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Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

1998 No. 24

FOOD

Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998

Made

28th January 1998

Coming into operation

9th March 1998

The Department of Health and Social Services in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Articles 15(1), 17(1)(c), 25(1)(a) and (3), 26(3) and 47(2) of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991(1) and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf and after consultation in accordance with Article 47(3) of the said Order with such organisations as appear to it to be representative of interests likely to be substantially affected by these Regulations, hereby makes the following Regulations:—

Citation and commencementN.I.

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 and shall come into operation on 9th March 1998.

Commencement Information

I1Reg. 1 in operation at 9.3.1998, see reg. 1

InterpretationN.I.

2.  In these Regulations—

  • “bread” means a food of any size, shape or form which—

    (a)

    is usually known as bread, and

    (b)

    consists of a dough made from flour and water, with or without other ingredients, which has been fermented by yeast or otherwise leavened and subsequently baked or partly baked,

    but does not include buns, bunloaves, chapattis, chollas, pitta bread, potato bread or bread specially prepared for coeliac sufferers;

  • [F1“common wheat” means Triticum aestivum L;]

  • “EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area(2) signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992, as adjusted by the Protocol(3) signed at Brussels on 17th March 1993;

  • “EEA State” means a State which is a Contracting Party to the EEA Agreement;

  • “enzyme preparation” means any food additive which consists of one or more enzymes with or without the addition of supplementary material to facilitate the storage, sale, standardisation, dilution or dissolution of the enzyme or enzymes;

  • “flour” means the product which is derived from, or separated during, the milling or grinding of cleaned cereal whether or not the cereal has been malted or subjected to any other process, and includes meal, but does not include other cereal products, such as separated cereal bran, separated cereal germ, semolina or grits;

  • “flour bleaching agent” means any food additive primarily used to remove colour from flour;

  • F2...

  • F2...

  • [F3“food additive” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 3(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on food additives as last amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/1497]

  • “ingredient” has the meaning assigned to it by [F4Article 2(2)(f) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011];

  • “labelling” has the meaning assigned to it by [F5Article 2(2)(j) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011];

  • F6...

  • “the Order” means the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991;

  • [F7“Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011” means Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision of food information to consumers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006 and (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Commission Directive 87/250/EEC, Council Directive 90/496/EEC, Commission Directive 1999/10/EC, Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Commission Directives 2002/67/EC and 2008/5/EC and Commission Regulation (EC) No 608/2004 [F8as last amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 of the European Parliament and of the Council.]; F9...]

  • “sell” includes offer or expose for sale and includes have in possession for sale [F10; and]

  • [F11“wholemeal flour” means the flour consisting of the whole of the product obtained from the milling or grinding of cleaned cereals.]

Textual Amendments

Commencement Information

I2Reg. 2 in operation at 9.3.1998, see reg. 1

ExemptionsN.I.

3.—(1) These Regulations, except insofar as they relate to advertising, shall not apply to any food which is not intended for sale for human consumption.

[F12(2) These Regulations shall not apply in respect of—

(a)any bread or flour brought into Northern Ireland from an EEA State in which it was lawfully produced and sold;

(b)any bread or flour lawfully produced in another member State and brought into Northern Ireland from a member State in which it was lawfully sold;

(c)any bread or flour lawfully produced outside the European Union and brought into Northern Ireland from a member State in which it was in free circulation and lawfully sold;

(d)any bread produced in Northern Ireland which is to be exported to any country outside the United Kingdom;

(e)any flour produced in Northern Ireland which is—

(i)to be exported to any country outside the United Kingdom; or

(ii)for use in the production of food that is to be exported to any country outside the United Kingdom,

which is suitably labelled to give the nature of the bread or flour.]

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2), “free circulation” has the same meaning as in Article 9.2 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

Textual Amendments

Commencement Information

I3Reg. 3 in operation at 9.3.1998, see reg. 1

Composition of flourN.I.

4.—(1) Subject to [F13paragraphs (1A) and (2)], flour derived from [F14common] wheat and from no other cereal, whether or not mixed with other flour, shall contain the substances specified in column 1 of Schedule 1 in accordance with the proportions and conditions prescribed in column 2 of that Schedule and with Schedule 2.

[F15(1A) The requirements specified in paragraph (1) shall not apply to—

(a)wholemeal flour; or

(b)flour produced by a small mill which is a production site which has—

(i)a maximum annual production capacity of 500 metric tonnes of flour, and

(ii)produced less than 500 metric tonnes of flour for each of the last three calendar years.]

