Section 3: Defences in proceedings under s. 2.

Food Act 1984 · 1984 c. 30View on legislation.gov.uk

Part I: Food Generally

In proceedings under section 2 for an offence consisting of the sale of food—

to which any substance has been added, or
in the preparation of which any substance has been used as an ingredient, or
from which any constituent has been abstracted, or
which has been subjected to any other process or treatment,
the operation in question was not carried out fraudulently, and
the article was sold with a notice attached to it of adequate size, distinctly and legibly printed and conspicuously visible, stating explicitly the nature of the operation, or was sold in a wrapper or container displaying such a notice.

other than food thereby rendered injurious to health, it is a defence to prove that—

In proceedings under section 2 in respect of any food containing some extraneous matter, it is a defence to prove that the presence of that matter was an unavoidable consequence of the process of collection or preparation.

In proceedings under section 2 in respect of diluted whisky, brandy, rum or gin, it is a defence to prove that—

the spirit in question had been diluted with water only; and
its alcoholic strength by volume was still not lower than 37·2 per cent.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.