HAZLEWOOD GROCERY LIMITED V LION FOODS LTD

[2007] EWHC 1887 (QB), QBD Leeds, John Behrens QC, 26 July 2007

Contract – Breach – Express terms – Implied terms – Food safety - Foodstuffs contaminated with prohibited dyes – Cause of loss - s. 14(3) Sale of Goods Act 1979 – Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety - European Parliament and Council Directive 94/36/EC of 30 June 1994 on colours for use in foodstuffs – Colours in Food Regulations 1995

‘Foreign and extraneous matter’ were ordinary English words and not a term of art in the food industry. The dye was not naturally in the chilli powder and was not supposed to be there. It was foreign and extraneous. ‘Free from’ extraneous matter meant ‘absolutely free from’, and the chilli powder was not absolutely free from extraneous matter. Products containing the dye were liable to be posted on the web site of the Food Safety Agency and recalled and it was therefore not fit for purpose.