(2) The requirements specified for item 1 in column 2 of Schedule 1 shall not apply in the case of—

F16(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b)self raising flour which has a calcium content of not less than 0.2 per cent, and

(c)wheat malt flour.

[F17(3) The substances specified in items 2 to 4 of Schedule 1 shall be added where such addition is necessary in accordance with the conditions prescribed in column 2 of that Schedule.]

(4) Subject to paragraph (5)—

(a)no manufacturer of flour shall sell any flour which does not comply with this regulation; and

(b)no importer of flour shall—

(i)import into Northern Ireland any flour; or

(ii)sell any flour imported by him,

which does not comply with this regulation.

(5) Paragraph (4) shall not apply as respects any sale or importation into Northern Ireland of flour for use in the manufacture of communion wafers, matzos, gluten, starch or any concentrated preparation for use for the purpose of facilitating the addition to flour of the substances referred to in Schedule 1.

Textual Amendments

Commencement Information

I4Reg. 4 in operation at 9.3.1998, see reg. 1

Additional ingredientsN.I.

5.—[F18(1) No person shall use as an ingredient in the preparation of flour or bread any flour bleaching agent.]

F19(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

Commencement Information

I5Reg. 5 in operation at 9.3.1998, see reg. 1

Restrictions on the use of ‘wholemeal’ and ‘wheat germ’N.I.

6.—(1) There shall not be used in the labelling or advertising of bread, as part of the name of the bread, whether or not qualified by other words—

(a)‘wholemeal’, unless all the flour used as an ingredient in the preparation of the bread is wholemeal;

(b)‘wheat germ’, unless the bread has an added processed wheat germ content of not less than 10 per cent calculated on the dry matter of the bread.

(2) No person shall sell or advertise for sale any bread in contravention of this regulation.

Commencement Information

I6Reg. 6 in operation at 9.3.1998, see reg. 1

Offences and penaltiesN.I.

F207.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

EnforcementN.I.

8.  Each district council shall enforce and execute these Regulations within its district.

Commencement Information

I7Reg. 8 in operation at 9.3.1998, see reg. 1

Defence in relation to exportsN.I.

F219.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

[F22Application and modification of provisions of the OrderN.I.

10.  The provisions of the Order specified in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 apply, with the modifications specified in column 2 of that table, for the purposes of these Regulations.]

Textual Amendments

AmendmentsN.I.

F2311.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

RevocationsN.I.

12.  The Regulations specified in column 1 of Schedule 4 are hereby revoked to the extent specified in column 3 of that Schedule.

Commencement Information

I8Reg. 12 in operation at 9.3.1998, see reg. 1

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health and Social Services on

L.S.

J. R. Kearney

Assistant Secretary

28th January 1998.

Regulation 4(1), (2), (3) and (5)

SCHEDULE 1N.I.Essential Ingredients of Flour

Commencement Information

I9Sch. 1 in operation at 9.3.1998, see reg. 1

Column 1Column 2
SubstanceRequired quantity, in milligrams per hundred grams of flour, and conditions of use

1.  Calcium carbonate

(a)not less than 235, and

(b)not more than 390,

(c)conforming to the following—

Description ... ... ... ...Fine white microcrystalline or amorphous powder.
Content ... ... ... ...Not less than 97 per cent of CaCO3 on a volatile matter-free basis.
Volatile matter ... ... ... ...Not more than 1 per cent (determined by drying at 105°C to constant weight).
Matter insoluble in hydrochloric acid ... ... ... ...Shall comply with the requirement for aluminium, iron, phosphate and matter insoluble in hydrochloric acid in the monograph for chalk in the British Pharmacopoeia 1973 at page 93.
Arsenic ... ... ... ...Not more than 5 mg per kg.
Lead ... ... ... ...Not more than 20 mg per kg.
Other inorganic impurities ... ... ... ...Not more than 100 mg per kg of any of the following substances, namely antimony, copper, chromium, zinc or barium sulphate, or more than 200 mg per kg of any combination of those substances.
Particle size ... ... ... ...Not more than 0.1 per cent to remain on a sieve of nominal aperture size 150μm and not more than 0.2 per cent to remain on a sieve of nominal aperture size 63μm.

