Food Act 1984

28 Prevention of spread of disease by ice-cream

(1) Every manufacturer of, or dealer in, ice-cream shall, upon the occurrence of any disease to which this subsection applies among the persons living or working in or about the premises on which the ice-cream is manufactured, stored or sold, forthwith give notice of the occurrence to the local authority for the district and, if he fails to do so, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.

(2) Subsection (1) applies to the diseases specified in Schedule 1 and any other disease Which the Secretary of State may by order declare to be a disease to which that subsection applies.

(3) If the proper officer of a local authority has reasonable ground for suspecting that any ice-cream, or substance intended for use in the manufacture of ice-cream, is likely to cause any disease communicable to human beings, he may give notice to the person in charge of it that, until further notice, the ice-cream or substance in question, or any specified portion of it, is not to be used for human consumption and either—

(a) is not to be removed; or

(b) is not to be removed except to some place specified in the notice.

A person who uses or removes any ice-cream or substance in contravention of the requirements of a notice given under this subsection shall be liable to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

(4) If on further investigation the proper officer of the local authority is satisfied that the ice-cream or substance in question may safely be used for human consumption, he shall forthwith withdraw his notice ; but, if he is not so satisfied—

(a) he shall cause it to be destroyed, and

(b) he shall also cause to be destroyed any other ice-cream or such substance as mentioned above then on the premises as to which he is not so satisfied.

(5) Where a notice given under subsection (3) is withdrawn by the proper officer of the local authority, or the proper officer acting under subsection (4) causes any ice-cream or other substance to be destroyed, the local authority shall compensate the owner of the ice-cream or other substance in question for any depreciation in its value resulting from the action taken by the proper officer or, as the case may be, for the loss of its value.

(6) As to compensation under this section—

(a) no compensation shall be payable in respect of the destruction of any ice-cream or substance if the local authority prove that it was likely to cause any disease communicable to human beings;

(b) no compensation shall in any case be payable—

(i) in respect of any ice-cream or substance manufactured on, or brought within, any premises while a notice given under subsection (3) with respect to anything on those premises was operative, or

(ii) in any case where the owner of the ice-cream or substance in question has failed to give a notice which he was required by subsection (1) to give.

For the purposes of this subsection, the value of any ice-cream or other substance shall not be assessed at a sum exceeding the cost incurred by the owner in making or purchasing it.