Statutory Instruments
2008 No. 1188
Food, England
The Food Labelling (Declaration of Allergens) (England) Regulations 2008
Laid before Parliament
1st May 2008
Coming into force
31st May 2008
The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 16(1)(e), 17(1), 26(1)(a) and 48(1) of the Food Safety Act 1990(), and now vested in him().
In accordance with section 48(4A) of that Act, he has had regard to relevant advice given by the Food Standards Agency.
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(), 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 Food Labelling (Declaration of Allergens) (England) Regulations 2008, apply in relation to England only and come into force on 31st May 2008.
Amendment of the Food Labelling Regulations 1996
2.—(1) The Food Labelling Regulations 1996() are amended (in so far as they apply in relation to England) in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (7).
(2) In regulation 2(1) (interpretation), in the definition of Directive 2000/13 for the words “Commission Directive 2005/26/EC” to the end substitute “Commission Directive 2007/68/EC amending Annex IIIa to Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards certain food ingredients();”.
(3) In regulation 13(8)(c) —
(a)omit the expression “paragraphs 1 to 11 of”; and
(b)omit the passage beginning with the words “other than” and ending with the words “that allergenic ingredient”.
(4) In regulation 34B(1) —
(a)for the expression “paragraphs (2) and (3)” substitute “paragraph (2)”; and
(b)omit the expression “paragraphs 1 to 11 of”.
(5) In regulation 34B(2)(b) —
(a)omit the expression “subject to paragraph (3) of this regulation,”; and
(b)omit the expression “paragraphs 1 to 11 of”.
(6) In regulation 50 (transitional provision), after paragraph (14) insert the following —
“(15) In any proceedings for an offence under regulation 44(1)(a) it shall be a defence to prove that —
(a)the food concerned was sold before 31st May 2009 or marked or labelled before that date; and
(b)the matters constituting the alleged offence would not have constituted an offence under these Regulations if the amendments made by regulation 2 of the Food Labelling (Declaration of Allergens) (England) Regulations 2008() had not been in operation when the food was sold.”.
(7) For the contents of Schedule AA1 (allergenic ingredients) substitute the contents of the Schedule to these Regulations.
Revocations
3. The following Regulations or provisions are revoked —
(a)Regulation 34B(3) of, and Schedule 2A to, the Food Labelling Regulations 1996;
(b)The Schedule to the Food Labelling (Amendment) (England) (No.2) Regulations 2004();
(c)The Food Labelling (Amendment) (England) (No.2) Regulations 2005();
(d)The Food Labelling (Amendment) (England) (No.2) (Amendment) Regulations 2005();
(e)The Food Labelling (Declaration of Allergens) (England) Regulations 2007().
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health
Dawn Primarolo
Minister of State
Department of Health
24th April 2008
Regulation 2(7)
SCHEDULEContent to be inserted as Schedule AA1 to the Food Labelling Regulations 1996
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1. | Cereals containing gluten (i.e. wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut or their hybridised strains),
except:
(a) wheat-based glucose syrups including dextrose;
(b) wheat-based maltodextrins;
(c) glucose syrups based on barley;
(d) cereals used for making distillates or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin for spirit drinks and other alcoholic beverages.
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2. | Crustaceans. |
3. | Eggs. |
4. | Fish,
except:
(a) fish gelatine used as a carrier for vitamin or carotenoid preparations;
(b) fish gelatine or isinglass used as a fining agent in beer and wine.
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5. | Peanuts. |
6. | Soybeans,
except:
(a) fully refined soybean oil and fat;
(b) natural mixed tocopherols (E306), natural D-alpha tocopherol, natural D-alpha tocopherol acetate, natural D-alpha tocopherol succinate from soybean sources;
(c) vegetable oils derived from phytosterols and phytosterol esters from soybean sources;
(d) plant stanol ester produced from vegetable oil sterols from soybean sources.
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7. | Milk (including lactose),
except:
(a) whey used for making distillates or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin for spirit drinks and other alcoholic beverages;
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8. | Nuts, i.e. almonds (Amygdalus communis L.), hazelnuts (Corylus avellana), walnuts (Juglans regia), cashews (Anacardium occidentale), pecan nuts (Carya illinoiesis (Wangenh.) K.Koch), Brazil nuts (Bertholletia excelsa), pistachio nuts (Pistacia vera), macadamia nuts and Queensland nuts (Macadamia ternifolia),
except:
nuts used for making distillates or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin for spirit drinks and other alcoholic beverages.
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9. | Celery. |
10. | Mustard. |
11. | Sesame seeds. |
12. | Sulphur dioxide and sulphites at concentrations of more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre expressed as SO2. |
13. | Lupin. |
14. | Molluscs. |
EXPLANATORY NOTE
1. These Regulations further amend the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 (“the principal Regulations”) in so far as they apply in relation to England. The principal Regulations extend to the whole of Great Britain.
2. These Regulations implement in England Commission Directive No. 2007/68/EC (OJ No. L310, 28.11.2007, p.11) amending Annex IIIa to Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards certain food ingredients. The ingredients in question are those that are likely to cause an allergic reaction in some consumers.
3. The Regulations amend the principal Regulations in respect of the labelling requirements for foods containing allergenic ingredients, including labelling exemptions for certain processed forms of those ingredients, and provide a transitional period for foods that are marked, labelled or sold before the 31st May 2009.
4. A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Labelling, Standards and Allergy Division of the Food Standards Agency, Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NH and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website.