The Food (Northern Ireland) Order 1989

Defences available in proceedings under Article 4

5.—(1) In any prosecution under Article 4 for an offence consisting of the sale of food—

(a) to which any substance has been added, or

(b) in the preparation of which any substance has been used as an ingredient, or

(c) from which any constituent has been abstracted, or

(d) which has been subjected to any other process or treatment,

other than food thereby rendered injurious to health, it shall be a defence to prove—

(i) that the operation in question was not carried out fraudulently; and

(ii) that the article was sold with a notice attached to it of adequate size, distinctly and legibly printed and conspicuously visible, stating explicitly the nature of the operation, or was sold in a wrapper or container displaying such a notice.

(2) In any prosecution under Article 4 for an offence alleged to have been committed by the sale of an article containing extraneous matter, it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove that the presence of that matter was an unavoidable consequence of the process of collection or preparation.

(3) In any prosecution under Article 4 for an offence alleged to have been committed by the sale of diluted spirit, being whisky, brandy, rum or gin, it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove—

(a) that the spirit in question was diluted with water only; and

(b) that its alcoholic strength by volume was not lower than 37.2 per cent.