Food Labelling, Standards and Hygiene
Food Labelling, Standards and Hygiene
Food safety since the mid-19th century has focused on three main priorities: ensuring that food is accurately described and does not contain extraneous matter (particularly which could harm people); ensuring food is fit for human consumption; and ensuring that food is prepared and processed in hygienic conditions to prevent contamination. Food safety was initially the responsibility of local authority sanitary inspectors, then also involved medical officers of health, and during the 20th century became a separate specialism within the general area of environmental health.
The earliest concern was ensuring that food was not fraudulently made up of cheaper ingredients than those claimed and early enactments by the Scottish parliament were aimed at correct labelling of food. From 1860 it was an offence to sell adulterated food while claiming it was pure or unadulterated.[1] Commissioners of supply in counties and town councils in burghs were permitted to appoint an analyst and any individual could then pay a capped fee to have food or drugs analysed. Cases were to be heard by justices of the peace or sheriff substitutes and, from 1875, magistrates of police burghs.[2] Medical officers of health and other local authority officers were empowered to obtain samples of food and drugs and submit it to the appointed analyst for tests. In 1887, further explicit controls were introduced for margarine and related foodstuffs, and these were consolidated in 1928 along with renewed prohibitions of any extraneous matter that could be harmful.[3] In that year food and drugs authorities were identified as the town council of burghs and county councils in all other areas, but in 1929, these responsibilities were transferred from small burghs to county councils.[4]
The Public Health (Scotland) Act 1867 gave responsibilities for ensuring food was fit to eat to town councils or police commissioners in towns and to parochial boards elsewhere (which were replaced by district committees or county councils for public health purposes in 1897).[5] Sanitary inspectors were empowered to inspect food and order it to be destroyed if it was deemed unfit for people to eat. These powers were increased in 1897 when medical officers of health, sanitary inspectors and veterinary surgeons were all given powers to seize any diseased animals or meat considered unsound. Inspection and seizure remained the main methods of controlling the quality of food throughout the 20th century.
Food hygiene was introduced by the requirement for local authorities to register and inspect various food premises from the 1880s onwards, such as dairies, shops selling milk and later ice-cream and aerated water shops.[6] In 1897 people who had been exposed to infectious diseases were prohibited from milking animals, picking fruit or carrying on any trade or business where they might spread disease.[7] Hygiene standards for dairymen were included in subsequent milk and dairy legislation.[8]
Until 1956, local authorities were primarily responsible for regulating food standards and food hygiene through byelaws, inspection, appointment of a public analyst, with some central direction from the Local Government Board for Scotland and then the Scottish Board of Health. In 1956 the three issues of accurate labelling, quality control and hygiene were brought together, and greater powers were given to the Secretary of State for Scotland to make regulations, to undertake sampling and analysis of food and to appoint a new body, the Scottish Food Hygiene Council, to advise on regulations and related matters (abolished in 1982). Local authorities remained responsible for investigating and examining food premises and operations, for registration of food manufacturers and traders, and for responding to notification of food poisoning. They were also permitted to provide facilities for cleaning shellfish and cold stores for meat.[9]
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 divided food standards responsibilities between the regional and district councils.[10] Regional councils were given responsibilities for investigating inaccurate labelling and advertising, adulterated food and drugs, and cream substitutes, while district councils dealt with all other responsibilities including examining and seizing food unfit for human consumption and registering food manufacturers and traders. Islands councils dealt with all food standards responsibilities in their areas. In 1990, district and islands councils were designated food authorities.[11] In 2001 the Food Standards Agency was set up as an independent UK advisory and regulatory body, with an office in Scotland, and in 2015, Food Standards Scotland was set up, replacing the Food Standards Agency in Scotland.[12]
Local authority archives services may hold registers of dairy premises, registers of food and drug samples, records of complaints made by sanitary inspectors of medical officers of health, and reports of sanitary inspectors, medical officers of health and environmental health officers. Most modern local authority food standards records are retained only as long as required for business use. National Records of Scotland holds records relating to food standards from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Home and Health Department and their successors (reference codes AF94 and HH64) as well as files on food standards legislation (reference code SOE26).
Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)
Related Knowledge Base entries
Sanitary Inspection & Environmental Health
Bibliography
Bradgate, J. Robert and Geraint G. Howells, ‘Food Law in the United Kingdom’ Food, Drug, Cosmetic Law Journal, 46.3 (1991) pp. 447-66.
Elton, G. A. H. and W. H. Nightingale, ‘Food technology and the Law’ Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 191 (1102), (1975), pp. 99-110
Ferguson, Keith, An introduction to local government in Scotland (The Planning Exchange, 1984)
French, Michael & Jim Phillips, ‘Food safety regimes in Scotland, 1899-1914’ Journal of Scottish Historical Studies 22.2 (2002), pp. 134-57
Whyte, W. E., Local Government in Scotland (Hodge & Co, 1936)
References
[1] Act preventing the adulteration of articles of food and drink, 1860 (23 & 24 Vict c.84).
[2] Sale of Food and Drugs Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict c.63).
[3] Margarine Act 1887 (50 & 51 Vict. c.29); Food and Drugs (Adulteration) Act 1928 (18 & 19 Geo. V c.31).
[4] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25).
[5] Public Health (Scotland) Act, 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c.101); Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897 (60 & 61 Vict. c.38).
[6] Dairies, Cowsheds and Milkshops Orders, 1885, 1887, 1889; Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1903 (3 Edw. VII c.33) s.82.
[7] Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897 (60 & 61 Vict. c.38).
[8] Milk and Dairies (Scotland) Act 1914 (c.46).
[9] Food and Drugs (Scotland) Act 1956 (c.30).
[10] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65).
[11] Food Safety Act 1990 (c.16).
[12] Food Standards Act 1999 (c.28); Food (Scotland) Act 2015 (asp.1).