2.  Iron

(a)not less than 1.65

(b)in the form of any, or any combination of two or more, of the following—

(i)ferric ammonium citrate conforming to the criteria in the monograph for ferric ammonium citrate contained in the British Pharmacopoeia 1973 at page 201;

(ii)green ferric ammonium citrate conforming to the criteria for ammonium ferric citrate contained in the British Pharmaceutical Codex 1973 at page 194;

(iii)ferrous sulphate conforming to the criteria in the monograph for ferrous sulphate contained in the British Pharmacopoeia 1988 at page 245;

(iv)dried ferrous sulphate conforming to the criteria in the monograph for dried ferrous sulphate contained in the British Pharmacopoeia 1988 at page 245;

(v)iron powder conforming to the description, specification and requirements contained in Schedule 2.

3.  Thiamin (Vitamin B1)

(a)not less than 0.24

(b)in a form conforming to the criteria in the monograph for thiamine hydrochloride contained in the British Pharmacopoeia 1980 at page 451.

4.  Nicotinic acid

(a)not less than 1.60

(b)in a form conforming to the criteria in the monograph for nicotinic acid contained in the British Pharmacopoeia 1973 at page 318.

or Nicotinamide

(a)not less than 1.60

(b)in a form conforming to the criteria in the monograph for nicotinamide contained in the British Pharmacopoeia 1980 at page 303.

Regulation 4(1)

SCHEDULE 2N.I.Specification for Iron Powder

Commencement Information

I10Sch. 2 in operation at 9.3.1998, see reg. 1

DefinitionN.I.

Iron powder shall consist essentially of finely-divided metallic iron containing not less than 90 per cent by weight of iron and conform to the following requirements.

Chemical nameIron
SymbolFe

DescriptionN.I.

Fine greyish-black powder of such granularity that not more than 0.1 per cent by weight shall remain on a British Standard 410: 1969 wire sieve nominal aperture size 150μm and not more than 5 per cent by weight on a British Standard 410: 1969 wire sieve nominal aperture size 53μm.

AssayN.I.

Accurately weigh 0.25 g of sample into a stoppered flask. Add a hot solution of 1.25 g of copper sulphate pentahydrate in 20 ml of water and shake for ten minutes. Filter rapidly and wash the filter with water; acidify the mixed filtrate and washings with sulphuric acid, and titrate with N/10 potassium permanganate. Each ml of N/10 potassium permanganate is equivalent to 0.005585 g of iron.

SolubilityN.I.

Not less than 95 per cent of the iron content when determined by the following method.

Accurately weigh 0.1 g of sample into 750 ml conical flask. Add 450 ml 0.2 per cent weight in weight hydrochloric acid previously warmed to 37°C. Stir continuously for three hours, maintaining the temperature at 37°C. Cool to room temperature and dilute to 500 ml with distilled water. Filter; determine the iron content of the filtrate by a suitable method. Calculate the total iron in solution as a percentage of the metallic iron content of the sample taken.

Regulation 5

F24SCHEDULE 3N.I.Ingredients Permitted in Flour and Bread

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

Regulation 12

SCHEDULE 4N.I.Revocations

Commencement Information

I11Sch. 4 in operation at 9.3.1998, see reg. 1

Column 1Column 2Column 3
Regulations revokedReferencesExtent of revocation
Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996S.R. 1996 No. 51The whole Regulations
Food Labelling Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996S.R. 1996 No. 383Paragraph (20) of regulation 49
Bread and Flour (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996S.R. 1996 No. 385The whole Regulations

Regulation 10

[F25SCHEDULE 5N.I.Application and modification of provisions of the Order

Textual Amendments

Column 1

Provision of the Order

Column 2

Modifications

Article 4 (Presumptions that food intended for human consumption)For “this Order” substitute “the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998”.
Article 9(1) and (2) (Improvement notices)

For paragraph (1) (Improvement notices) substitute—

“(1) If an authorised officer has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is failing to comply with any of regulations 4 to 6 of the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998, the authorised officer may, by a notice served on that person (in this Order referred to as an “improvement notice”)—

(a) state the officer’s grounds for believing that the person is failing to comply with the relevant provision;

(b) specify the matters which constitute the person’s failure so to comply;

(c) specify the measures which, in the officer’s opinion, the person must take in order to secure compliance; and

(d) require the person to take those measures, or measures that are at least equivalent to them, within such period (not being less than 14 days) as may be specified in the notice.

