Section 26:
Responsibilities of the food business operator.
(1) Every food business operator shall ensure
that the articles of food satisfy the requirements of this Act and the rules and regulations made thereunder
at all stages of production, processing, import, distribution and sale within the businesses under his
control.
(2) No food business operator shall himself or by any person on his behalf manufacture, store, sell or
distribute any article of food--
(i) which is unsafe; or
(ii) which is misbranded or sub-standard or contains extraneous matter; or
(iii) for which a licence is required, except in accordance with the conditions of the licence; or
(iv) which is for the time being prohibited by the Food Authority or the Central Government or
the State Government in the interest of public health; or
(v) in contravention of any other provision of this Act or of any rule or regulation made
thereunder.
(3) No food business operator shall employ any person who is suffering from infectious, contagious
or loathsome disease.
(4) No food business operator shall sell or offer for sale any article of food to any vendor unless he
also gives a guarantee in writing in the form specified by regulations about the nature and quality of such
article to the vendor:
Provided that a bill, cash memo, or invoice in respect of the sale of any article of food given by a food
business operator to the vendor shall be deemed to be a guarantee under this section, even if a guarantee
in the specified form is not included in the bill, cash memo or invoice.
(5) Where any food which is unsafe is part of a batch, lot or consignment of food of the same class or
description, it shall be presumed that all the food in that batch, lot or consignment is also unsafe, unless
following a detailed assessment within a specified time, it is found that there is no evidence that the rest
of the batch, lot or consignment is unsafe:
Provided that any conformity of a food with specific provisions applicable to that food shall be
without prejudice to the competent authorities taking appropriate measures to impose restrictions on that
food being placed on the market or to require its withdrawal from the market for the reasons to be
recorded in writing where such authorities suspect that, despite the conformity, the food is unsafe.