The Nutrition and Health Claims (England) Regulations 2007

Made: 18th July 2007

Laid before Parliament: 25th July 2007

Coming into force: 1st October 2007

As required by Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No.178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety[^f00003], there has been open and transparent public consultation during the preparation and evaluation of these Regulations.

Title, application and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Nutrition and Health Claims (England) Regulations 2007, apply in relation to England only and come into force on 1st October 2007.

Interpretation

2

• (1) In these Regulations —

• “the Act” means the Food Safety Act 1990;

• “food authority” does not include —the appropriate Treasurer referred to in section 5(1)(c) of the Act (which deals with the Inner Temple and Middle Temple); orthe council of a district of a non-metropolitan county except where the county functions have been transferred to that council pursuant to a structural change;

• “port health authority” means —in relation to the London port health district, the Common Council of the City of London, andin relation to any port health district constituted by order under section 2(3) of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984[^f00004], a port health authority for that district constituted by order under section 2(4) of that Act;

• “the Regulation” means Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006of the European Parliament and of the Council on nutrition and health claims made on foods, as the Annex to that Regulation may be amended from time to time;

• “specified provision of the Regulation” means—Article 3 (general requirements relating to all claims);Article 4(3) (restrictions on claims that may be made on alcoholic beverages);Article 6(2) (requirement for use of claims to be justified);Article 7 (requirements for nutrition information);Article 8(1) (requirements for nutrition claims);Article 9 (requirements for comparative claims);Article 10(1), (2) or (3) (requirements for health claims);Article 12 (prohibition of certain health claims); orArticle 14(2) (requirements for reduction of disease risk claims).

• (2) Expressions used in these Regulations and in the Regulation have the same meaning in these Regulations as they do in that Regulation.

• (3) Any reference to a numbered Article is a reference to the Article so numbered in the Regulation.

Competent Authorities

3

The competent authority for the purposes of the Regulation —

• (a) in relation to Articles 1(4), 15(2), 16(2) and 18(2) is the Secretary of State, and

• (b) in relation to Article 6(3) is —

• (i) each port health authority in its district, and

• (ii) outside such districts, each food authority in its area.

Enforcement

4

Each port health authority within its district and each food authority within its area shall execute and enforce the provisions of these Regulations and of the Regulation.

Offences and Penalties

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Subject to the derogation contained in Article 1(3) (relating to trade marks etc) and to the transitional measures contained in Article 28, any person who contravenes or fails to comply with a specified provision of the Regulation is guilty of an offence and liable —

• (a) on conviction on indictment to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or to a fine or both;

• (b) on summary conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both.

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Application of various provisions of the Act

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The following provisions of the Act shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations with the modification that any reference in those provisions to the Act or Part of it is to be construed as a reference to these Regulations —

• (a) section 2 (extended meaning of “sale” etc);

• (b) section 3 (presumption that food is intended for human consumption);

• (ba) section 10(1) and (2) (improvement notices) with the modifications specified in Part 1 of the Schedule;

• (c) section 20 (offences due to the fault of another person);

• (d) section 21 (defence of due diligence) as it applies for the purposes of section 14 or 15;

• (e) section 22 (defence of publication in the course of business);

• (f) section 30(8) (which relates to documentary evidence);

• (fa) section 32(1) to (8) (powers of entry) with the modifications specified in Part 2 of the Schedule;

• (fb) section 33 (obstruction of officers);

• (g) section 34 (time limit for prosecution);

• (ga) section 35 (punishment of offences) with the modification specified in Part 3 of the Schedule;

• (h) section 36 (offences by bodies corporate);

• (i) section 36A (offences by Scottish partnerships); and

• (ia) section 37(1), (3), (5) and (6) (appeals) with the modifications specified in Part 4 of the Schedule;

• (ib) section 39 (appeals against improvement notices) with the modifications specified in Part 5 of the Schedule; and

• (j) section 44 (protection of officers acting in good faith).

Obstruction of officers and provision of information etc

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Amendment of the Food Labelling Regulations

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Signed

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health.

Dawn Primarolo — Minister of State, — Department of Health — 18th July 2007

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

1These Regulations, which apply in relation to England only, make provision for the execution and enforcement of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on nutrition and health claims made on foods, as corrected by a Corrigendum (OJ No. L12, 18.1.2007, p3), “the EC Regulation”.

2The Regulations —adesignate the competent authorities for the purposes of certain Articles of the EC Regulation (regulation 3);bspecify the enforcement authorities (regulation 4);cprovide that, subject to certain derogations and transitional measures specified in the EC Regulation where relevant, it is an offence —ito make nutrition or health claims that do not in general comply with the requirements of the EC Regulation and in particular that are misleading or make certain specifically prohibited types of claim;iito make claims on alcoholic drinks other than to the very limited extent permitted by the EC Regulation;iiito make a claim which cannot be scientifically justified;ivto fail to provide the prescribed nutrition information when making a health claim;vto make a nutrition claim which is not one of the ones listed in the Annex to the EC Regulation;vito make a comparative nutrition claim that does not comply with the requirements of the EC Regulation;viito make a health claim that is not authorised under the procedures provided for in the EC Regulation and is not accompanied by certain specified information in the labelling or other presentation;viiito make a health claim of a type specifically prohibited by the EC Regulation; orixin the case of health claims relating to the reduction of disease risk, to fail to accompany the claim with the statement prescribed in the EC Regulation (regulation 5).

