Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991: A guide for food businesses

The guide provides advice for food businesses on the requirements of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 and updates an earlier publication 'The Food Safety Act 1990 and You', issued in 1990. The current guide takes account of amendments made to the Order by the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 and the General Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 to allow for the requirements of the General Food Law Regulation (EC) 178/2002 and also amendments in the light of the Food Hygiene Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006. A separate guide will be available for stakeholders in England on the Food Safety Act 1990.

The Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 is an important Order that updated previous law on food safety and consumer protection in Northern Ireland. A separate but similar law applies in England. A guide, 'The Food Safety Act 1990 and You', covering both pieces of legislation, was first published in 1990, along with two sectoral guides for farmers and growers, and for caterers and their employees. A revised version was issued in 1996 (reprinted in 1997 and 1998), without the sectoral guides.

Regulation (EC) 178/2002 (General Food Law Regulation) introduced new directly applicable requirements in 2005 for food businesses, intended to improve food safety throughout the European Union. As a result, there was a need to introduce new enforcement powers and penalties in relation to these new requirements, some which were similar to the existing provisions in the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991. The Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 made amendments to the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 to avoid any duplication or conflict with the new requirements.

This current guide takes account of the amendments made to the Order by this new legislation (above). It does not cover food hygiene, which, following recent changes, is now governed by separate legislation and supporting guidance. The new guide should be read in parallel with the FSA Guidance Notes on Regulation (EC) 178/2002, which were published in July 2007 and are available at the link below.

This consultation has been prepared in accordance with the Better Regulation Executive's Code of Practice on Consultation, which states that a consultation must follow better regulation best practice, including carrying out an Impact Assessment (Regulatory Impact Assessment in Scotland). The assessment is included in the consultation documents.

We are interested in what you thought of this consultation and would therefore welcome your general feedback on both the consultation package and overall consultation process. If you would like to assist us to improve the quality of future consultations, please feel free to share your thoughts with us by using the Consultation Feedback Questionnaire.

Consultation feedback questionnaire (Word)

Consultation feedback questionnaire (pdf)

In accordance with the FSA principle of openness our Information Centre at Aviation House will hold a copy of the completed consultation. Responses will be open to public access upon request. The FSA will also publish a summary of responses, which may include personal data, such as your full name and contact address details. If you do not want this information to be released, please complete and return the Publication of Personal Data Form. Return of this form does not mean that we will treat your response to the consultation as confidential, just your personal data.

Data protection form (Word)

Data protection form (pdf)

Within three months of a consultation ending we aim to publish a summary of responses received and provide a link to it from this page.

If, after three months, the summary is still not showing, please contact the person who was responsible for the original consultation. Alternatively, you can contact Chris Harvey, the FSA Consultation Co-ordinator, on 020 7276 8630.
Email: chris.harvey@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk