§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what foods which have gone past their sell by date are routinely reprocessed by the food industry and sold to the public in another form; and if he will make a statement. [147382]
§ Ms StuartThe information requested is not available centrally.
Whether or not the date mark on a food has expired, and whether or not a food has been reprocessed, it is an offence under the Food Safety Act 1990 to sell, or possess for sale, food that does not comply with food safety requirements. These are that food, not only for retail sale but throughout the food chain, must not have been rendered injurious to health, be unfit, or be so contaminated that it would be unreasonable to expect it to be eaten. The Act also makes it an offence to render food injurious to health, to sell to the purchaser's prejudice food which is not of the nature or substance or quality demanded, or to describe or present food falsely or misleadingly.