§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were(a) convicted of selling unfit meat to the public and (b) sentenced to a term of imprisonment in excess of (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three, (iv) four and (v) five years and over, in each year since 1990. [145002]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeSection 8 of the Food Safety Act 1990 refers to the sale of food not complying with food safety requirements. This includes selling food that is unfit for human consumption.
However the data held centrally on the Home Office's Court Proceedings Database, which only identify offences under S8 of the Act from 1992, do not distinguish the particular offence of selling food that is unfit for human consumption from the other offences given under this section of the Act. There may also be prosecutions under the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995, but we are again unable to identify specific offences.
The table shows the number of persons convicted under S8 of the Food Safety Act 1990. The type of sentence and the numbers of persons sentenced to a term of imprisonment, broken down by length of sentence, is also given. Only two offenders were sentenced to imprisonment, one for three months and one for four months.