Food safety 2 – CCEAFood safety laws in Northern Ireland

The Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991

This legislation ensures that all consumers achieve a high level of health protection when buying food. It protects consumers by making it an offense to sell food that:

• has been rendered injurious to health
• is unfit for human consumption
• is so contaminated that it would not be reasonable to expect it to be used for human consumption
• is not of the nature, substance or quality that consumers would expect
• is labelled, advertised and presented in a way that is false or misleading

The Food Hygiene Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

This legislation protects consumers by checking that food has been prepared, handled, processed, packaged, manufactured, stored, transported and distributed safely and hygienically.

For example, this legislation will check that food is fit for consumption by ensuring that:

• Any food supplied follows safety requirements and any food sold is done so in a hygienic way. For example, inspectors will examine temperatures of cold storage or holding temperatures.
• A food business has identified any food safety hazards and has a HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) procedure to ensure safety controls are in place, maintained and reviewed.
• There must be a supply of clean drinking water to ensure food is not contaminated when washed.