The Preservatives in Food Regulations 1989

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires–

“the Act” means the Food Act 1984;

“appropriate designation” means, as respects any permitted preservative or any food, a name or description or a name and description sufficiently specific, in each case, to indicate to an intending purchaser the true nature of the permitted preservative or of the food, as the case may be, to which it is applied;

“biscuits” includes wafers, rusks, crispbreads, oatcakes, matzos and chocolate-coated, chocolate-filled or chocolate-flavoured biscuits;

“bread” has the meaning assigned to it by the Bread and Flour Regulations 1984(1);

“canned food” means any food which–

(a)

is in a hermetically sealed container, and

(b)

(i)

has been sufficiently heat processed to destroy anyClostridium botulinum in the food or its container, or

(ii)

has a pH of less than 4.5,

and “canned”, in relation to any food, shall be construed accordingly;

“carbohydrate” means any substance containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen only in which the hydrogen and oxygen occur in the same proportion as in water;

“cheese” and “soft cheese” have the meanings respectively assigned to them by the Cheese Regulations 1970(2);

“Community” means the European Economic Community;

“Community controlled wine” means wine, grape must, sparkling wine, aerated sparkling wine, liqueur wine, semi-sparkling wine and aerated semi-sparkling wine as respectively defined in Annex 1 to Council Regulation (EEC) No. 822/87(3) on the common organisation of the market in wine;

“compounded food” means food containing two or more ingredients;

“concentrated fruit juice” has the meaning assigned to it by the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars Regulations 1977(4);

“container” includes any form of packaging of food for sale as a single item, whether by way of wholly or partly enclosing the food or by way of attaching the food to some other article, and in particular includes a wrapper or confining band;

“dock” includes any harbour, moorings, wharf, pier, jetty or other works in or at which food can be shipped or unshipped and any warehouse, transit shed or other premises used in connection therewith for the temporary storage or loading for despatch of food which is unshipped or to be shipped;

“flavouring” includes flavouring essence and flavouring extract and means any product consisting of a flavouring agent and such other substances, if any, the use of which in food is not forbidden and which are reasonably necessary to produce a solid, a solution or an emulsion, but no other ingredient or ingredients;

“flavouring agent” means any sapid or odorous substance capable of imparting and primarily intended to impart a specific and distinctive taste or odour to food, but does not include herbs, spices, onions, garlic, salt, fruit juices, soft drinks, fruit acids, acetic acid, any carbohydrate material, any purine derivative, any preparation of yeast, coffee or chicory or any substances prepared by the hydrolysis of protein-containing materials;

“flavouring syrup” means a solution of carbohydrate sweetening matter containing sufficient flavouring to provide, after dilution with milk or water, a drink with that flavour;

“flour confectionery” means any solid or semi-solid product complete in itself and suitable for consumption without further preparation or processing other than heating, of which the characteristic ingredient, apart from any filling, is ground cereal, whether or not flavoured, coated with or containing any carbohydrate sweetening matter, chocolate or cocoa; and includes shortbread, sponges, pastry, pastry cases, crumpets, muffins, macaroons, ratafias, meringues and petits fours, but does not include pharmaceutical products, bread, biscuits, canned puddings, Christmas puddings or any product containing a filling which has as an ingredient any meat or fish or any animal, vegetable or microbial material processed before or during the preparation of the product to resemble the texture of meat or fish;

“food” means food intended for sale for human consumption and includes drink, chewing gum and other products of a like nature and use, and articles and substances used as ingredients in the preparation of food or drink or of such products, but does not include–

(a)

water, live animals or birds,

(b)

fodder or feeding stuffs for animals, birds or fish, or

(c)

articles or substances used only as drugs;

“food and drugs authority” has the meaning assigned to it by section 71 of the Act;

“freeze drink” means any pre-packed liquid which complies with the requirements in the Soft Drinks Regulations 1964(5) as to the composition of any soft drink for consumption without dilution and which is clearly and legibly labelled as intended for freezing before consumption;

“fruit juice” has the meaning assigned to it by the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars Regulations 1977;

“fruit spread” means the product obtained by processing fruit, fruit pulp or purée and carbohydrate sweetening matter, with or without the addition of other substances, to a suitable consistency by the application of heat and which is not a product described in column 2 of Schedule 1 to the Jam and Similar Products Regulations 1981(6);

“hermetically sealed container” means a sealed container which is airtight and impermeable to gases;

“human consumption” includes use in the preparation of food for human consumption;

“ice cream” has the meaning assigned to it by the Ice-Cream Regulations 1967(7);

“the Minister” means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;

“permitted antioxidant” means any antioxidant in so far as its use is permitted by the Antioxidants in Food Regulations 1978(8);

“permitted colouring matter” means any colouring matter in so far as its use is permitted by the Colouring Matter in Food Regulations 1973(9);

“permitted emulsifier” means any emulsifier in so far as its use is permitted by the Emulsifiers and Stabilisers in Food Regulations 1980(10);

“permitted miscellaneous additive” means any miscellaneous additive in so far as its use is permitted by the Miscellaneous Additives in Food Regulations 1980(11);

“permitted preservative” means any preservative specified in columns 1 and 2 of Part I of Schedule 1 or, subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of this regulation, specified in columns 3 and 4 of that Part of that Schedule which, in either case, satisfies the specific purity criteria in relation to that preservative specified or referred to in Part II of that Schedule, and, so far as is not otherwise provided by any such specific purity criteria, satisfies the general purity criteria specified in Part III of that Schedule, or any mixture of two or more such preservatives;

