Food Supplements Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

© Crown Copyright 2003

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland printed from this website are printed under the superintendence and authority of the Controller of HMSO being the Government Printer for Northern Ireland.

The legislation contained on this web site is subject to Crown Copyright protection. It may be reproduced free of charge provided that it is reproduced accurately and that the source and copyright status of the material is made evident to users.

It should be noted that the right to reproduce the text of Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland does not extend to the Government Printer for Northern Ireland imprints which should be removed from any copies of the Statutory Rule which are issued or made available to the public. This includes reproduction of the Statutory Rule on the Internet and on intranet sites. The Royal Arms may be reproduced only where they are an integral part of the original document.

The text of this Internet version of the Statutory Rule which is published by the Government Printer for Northern Ireland has been prepared to reflect the text as it was Made. A print version is also available and is published by The Stationery Office Limited as the Food Supplements Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003, ISBN 0337951195. The print version may be purchased by clicking here. Braille copies of this Statutory Rule can also be purchased at the same price as the print edition by contacting TSO Customer Services on 0870 600 5522 or e-mail: customer.services@tso.co.uk.

Further information about the publication of legislation on this website can be found by referring to the Frequently Asked Questions.

To ensure fast access over slow connections, large documents have been segmented into "chunks". Where you see a "continue" button at the bottom of the page of text, this indicates that there is another chunk of text available.

"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;

"the Order" means the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991;

"preparation" includes manufacture and any form of processing or treatment;

"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 (Northern Ireland) 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 (Northern Ireland) 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. Each district council shall enforce and execute these Regulations within its district.

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 Order
     11. The following provisions of the Order shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations and any reference in those provisions to the Order shall be construed for the purposes of these regulations as a reference to these Regulations -

(a) Articles 2(4) and 3 (extended meaning of sale etc.);

(b) Article 4 (presumptions that food intended for human consumption);

(c) Article 19 (offences due to fault of another person);

(d) Article 20 (defence of due diligence) as it applies for the purposes of Article 7, 13 or 14 of the Order;

(e) Article 21 (defence of publication in the course of a business);

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

(g) Article 34 (obstruction, etc., of officers);

(h) Article 36 (punishment of offences) in so far as it relates to offences under Article 34(1) and (2) as applied by paragraph (g).

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety on


20th May 2003.

L.S.

Jim F. Livingstone
A Senior Officer of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety

[2] S.I. 1991/762 (N.I. 7) as amended by S.I. 1996/1633 (N.I. 12) and paragraphs 26 to 42 of Schedule 5 and Schedule 6 to the Food Standards Act 1999 c. 28back

[3] O.J. No. L31, 1.2.2002, p. 1back

[4] O.J. No. L183, 12.7.2002, p. 51back

[5] O.J. No. L311, 28.11.2001, p. 67back

[6] S.R. 1996 No. 383, as amended by S.R. 1998 Nos. 24, 253 and 359, S.R. 1999 Nos. 143, 244, 286 and 301, S.R. 2000 Nos. 189 and 303 and S.R. 2001 No. 45back

[7] O.J. No. L276, 6.10.90, p. 40back