3The Regulations also —aapply certain provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 for the purposes of these Regulations (regulation 6);bprovide that, subject to certain limitations, it is an offence to obstruct, fail to give information to or intentionally mislead anyone executing and enforcing these Regulations (regulation 7); andcmake an amendment to the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 relating to the areas where there is some overlap between those Regulations and the EC Regulation (regulation 8).

4A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Nutrition Division of the Food Standards Agency, Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London WC 2B 6NH and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website.

5

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1990 c. 16. Section 1(1) and (2) (definition of “food”) was substituted by S.I. 2004/2990. Sections 17 and 48 were amended by paragraphs 12 and 21 respectively of Schedule 5 to the Food Standards Act 1999 (1999 c.28), “the 1999Act”. Section 48 was also amended by S.I. 2004/2990. Section 26(3) was amended by Schedule 6 to the 1999 Act. Section 53(2) was amended by paragraph 19 of Schedule 16 to the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 (1994 c.40), Schedule 6 to the 1999 Act and S.I. 2004/2990

[^f00002]: Functions formerly exercisable by “the Ministers” (being, in relation to England and Wales and acting jointly, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretaries of State respectively concerned with health in England and food and health in Wales and, in relation to Scotland, the Secretary of State) are now exercisable in relation to England by the Secretary of State pursuant to paragraph 8 of Schedule 5 to the 1999 Act. Those functions, so far as exercisable in relation to Wales, were transferred to the NationalAssembly for Wales by S.I.1999/672 as read with section 40(3) of the 1999 Act, and thereafter transferred to the Welsh Ministers by paragraph 30 of Schedule 11 to the Government of Wales Act 2006 (2006 c.32). Those functions, so far as exercisable in relation to Scotland, were transferred to the Scottish Ministers by section 53 of the Scotland Act 1998 (1998 c. 46) as read with section 40(2) of the 1999 Act.

[^f00003]: OJ No.L31, 1.2.2002, p.1. That Regulation was last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No.575/2006 (OJ No.L100, 8.4.2006, p.3).

[^f00004]: 1984 c.22.

Editorial notes

[^key-d5f9c014d41a62f978782c436076e234]: Reg. 1 in force at 1.10.2007, see reg. 1

[^key-784d5108701cb76678048d0816cb8bf1]: Reg. 6 in force at 1.10.2007, see reg. 1

[^key-b2ee953125f5108ef7eae0376c83e4b0]: Reg. 2 in force at 1.10.2007, see reg. 1

[^key-d66b11ab7fe0cf4c15ba625801f3c4be]: Reg. 3 in force at 1.10.2007, see reg. 1

[^key-eab2b3da660c920ed8ce1717fa02914a]: Reg. 4 in force at 1.10.2007, see reg. 1

[^key-101697368cbba1776835e700cc7da1c4]: Reg. 5 in force at 1.10.2007, see reg. 1

[^key-ff1fad848ac6e86dab6c2945a33fb981]: Words in reg. 2(1) substituted (1.10.2010) by The Nutrition and Health Claims (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/1768), regs. 1, 3

[^key-9dc33ba67b9f08198cd03a721a145d22]: Words in reg. 3(a) substituted (16.1.2012) by The Transfer of Functions (Food) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/3012), regs. 1(1), 4

[^key-c6b894d8a7523090975667de425f0e95]: Reg. 8 revoked (13.12.2014) by The Food Information Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1855), Sch. 6 Pt. 1 Entry 20

[^key-dd82d6a47dd6fce56953671f8101bf24]: Sch. inserted (1.10.2024) by The Nutrition and Health Claims (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/165), regs. 1(1), 2(6)

[^key-b18a5031de5c3048a9984c74525f8adf]: Words in reg. 2(1) inserted (1.10.2024) by The Nutrition and Health Claims (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/165), regs. 1(1), 2(2)

[^key-b98a3452a7991f748cc30813ec4f03d5]: Reg. 5(1) renumbered as reg. 5 (1.10.2024) by The Nutrition and Health Claims (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/165), regs. 1(1), 2(3)(a)(i)

[^key-c5e9b16361816f586188da931d0d4d6f]: Words in reg. 5 substituted (1.10.2024) by The Nutrition and Health Claims (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/165), regs. 1(1), 2(3)(a)(ii)

[^key-ed94fbc855b44ffa6e909d2aa50a66b3]: Reg. 5(2) omitted (1.10.2024) by virtue of The Nutrition and Health Claims (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/165), regs. 1(1), 2(3)(b)

[^key-544cad8583da98151f6a457a198c23e9]: Reg. 6(ba) inserted (1.10.2024) by The Nutrition and Health Claims (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/165), regs. 1(1), 2(4)(a)

[^key-6466186efb4e6405792131d0c9862e83]: Reg. 6(fa)(fb) inserted (1.10.2024) by The Nutrition and Health Claims (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/165), regs. 1(1), 2(4)(b)

[^key-67ac0ece570a39fc8007a8eb567c47c7]: Reg. 6(ga) inserted (1.10.2024) by The Nutrition and Health Claims (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/165), regs. 1(1), 2(4)(c)

[^key-3270890026395034cbce59d0affea0bd]: Reg. 6(ia)(ib) inserted (1.10.2024) by The Nutrition and Health Claims (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/165), regs. 1(1), 2(4)(d)

[^key-89560ed286a79a7222c477593525efae]: Reg. 7 omitted (1.10.2024) by virtue of The Nutrition and Health Claims (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/165), regs. 1(1), 2(5)

Schedule — Modification of provisions of the Act

Part 1 — Modification of section 10 of the Act (improvement notices)

1

Section 10 is to be read as if, for subsection (1), there were substituted—