Food Business and the Defence of Due Diligence - Essay Example

The accused operator is required to establish beyond doubt that the proposed offence occurred due to the fault or negligence of a person, agency or organization that was not under one's direct control and that one thoroughly and credibly assured that the food items under question were checked to the extent of being reasonable (Food and Safety Act, 1990). The accused is also required to establish beyond doubt that he was totally oblivious of the fact that the proposed omission committed by him would amount to an offense under the Food and Safety Act, at some time in the future (Food and Safety Act, 1990).

The court of law accepts the defence of due diligence to be valid if the accused food operator, conclusively proves and satisfies the above mentioned requirements and corroborates authentically that the food items under scrutiny were never meant to be sold under one's brand name or mark (Food and Safety Act, 1990). In an ideal scenario, resorting to the defence of due diligence by a food operator necessitates an unwavering compliance with the spirit of this provision in the Food and Safety Act, 1990, which was introduced after a widespread public outcry following the instances of the sale of contaminated and substandard food items in the UK (Lyddon, 2005).

Basically the defence of due diligence