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Food Act 2014

Provisions relating to recognition, territorial authorities, administration, and enforcement - Offences - Offences

223: Offence involving knowingly or recklessly creating or increasing risk

You could also call this:

"Hurting people's health on purpose or by being careless can be a serious crime."

Illustration for Food Act 2014

If you break a rule in the Food Act 2014 and you know this might hurt people's health, you can get in trouble. You can also get in trouble if you are not careful and your actions might hurt people's health. This can happen if you do something that creates a risk to people's health or makes an existing risk more likely to happen.

If you do something that breaks the rules and you know it might hurt people, or if you are not careful and it might hurt people, you can be charged with an offence.

You can face a big fine or even go to prison if you are found guilty of this offence, depending on whether you are an individual or a company.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM2996338.

Topics:
Health and wellbeing > Food and water safetyBusiness > Industry rulesCrime and justice > Criminal law
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222: Offence involving knowingly or recklessly endangering or harming, or

"Hurting people's health on purpose or by being careless with food can get you in big trouble"

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224: Offence involving negligently endangering, harming, creating risk, or increasing risk, or

"Hurting people's health by breaking food safety rules on purpose or by being careless can get you in trouble."

Part 4Provisions relating to recognition, territorial authorities, administration, and enforcement
Offences: Offences

223Offence involving knowingly or recklessly creating or increasing risk

  1. A person commits an offence if the person breaches or fails to comply with an applicable requirement of this Act and—

  2. the person knows that the breach or failure—
    1. directly or indirectly creates a risk to the lives or health of members of the public or to the life or health of an individual; or
      1. directly or indirectly increases the likelihood of an existing risk to the lives or health of members of the public or to the life or health of an individual being realised; or
      2. the person is reckless as to whether the breach or failure—
        1. directly or indirectly creates a risk to the lives or health of members of the public or to the life or health of an individual; or
          1. directly or indirectly increases the likelihood of an existing risk to the lives or health of members of the public or to the life or health of an individual being realised.

          2. A person who commits an offence against this section is liable on conviction,—

          3. for a body corporate, to a fine not exceeding $300,000:
            1. for an individual, to—
              1. imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years; and
                1. a fine not exceeding $75,000.