“permitted solvent” means any solvent in so far as its use is permitted by the Solvents in Food Regulations 1967(12);

“permitted stabiliser” means any stabiliser in so far as its use is permitted by the Emulsifiers and Stabilisers in Food Regulations 1980;

“permitted sweetener” means any sweetener in so far as it use is permitted by the Sweeteners in Food Regulations 1983(13);

“pre-packed” means made up in advance ready for retail sale in or on a container; and on any premises where food of any description is so made up, or is kept or stored for sale after being so made up, any food of that description found made up in or on a container shall be deemed to be pre-packed unless the contrary is proved;

“preparation”, in relation to food, includes manufacture and any form of treatment;

“preservative” means any substance which is capable of inhibiting, retarding or arresting the growth of micro-organisms or any deterioration of food due to micro-organisms or of masking the evidence of any such deterioration but does not include–

(a)

any permitted antioxidant,

(b)

any permitted colouring matter,

(c)

any permitted emulsifier,

(d)

any permitted miscellaneous additive,

(e)

any permitted solvent,

(f)

any permitted stabiliser,

(g)

any permitted sweetener,

(h)

vinegar,

(j)

any soluble carbohydrate sweetening matter,

(j)

potable spirits or wines,

(k)

herbs, spices, hop extract or flavouring agents when used for flavouring purposes,

(l)

common salt (sodium chloride),

(m)

any substance added to food by the process of curing known as smoking;

“processing”, in relation to food, includes curing by smoking and any treatment or process resulting in a substantial change in the natural state of the food but does not include boning, paring, grinding, cutting, cleaning or trimming;

“raw peeled potatoes” includes chips, sliced potatoes, diced potatoes and potatoes which have undergone the culinary process known as “blanching”;

“reduced sugar jam”, “reduced sugar jelly” and “reduced sugar marmalade” have the meanings assigned to them by regulation 2(2) of the Jam and Similar Products Regulations 1981;

“retail sale” means any sale to a person buying otherwise than for the purpose of re-sale, but does not include a sale to a caterer for the purposes of his catering business, or a sale to a manufacturer for the purpose of his manufacturing business;

“sauce” means a liquid, thickened or unthickened, frozen or otherwise, used as a garnish with food and having a colour and flavour derived essentially from ingredients other than meat, but does not include mustard, gravy sauce or any product having characteristics similar to gravy;

“sausage” does not include any cured meat product which has been acidified or fermented;

“sell” includes offer or expose for sale or have in possession for sale, and “sale” and “sold” shall be construed accordingly;

“smoking” means treating food with smoke or smoke solutions derived from wood or ligneous vegetable matter in the natural state, and excludes smoke or smoke solutions derived from wood or ligneous vegetable matter which has been impregnated, coloured, gummed, painted or otherwise treated in a similar manner;

“soft drink” has the meaning assigned to it by the Soft Drinks Regulations 1964;

“specified food” means any food of a description specified in column 1 of Schedule 2;

“specified sugar product” has the meaning assigned to it by the Specified Sugar Products Regulations 1976(14);

“sterile pack” means a hermetically sealed container which has been sufficiently heat processed to destroy any Clostridium botulinum in the container or in any food which is in the container;

“storage”, in relation to food, means storage at, in or upon any farm, dock, vehicle, warehouse, fumigation chamber, cold store, transportable container, whether refrigerated or not, or any barge, ship, aircraft or hover vehicle whilst, in each case, at, in or upon any port, harbour, airport or hover-port in England and Wales;

“sweetened” means containing any added soluble carbohydrate sweetening matter or added permitted sweetener and “unsweetened” shall be construed accordingly.

(2) Unless a contrary intention is expressed, any permitted preservative specified in columns 3 and 4 of Part I of Schedule 1 may be used as an alternative to the permitted preservative specified in relation thereto in columns 1 and 2 of that Part of that Schedule, if calculated as that permitted preservative, and any reference in these Regulations to any permitted preservative specified in the said columns 1 and 2 shall be construed accordingly.

(3) Unless a contrary intention is expressed, all proportions mentioned in these Regulations are proportions calculated by weight of the product as sold.

(4) Any reference in these Regulations to a label borne on a container shall be construed as including a reference to any legible marking on the container however effected.

(5) For the purpose of these Regulations, the supply of food, otherwise than by sale, at, in or from any place where food is supplied in the course of a business shall be deemed to be a sale of that food.

(6) Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation or schedule shall be construed as a reference to the regulation or schedule bearing that number in these Regulations.

(1)

S.I. 1984/1304, to which there is an amendment not relevant to these Regulations.

(2)

S.I. 1970/94; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1974/1122, 1984/649.

(3)

OJ No. L84, 27.3.1987, p. 1.

(4)

S.I. 1977/927, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(5)

S.I. 1964/760; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1976/295, 1977/927.

(6)

S.I. 1981/1063, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(7)

S.I. 1967/1866, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(8)

S.I. 1978/105; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1980/1831, 1983/1211, 1984/1304.

(9)

S.I. 1973/1340; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1975/1488, 1976/2086, 1978/1787, 1987/1987.

(10)

S.I. 1980/1833; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1982/16, 1983/1211, 1810, 1984/1304.

(11)

S.I. 1980/1834; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1982/14, 1983/1211, 1984/1304.

(12)

S.I. 1967/1582; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1967/1939, 1980/1832, 1983/1211, 1984/1304.

(13)

S.I. 1983/1211, to which there is an amendment not relevant to these Regulations.

(14)

S.I. 1976/509; a relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1982/255.