The Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003

© Crown Copyright 2003

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"Directive 2002/46" means Directive 2002/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council[4] on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to food supplements;

"dose form" means a form such as capsules, pastilles, tablets, pills, and other similar forms, sachets of powder, ampoules of liquids, drop dispensing bottles, and other similar forms of liquids or powders designed to be taken in measured small unit quantities;

"food supplement" means any food the purpose of which is to supplement the normal diet and which - 

(a) is a concentrated source of a vitamin or mineral or other substance with a nutritional or physiological effect, alone or in combination; and

(b) is sold in dose form;

"preparation" includes manufacture and any form of processing or treatment, and "prepared" shall be construed accordingly;

"sell" includes possess for sale and offer, expose or advertise for sale;

"ultimate consumer" means any person who purchases otherwise than - 

(a) for the purpose of resale;

(b) for the purposes of a catering establishment; or

(c) for the purposes of a manufacturing business.

    (2) A food supplement shall be regarded as prepacked for the purposes of these Regulations if - 

(a) it is ready for sale to the ultimate consumer or to a catering establishment, and

(b) it is put into packaging before being offered for sale in such a way that the food supplement cannot be altered without opening or changing the packaging.

    (3) Other expressions used both in these Regulations and in Directive 2002/46 have the same meaning in these Regulations as they have in that Directive.

Scope of Regulations
     3.  - (1) These Regulations apply to food supplements sold as food and presented as such.

    (2) These Regulations do not apply to medicinal products as defined by Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council[5] on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use.

Restriction on form in which food supplements are sold to the ultimate consumer
     4. No person shall sell any food supplement to the ultimate consumer unless it is prepacked.

Prohibitions on sale relating to composition of food supplements
     5.  - (1) Subject to paragraph (3), no person shall sell a food supplement in the manufacture of which a vitamin or mineral has been used unless that vitamin or mineral - 

(a) is listed in column 1 of Schedule 1; and

(b) is in a form which - 


(i) is listed in Schedule 2, and

(ii) meets the relevant purity criteria.

    (2) The relevant purity criteria for the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)(ii) are - 

(a) the purity criteria, if any, specified by Community legislation for the use of the substance in question in the manufacture of food for purposes other than those covered by Directive 2002/46; or

(b) in the absence of such purity criteria, generally acceptable purity criteria for the substance in question recommended by international bodies.

    (3) In the case of a vitamin or mineral which is not listed in column 1 of Schedule 1 or is not in a form listed in Schedule 2, the prohibitions in paragraph (1) shall not apply until 1st January 2010 if - 

(a) the substance in question was used in the manufacture of a food supplement which was on sale in the European Community on 12th July 2002;

(b) a dossier supporting use of the substance in question was submitted to the Commission by the Food Standards Agency or a member State other than the United Kingdom by 12th July 2005; and

(c) the European Food Safety Authority has not given an unfavourable opinion in respect of the use of that substance, or its use in that form in the manufacture of food supplements.

Restrictions on sale relating to labelling etc of food supplements
     6.  - (1) No person shall sell a food supplement which is ready for delivery to the ultimate consumer or to a catering establishment unless the name under which it is sold is "food supplement".

    (2) Without prejudice to the Food Labelling Regulations 1996[6], no person shall sell a food supplement which is ready for delivery to the ultimate consumer or to a catering establishment unless it is marked or labelled with the following particulars - 

(a) the name of the category of any vitamin or mineral or other substance with a nutritional or physiological effect which characterises the product or an indication of the nature of that vitamin or mineral or other substance;

(b) the portion of the product recommended for daily consumption;

(c) a warning not to exceed the stated recommended daily dose;

(d) a statement to the effect that food supplements should not be used as a substitute for a varied diet;

(e) a statement to the effect that the product should be stored out of the reach of young children; and

(f) the amount of any vitamin or mineral or other substance with a nutritional or physiological effect which is present in the product.

    (3) The information required by paragraph (2)(f) shall - 

(a) be given in numerical form;

(b) in the case of a vitamin or mineral listed in column 1 of Schedule 1, be given using the relevant unit specified in column 2 of that Schedule;

(c) be the amount per portion of the product as recommended for daily consumption on the labelling of the product;

(d) be an average amount based on the manufacturer's analysis of the product; and

(e) in the case of a vitamin or mineral listed in the Annex to Council Directive 90/496/EEC[7] on nutrition labelling for foodstuffs, be expressed also as a percentage (which may also be given in graphical form) of the relevant recommended daily allowance specified in that Annex.

    (4) No person shall sell any food supplement which is ready for delivery to the ultimate consumer or to a catering establishment if the labelling, presentation or advertising of that food supplement includes any mention, express or implied, that a balanced and varied diet cannot provide appropriate quantities of nutrients in general.

