Abstract
<jats:p>This chapter identifies key food laws and explains the principles behind them: firstly, the safety aspects of food law, followed by rules on information and composition. The Food and Drugs Act 1955 consolidated food laws, setting standards for food composition, forbidding the sale of adulterated food and requiring accurate labelling and advertising of food. When purchasing food, consumers have a right to be provided with information about those products and that they are traded fairly. Furthermore, legal standards exist that extend to the composition of certain foods such as chocolate, jam and spirit drinks. Many ingredients are added to foods for the technological effect they have on the final product rather than for their nutritional or flavouring properties. These ingredients are classed as food additives where the ingredient is neither consumed as a food in itself nor a characteristic ingredient of food.</jats:p>