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Section 29: Sale of horseflesh.

Food Act 1984 · 1984 c. 30View on legislation.gov.uk

Part I: Food Generally

A person is guilty of an offence who—

sells, or
offers or exposes for sale, or
has in his possession for the purpose of sale,
in premises, or
in a stall, vehicle or place,

over or on which a notice in legible letters stating that horseflesh is sold there is displayed in a conspicuous position so as to be visible whenever horeflesh is being sold, or offered or exposed for sale.

A person is guilty of an offence who supplies horseflesh for human consumption to a purchaser—

who has not asked to be supplied with horseflesh; or
who has asked to be supplied with some compound article of food not ordinarily made of horseflesh.

If any horseflesh is exposed for sale elsewhere than in premises, or in a stall, vehicle or place, distinguished as mentioned above without anything to show that it was not intended for sale for human consumption, the onus of proving that it was not so intended shall rest upon the person exposing it for sale.

In this section "horseflesh" means the flesh of horses, asses and mules, and includes any such flesh—

whether cooked or uncooked, and
whether alone, or accompanied by, or mixed with any other substance,

and "flesh" includes any part of any such animal.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.