Hong Kong Regulations

FOOD BUSINESS REGULATION - SECT 3

Interpretation

(Past version on 14/12/2001).
(Past version on 01/01/2000).
(Past version on 06/03/1998).
(Past version on 30/06/1997).

(1) In this Regulation, unless the context otherwise requires-

"air conditioning plant" (空氣調節機) includes any kind of mechanical
ventilation system which contains a device for reducing or increasing the
temperature of the air in any building or any part thereof below or above the
temperature of the external air;

"bottled" (瓶裝) means contained in an unopened hermetically sealed bottle,
tin or container;

"Director" (署長) means the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene; (78
of 1999 s. 7)

"dressed poultry carcass" (經處理的家禽屠體) means a poultry carcass
from which the offal or feathers have been removed; (L.N. 171 of 1998)
"food business" (食物業) has the meaning assigned to it in section 4;   (78 
of 1999 s. 7)

"food premises" (食物業處所) means any premises on or from which there is
carried on any food business and the expression "premises" (處所) includes a
vessel and a stall;

"food room" (食物室) means any room, (being, or being part of, any food 
premises) where any person engages in the handling of open food or in the
cleaning of equipment for the purposes of a food business, but does not
include a room in which the only handling of food which occurs is in the
course of serving food for consumption therein;

"fresh" (新鮮) in relation to beef, fish, game, meat, mutton, offal, pork, a
poultry carcass, a reptile or shell fish, means beef, fish, game, meat,
mutton, offal, pork, a poultry carcass, a reptile or shell fish which has not
been subjected to a process of preservation; (L.N. 220 of 2001)

"latrine fitment" (廁所設備) means a fitment containing a receptacle for
excrement, which is removable; (L.N. 495 of 1993)

"meat" (肉類) means the flesh of-

   (a)  cattle (including buffaloes), goats, sheep and swine; and

   (b)  horses, mules, hinnies and donkeys, if intended for human consumption;

"offal" (什臟) means the internal organs or intestines of a poultry; (L.N.
171 of 1998)

"open food" (未加掩蓋的食物) means-

   (a)  uncooked perishable food; and

   (b)  food not contained in a container of such materials, and so closed, as
        to exclude all risk of contamination, but does not include raw
        vegetables and uncut fruit or any food which has to be subjected to a
        process of milling, refining or cooking (other than food referred to
        at (a) and food in the course of preparation) for the purpose of
        rendering it fit for human consumption;

"plan" (圖則) includes a sketch;

"poultry carcass" (家禽屠體) means the body of a dead poultry; (L.N. 171
of 1998)

"pre-packaged" (經預先包裝), in relation to any chilled beef, mutton or
pork, means completely enclosed in a package in such a way that-

   (a)  the contents of the package cannot be altered without opening the
        package or changing the packaging; and

   (b)  the chilled beef, mutton or pork is ready for sale as a single food
        item; (L.N. 169 of 2006)

"preparation" (配製) in relation to food includes manufacture and any form
of cooking or other treatment or preparation for sale;

"proprietor" (東主) means the owner of or the person for the time being
appearing to have charge of a food business and in the case of a licensed
food business the licensee thereof;

"sanitary fitment" (衞生設備) includes any kind of ablution or sanitary
facility;

"sashimi" (刺身) means food consisting of fillets of marine fish, molluscs,
crustaceans, fish roe or other seafood to be eaten in raw state; (L.N. 407 of
1996)

"shell fish" (介貝類水產動物) means molluscs and crustaceans, but does
not include molluscs or crustaceans in the form of sashimi or forming part of
sushi, or oyster to be eaten in its raw state; (L.N. 407 of 1996; 78 of 1999
s. 7)

"soil drain" (污水渠) means any pipe or gutter which receives soil matter
or which receives waste from a sanitary convenience;

"soil fitment" (污水設備) means a water-closet fitment, trough
water-closet, urinal, slop sink, bidet or any similar fitment; (L.N. 495 of
1993)

"stall" (攤檔) includes any stand, marquee, mobile canteen, and any vehicle
whether movable or not which is used for the sale of food;

"sushi" (壽司) means food consisting of cooked and pressed rice flavoured
with vinegar and garnished with other food ingredients including raw or cooked
or vinegared seafood, marine fish or shellfish roe, vegetable, cooked meat or
egg on top or in the middle which may or may not be wrapped with seaweed and
usually served in pieces; (L.N. 407 of 1996)

"vending machine" (售賣機) means a coin-operated automatic vending machine;
(L.N. 212 of 1973)

"water bird" (水禽) means any bird that ordinarily lives on or feeds in
water which may be used for human consumption and includes ducks and geese;
(L.N. 171 of 1998)

"wholesale market" (批發市場) means any wholesale market established by
the Director of Marketing or the Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Conservation, but does not include the Western Wholesale Food Market. (L.N.
171 of 1998; 78 of 1999 s. 7; L.N. 331 of 1999)

(78 of 1999 s. 7)

(2) A person shall be deemed for the purposes of this Regulation to engage in
the handling of food if for the purposes of a food business he carries out or
assists in the carrying out of any process or operation in the sale of food or
in the preparation, transport, storage, packing, wrapping, exposure for sale,
service, or delivery of food.

(3) For the purposes of this Regulation, the supply of food, otherwise than by
sale at, in or from any place where food is supplied in the course of a
business, shall be deemed to be a sale of that food, and references to
purchasing and purchasers shall be construed accordingly; and where in
connection with any business in the course of which food is supplied the place
where food is served to the customers is different from the place where the
food is prepared, both those places shall be deemed to be places in which food
is sold.

(4) In determining for the purposes of this Regulation whether any matter
involves risk of contamination to any food, regard shall be had to the extent
to which contamination in the respect in question is immaterial because of-

   (a)  the nature of the food; or

   (b)  the manner in which the food is packed; or

   (c)  any process to which the food is to be subjected before sale to the
        consumer, being a process to which food of that nature is normally so
        subjected.

(10 of 1986 s. 32(2); 78 of 1999 s. 7)

"air conditioning plant" (空氣調節機)

"bottled" (瓶裝)

"Director" (署長)

"dressed poultry carcass" (經處理的家禽屠體)

"food business" (食物業)

"food premises" (食物業處所)

"premises" (處所)

"food room" (食物室)

"fresh" (新鮮)

"latrine fitment" (廁所設備)

"meat" (肉類)

"offal" (什臟)

"open food" (未加掩蓋的食物)

"plan" (圖則)

"poultry carcass" (家禽屠體)

"pre-packaged" (經預先包裝)

"preparation" (配製)

"proprietor" (東主)

"sanitary fitment" (衞生設備)

"sashimi" (刺身)

"shell fish" (介貝類水產動物)

"soil drain" (污水渠)

"soil fitment" (污水設備)

"stall" (攤檔)

"sushi" (壽司)

"vending machine" (售賣機)

"water bird" (水禽)

"wholesale market" (批發市場)