Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 2182

The Foods Intended for Use in Energy Restricted Diets for Weight Reduction Regulations 1997

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© Crown Copyright 1997

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    (3) 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.

Name of the food and compositional requirements
     2.  - (1) No person shall sell any relevant food under any name other than - 

(a) "total diet replacement for weight control" in the case of products intended as a replacement for the whole of the daily diet; or

(b) "meal replacement for weight control" in the case of products intended as a replacement for one or more meals of the daily diet.

    (2) No person shall sell any food in the labelling of which the name "total diet replacement for weight control" or "meal replacement for weight control" is used unless that food is relevant food.

Labelling requirements
     3. No person shall sell any relevant food unless it is labelled with the following particulars - 

(a) the available energy value expressed in kJ and kcal, and the content of proteins, carbohydrates and fat, expressed in numerical form, per specified quantity of the product ready for use as proposed for consumption;

(b) the average quantity of each mineral and each vitamin for which compositional requirements are stipulated in paragraph 5 of Schedule 1, expressed in numerical form, per specified quantity of the product ready for use as proposed for consumption and, for products mentioned in regulation 2(1)(b), that average quantity expressed as a percentage of the values as set out in Tables A and B of Part II of Schedule 6 to the Food Labelling Regulations 1996[2];

(c) instructions for appropriate preparation, where necessary and a statement as to the importance of following those instructions;

(d) where a product, when used as instructed by the manufacturer, provides a daily intake of polyols in excess of 20g per day, a statement to the effect that the food may have a laxative effect;

(e) a statement on the importance of maintaining an adequate daily fluid intake;

(f) for products mentioned in regulation 2(1)(a), a statement that the product provides adequate amounts of all essential nutrients for the day and a statement that the product should not be used for more than three weeks without medical advice; and

(g) for products mentioned in regulation 2(1)(b), a statement to the effect that the product is useful for the intended use only as part of an energy-restricted diet and that other food should be a necessary part of such diet.

Labelling, advertising and presentation
     4. No person shall sell any relevant food the labelling, advertising or presentation of which refers to the rate or amount of weight loss which may result from its use or to a reduction in the sense of hunger or an increase in the sense of satiety.

Packaging
     5. No person shall sell any relevant food being a product mentioned in regulation 2(1)(a) unless all individual components making up the product are contained in the same package.

Offences and penalties
     6.  - (1) If any person contravenes regulation 2, 3, 4 or 5 he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

    (2) Where an offence under these Regulations is committed in Scotland by a Scottish partnership and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a partner, he as well as the partnership shall be guilty of the offence and be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Enforcement
     7. Each food authority shall enforce and execute these Regulations in its area.

Defence in relation to exports
     8.  - (1) In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove - 

(a) that the food in respect of which the offence is alleged to have been committed was intended for export to a country which has legislation analogous to these Regulations and that such food complies with that legislation; and

(b) that the legislation complies with the provisions of Commission Directive 96/8/EC[3] on foods intended for use in energy-restricted diets for weight reduction, in the case of export to an EEA State.

    (2) In this regulation - 

"EEA State" means a State which is a Contracting Party to the EEA Agreement; and

"EEA Agreement" means the Agreement on the European Economic Area[4] signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992 as adjusted by the Protocol[5] signed at Brussels on 17th March 1993.

Application of various sections of the Act
     9. The following provisions of the Act shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations and, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in those provisions to the Act or Part thereof shall be construed for the purposes of these Regulations as a reference to these Regulations - 

section 2 (extended meaning of 'sale' etc.);

section 3 (presumption that food intended for human consumption);

section 20 (offences due to fault of another person);

section 21 (defence of due diligence) as it applies for the purposes of section 8, 14 or 15;

section 22 (defence of publication in the course of a business);

section 30(8) (which relates to documentary evidence);

section 33 (obstruction etc. of officers);

section 35(1) to (3) (punishment of offences) in so far as it relates to offences under section 33(1) and (2);

section 36 (offences by bodies corporate); and

section 44 (protection of officers acting in good faith).

Jeff Rooker
Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

2nd September 1997



Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health


Tessa Jowell
Minister of State for Public Health, Department of Health

4th September 1997



Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Wales


Win Griffiths
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Welsh Office

4th September 1997


Sam Galbraith
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Scottish Office

5th September 1997

[2] S.I. 1996/1499.back

[3] OJ No. L55, 6.3.96, p. 22.back

[4] OJ No. L1, 3.1.94, p. 1.back

[5] OJ No. L1, 3.1.94, p. 571.back