(1A) If an authorised officer has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is failing to comply with regulation 4(4) of the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 due to an act or default of some other person, the authorised officer may, by a notice served on that other person (in this Order referred to as an “improvement notice”)—

(a) state the officer’s grounds for believing there has been a failure to comply with regulation 4(4);

(b) specify the matters which constitute the act or default which have caused the failure so to comply;

(c) specify the measures which, in the officer’s opinion, the person served must take in order to secure compliance; and

(d) require that person to take those measures, or measures that are at least equivalent to them, within such period (not being less than 14 days) as may be specified in the notice.”.

Article 19 (Offences due to fault of another person)For “any of the preceding provisions of this Part” substitute “Article 9(2), as applied by regulation 10 of, and Schedule 5 to, the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998,”.
Article 20(1) and (5) (Defence of due diligence)In paragraph (1), for “any of the preceding provisions of this Part” substitute “Article 9(2), as applied by regulation 10 of, and Schedule 5 to, the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998”.
Article 30(8) (Evidence of certificates given by a food analyst or examiner)For “this Order” substitute “the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998”.
Article 34 (Obstruction etc. of officers)In paragraph (1), for “this Order” (in each place occurring) substitute “the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998”.
Article 36(1) and (2) (Punishment of offences)

In paragraph (1), after “Article 34(1)”, insert “, as applied and modified by regulation 10 of, and Schedule 5 to, the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998”.

After paragraph (1), insert—

“(1A) A person guilty of an offence under Article 9(2), as applied by regulation 10 of, and Schedule 5 to, the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.”

In paragraph (2) for “any other offence under this Order” substitute “an offence under Article 34(2), as applied by regulation 10 of, and Schedule 5 to, the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland)1998,”.

Article 37(1) and (3) (Appeals)

For paragraph (1) substitute—

“(1) Any person who is aggrieved by a decision of an authorised officer to serve an improvement notice under Article 9(1), as applied and modified by regulation 10 of, and Schedule 5 to, the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998, may appeal to the court of summary jurisdiction.”.

In paragraph (3) for “(2)” substitute “(1)”.

Article 38 (Appeals against improvement notices)

For paragraph (1) substitute—

“(1) On an appeal against an improvement notice served under Article 9(1), as applied and modified by regulation 10 of, and Schedule 5 to, the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998, the court may either cancel or affirm the notice and, if it affirms it, may do so either in its original form or with such modifications as the court may in the circumstances think fit.”.]

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations revoke and replace the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996.

The Regulations—

(a)provide for exemptions from the Regulations (regulation 3);

(b)require that wheat flour (subject to certain exceptions) be fortified with specified essential ingredients (regulation 4, Schedules 1 and 2);

(c)restrict the use of specified ingredients in the preparation of flour and bread and require that an indication of the presence of a flour treatment agent be given in the case both of prepacked and of non-prepacked bread (regulation 5, Schedule 3);

(d)reserve the names “wholemeal” and “wheat germ” for bread which complies with specified compositional requirements and prohibit the sale or advertising for sale using these names of bread which does not comply with the compositional requirements (regulation 6);

(e)create offences and prescribe penalties (regulation 7);

(f)specify the enforcement authority (regulation 8);

(g)provide a defence in relation to exports in implementation of Article 2 and 3 of, as read with the ninth recital to, Council Directive No. 89/397/EEC (O.J. No. L186, 30.6.89, p. 23) on the official control of foodstuffs (regulation 9);

(h)apply various provisions of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (regulation 10);

(i)amend and revoke specified Regulations (regulations 11 and 12).

The British Pharmacopoeia 1973, 1980 and 1988 and the British Pharmaceutical Codex 1973, referred to in Schedule 1, may be inspected at the Biomedical Library, Belfast City Hospital, Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7AB, tel. 01232 263913.

These Regulations were notified in draft to the European Commission pursuant to Council Directive 83/189/EEC laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (O.J. No. L109, 26.4.83, p. 8) as amended by Council Directive 88/182/EEC (O.J. No. L81, 26.3.88, p. 75), Commission Decision 92/400/EEC (O.J. No. L221, 6.8.92, p. 55), European Parliament and Council Directive 94/10/EEC (O.J. No. L100, 19.4.94, p. 30) and Commission Decision 96/139/EC (O.J. No. L32, 10.2.96, p. 31).

(1)

S.I. 1991/762 (N.I. 7) as amended by S.I. 1996/1633 (N.I. 12). See Article 2(2) for the definitions of “regulations” and “the Department concerned”

(2)

O.J. No. L1, 3.1.94, p. 1

(3)

O.J. No. L1, 3.1.94, p. 571

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