Manner of marking or labelling
     7.  - (1) No person shall sell any food supplement which - 

(a) is ready for delivery to the ultimate consumer, or

(b) is ready for delivery to a catering establishment and is prepacked,

unless the particulars with which it is required to be marked or labelled by virtue of regulation 6(2) appear - 

(i) on the packaging;

(ii) on a label attached to the packaging; or

(iii) on a label which is clearly visible through the packaging,



save that where the sale is otherwise than to the ultimate consumer such particulars may, alternatively, appear only on the commercial documents relating to the food supplement where it can be guaranteed that such documents, containing all such particulars, either accompany the food supplement to which they relate or were sent before, or at the same time as, delivery of the food supplement, and provided always that the particulars required by regulation 5(a), (c) and (e) of the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 are also marked or labelled on the outermost packaging in which that food supplement is sold.

    (2) No person shall sell any food supplement which is ready for delivery to a catering establishment and is not prepacked, unless the particulars with which it is required to be marked or labelled by virtue of regulation 6(2) appear - 

(a) on a label attached to the food supplement;

(b) on a ticket or notice which is readily discernible by the intending purchaser at the place where he chooses the food supplement; or

(c) in commercial documents relating to the food supplement where it can be guaranteed that such documents either accompany the food supplement to which they relate or were sent before, or at the same time as, delivery of the food supplement.

    (3) No person shall sell any food supplement which is ready for delivery to the ultimate consumer or to a catering establishment unless the particulars with which it is required to be marked or labelled by virtue of regulation 6(2) are easy to understand, clearly legible and indelible and, when a food is sold to the ultimate consumer, those particulars are marked in a conspicuous place in such a way as to be easily visible.

    (4) No person shall sell any food supplement which is ready for delivery to the ultimate consumer or to a catering establishment if the particulars with which it is required to be marked or labelled by virtue of regulation 6(2) are in any way hidden, obscured or interrupted by any other written or pictorial matter.

Enforcement
     8.  - (1) Each food authority shall enforce and execute these Regulations in its area.

    (2) In this regulation "food authority" does not include - 

(a) the council of a district of a non-metropolitan county except where the county functions have been transferred to that council pursuant to a structural change; or

(b) the appropriate Treasurer referred to in section 5(1)(c) of the Act (which deals with the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple).

Offences and penalties
     9. If any person contravenes regulation 4, 5, 6 or 7 he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

Defence in relation to exports
     10. 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 the food complies with that legislation; and

(b) in the case of export to a member State, that the legislation complies with the provisions of Directive 2002/46.

Application of various provisions of the Act
     11. The following provisions of the Act shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations with the modification that any reference in those provisions to the Act or Part thereof shall be construed as a reference to these Regulations - 

(a) section 2 (extended meaning of "sale" etc.);

(b) section 3 (presumptions that food is intended for human consumption);

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

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

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

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

(g) section 33(1) (obstruction etc. of officers);

(h) section 33(2), with the modification that the reference to "any such requirement as is mentioned in subsection (1)(b) above" shall be deemed to be a reference to any such requirement as is mentioned in that subsection as applied by paragraph (g) above;

(i) section 35(1) (punishment of offences) in so far as it relates to offences under section 33(1) as applied by paragraph (g) above;

(j) section 35(2) and (3) in so far as it relates to offences under section 33(2) as applied by paragraph (h) above;

(k) section 36 (offences by bodies corporate); and

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

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health


Hazel Blears
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Health

9th May 2003

[2] Functions formerly exercisable by "the Ministers" (being, in relation to England and Wales and acting jointly, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretaries of State respectively concerned with health in England and food and health in Wales and, in relation to Scotland, the Secretary of State) are now exercisable in relation to England by the Secretary of State pursuant to paragraph 8 of Schedule 5 to the Food Standards Act 1999 (c. 28), and paragraphs 12 and 21 of that Schedule amend respectively sections 17(1) and 48 of the 1990 Act. Functions of "the Ministers" so far as exercisable in relation to Wales were transferred to the National Assembly for Wales by the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/672) as read with section 40(3) of the 1999 Act, and those functions so far as exercisable in relation to Scotland were transferred to the Scottish Ministers by section 53 of the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) as read with section 40(2) of the 1999 Act.back

[3] OJ No. L31, 1.2.2002, p.1.back

[4] OJ No. L183, 12.7.2002, p.51.back

[5] OJ No. L311, 28.11.2001, p.67.back

[6] S.I. 1996/1499, amended by S.I. 1998/141, 1398, 2424, 1999/747, 1136, 1483, 1540, 1603, 2000/768, 2254, 3323, 2001/2294, 3442, 3775, 2002/379, 2003/474.back

[7] OJ No. L276, 6.10.90, p.40.back