§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, how many successful prosecutions have been brought since 1997 against persons who have doctored and sold on to retailers adulterated food which is unfit for human consumption; what the(a) average length of imprisonment and (b) fine levied was; and if he will make a statement. [86589]
§ Hilary BennI have been asked to reply.
The available information is given in the table.
897W
Defendants proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty and sentenced at all courts for certain offences under the Food Safety Act 1990, England and Wales 1997–2001 Offence Statute Year Proceeded against Found guilty Fine Average fine amount (£) Immediate custody Average custody length (months) Selling food not complying with food safety requirements Ibid, section 8 1997 170 111 106 1,150 — — 1998 144 112 99 1,400 2 3.5 1999 107 70 65 2,107 — — 12000 76 58 55 1,592 — — 2001 92 64 61 4,083 — — Selling food not of the nature or substance or quality demanded Ibid, section 14 1997 122 90 81 1,071 — — 1998 131 95 84 1,127 — — 1999 82 63 60 1,194 — — 12000 66 47 46 1,046 — — 2001 39 31 25 2,168 — — Falsely describing or presenting food Ibid, section 15 1997 50 36 28 812 1998 73 59 47 649 — — 1999 59 50 44 756 — — 12000 62 45 40 1,035 — — 2001 43 36 31 755 — — 1 Staffordshire Police Force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates' courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.