Breaking Food Safety Law

Failure to comply with food legislation can have serious consequences, including:

• Formal warnings and notices
• Food being detained, seized or destroyed
• Restrictions on equipment or processes
• Temporary or permanent closure
• Prosecution
• Fines
• Disqualification from managing a food business
• Imprisonment for serious offences
• Loss of customer confidence
• Reputational and financial damage

The action taken will depend on factors such as the seriousness of the offence, the risk to consumers and the business’s compliance history.

Due Diligence in Food Safety

For certain food-law offences, a business may be able to rely on a due diligence defence if it can demonstrate that it took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to prevent the offence.

Evidence may include:

• A suitable food safety management system
• Staff training and supervision records
• Temperature checks
• Cleaning schedules
• Supplier checks
• Traceability records
• Allergen controls
• Maintenance records
• Monitoring and audit records
• Corrective actions

Written procedures are not enough by themselves. The business must show that its systems are implemented, monitored and reviewed.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

Food businesses must also comply with general workplace health and safety legislation.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers, so far as is reasonably practicable, to protect the health, safety and welfare of employees.

Employers also have duties towards people who may be affected by their activities, including customers, visitors, contractors and members of the public.

Relevant hazards in food businesses may include:

• Slips and trips
• Sharp knives
• Hot surfaces and liquids
• Hazardous cleaning chemicals
• Manual handling
• Machinery
• Electricity and gas
• Workplace transport
• Fire

The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981

The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require employers to provide adequate and appropriate first-aid equipment, facilities and personnel for employees who become injured or ill at work.

The arrangements required will depend on the findings of the employer’s first-aid needs assessment.

This may include:

• Suitable first-aid kits
• Appointed persons
• Trained workplace first aiders
• First-aid rooms in larger or higher-risk workplaces
• Procedures for contacting the emergency services

Other Laws Affecting Food Businesses

Depending on the nature of the business, other relevant legislation may cover:

• Food allergens
• Weights and measures
• Consumer protection
• Waste disposal
• Environmental protection
• Fire safety
• Licensing
• Alcohol sales
• Animal products
• Importing and exporting food
• Occupational health and safety

Maintaining Compliance with Food Law

Food businesses should:

• Identify which laws apply to their activities
• Maintain an effective food safety management system
• Train and supervise employees
• Keep accurate records
• Monitor food safety controls
• Review procedures when activities change
• Respond promptly when problems are identified
• Follow current Food Standards Agency and local authority guidance
• Seek specialist advice when necessary

Why Food Law Compliance Matters

Food legislation exists to protect consumers, employees and responsible food businesses.

By understanding the legal requirements, following safe systems of work and maintaining high standards, food businesses can protect public health, maintain customer confidence and ensure that the food they supply is safe to eat.