The Food Safety Act 1990: a Guide for Food Businesses (consultation in England and Wales)

The Agency has written new guidance notes to compliance with the Food Safety Act 1990. The guide provides advice for food businesses on the requirements of the Food Safety Act 1990 and updates the previous version – 'The Food Safety Act 1990 and You', issued by MAFF. The current guide takes into account amendments made to the Act by the Food Safety Act 1990 (Amendment) Regulations 2004 and the General Food Regulations 2004 to allow for the requirements of the General Food Law Regulation (EC) 178/2002 and also amendments in the light of the Food Hygiene Regulations 2006. A separate guide will shortly be sent to stakeholders in Northern Ireland on the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.

In particular, we would welcome your views on:

• the content and form of the guidance
• the layout of the guidance
• the clarity of the guidance
• whether any more simplified guidance is needed for small businesses or for particular business sectors and, if so, what form you think that guidance should take

The Food Safety Act 1990 is an important Act in Great Britain, which updated previous law on food safety and consumer protection. A separate but similar law applies in Northern Ireland. A guide 'The Food Safety Act 1990 and You', covering both these pieces of legislation was first published in 1990, along with two sectoral guides for farmers and growers, and for caterers and their employees. A revised version was issued in 1996 (reprinted in 1997 and 1998), without the sectoral guides.

Regulation (EC) 178/2002 (General Food Law Regulation) introduced new directly applicable requirements in 2005 for food businesses, intended to improve food safety throughout the European Union. As a result, there was a need to introduce new enforcement powers and penalties in relation to these new requirements, some which were similar to the existing provisions in the Food Safety Act 1990. The Food Safety Act 1990 (Amendment) Regulations 2004 made amendments to the Food Safety Act 1990 to avoid any duplication or conflict with the new requirements.

This current guide takes account of the amendments made to the Act by this new legislation (above). It does not cover food hygiene, which following recent legislation is now governed by separate legislation and supporting guidance. The guide should be read in parallel with the FSA Guidance Notes on Regulation (EC) 178/2002, which were issued in July 2007.

There should be no cost implications for the new version of 'The Food Safety Act 1990 and You', which gives guidance on the law and not on best practice, other than in reading the document. Accordingly, no impact assessment has been issued. However, if you consider that there are extra costs for business which we have not considered, we would be grateful if you could comment.

This consultation has been prepared in accordance with the HM Government Code of Practice on Consultation, which states that a consultation must follow better regulation best practice, including carrying out an Impact Assessment (Regulatory Impact Assessment in Scotland). The assessment is included in the consultation documents.

We are interested in what you thought of this consultation and would therefore welcome your general feedback on both the consultation package and overall consultation process. If you would like to assist us to improve the quality of future consultations, please feel free to share your thoughts with us by using the consultation feedback questionnaire.

Consultation feedback questionnaire (Word)

Consultation feedback questionnaire (pdf)

In accordance with the FSA principle of openness our Information Centre at Aviation House will hold a copy of the completed consultation. The FSA will publish a summary of responses, which may include personal data, such as your full name. Disclosure of any other personal data would be made only upon request for the full consultation responses. If you do not want this information to be released, please complete and return the Publication of Personal Data Form. Return of this form does not mean that we will treat your response to the consultation as confidential, just your personal data.

Data protection form (Word)

Data protection form (pdf)

Within three months of a consultation ending we aim to publish a summary of responses received and provide a link to it from this page.

If, after three months, the summary is still not showing, please contact the person who was responsible for the original consultation. Alternatively, you can contact the FSA Consultation Co-ordinator by email: consultationcoordinator@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk