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Teach Soap • View topic - 'Food Imitations Regulations'; anyone been caught by these?

Teach Soap

Soap Making Recipes, Tips and Tutorials
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 3:10 pm 
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Discovered today (OK, so I should have read through my 20-page Safety Assessment properly) that it's illegal in the UK to produce anything for sale or use by the public that imitates or represents Food, in its broadest sense. It's OK, though, to make doll's house food (which couldn't possibly choke a small child, could it ... ? :? ) but not to make soap which looks like anything edible. Hmm. Anyone been on the Lush website recently? Or Amazon? Or Googled 'Cupcake Soap' or 'Soap Cakes'? Interesting, as well, that there's a brilliant soap shop about 15 miles from here which prides itself on confusing customers who come in thinking it's a cake shop; the majority of its stuff is huge soap gateaux, cupcakes and truffles. So how does that work? Has the whole world, or just the UK, gone completely potty? Apparently it's not enough to put 'THIS IS SOAP - DON'T EAT IT!' on the label, because children under 3 can't read. Yup ... I'll go with that, but isn't that what parents are for, or am I just being silly?! I've spent most of the day ranting noisily ... can't believe we've got to this point. Have we become so stupid that we can't tell the difference between Soap and Cake or, worse still, teach our children the difference?

And, just for the record, I have no intention of stopping making my apple pies, chocolate bars, cupcakes, strawberry flans and Christmas cakes. Bring it on ... !!! :evil: I hope you'll all come and visit me in prison. Perhaps you could bring me a soap cake with a file in it ... ?!!

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PostPosted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 3:32 pm 
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I'm afraid it's all true. The reality is that the wonderful soaps that Soapylove, for instance, makes would be illegal in the EU! I believe it stretches to all food like products though.

However, I do wonder how strictly it's regulated.. as you say, there are plenty of places selling these and they are all breaking the law. The fines are rather hefty too. It'll be up to your local Trading Standards Officers to enforce this and it seems that most turn a blind eye. However, I wonder if that'll continue... it only takes one person to be ill or die from something like this and I imagine that the weight of the law will come down hard.

I had bought a lovely cupcake mould with every intention of doing a whole range of cupcake soaps - I then found out about the regs and stopped those plans. Whilst it's true that people seem to be getting away with selling food like products, I don't want to risk it personally or professionally - my choice, it's up to everyone to decide what's best for them.

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PostPosted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 12:10 am 
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The thing is, even though there are local Trading Standards who will turn a blind eye, others won't. So, if you intend to sell you items, shops that are in different areas could be caught out by this law. Also, if you have a fair in your local area, it may be fine. You may do a fair somewhere else that falls under a different TS, and they might have a problem with it.

I agree with Honey. Personally, I know the techniques, but I won't make anything that looks like food. I did make a lovely watermelon slice soap, and soon after found out that it wasn't allowed (I too should have read my SA! :roll: ). Since then it's been re-made into a very good seller, but looks nothing like a watermelon. I don't like worrying that my trade customers may get into trouble, and I don't like worrying that I maight get into trouble too. But, like Honey said, that's my choice.

My advice would be to get in touch with your TS officer, as they'll be able to give you loads more info. :wink:


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 9:53 am 
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It is unfair and I was mad as hell when I found out because I really thought I'd stumbled into a great idea... I was wondering why there weren't more soapy cupcakes in Ireland but, after finding out about the regulations, I realised why. In fact, I think they're fairly strict on it over here (possibly more than the UK) as our authorities even quoted it back to me and there are little or no products of that kind in the market.

I just figured I could go ahead and see what happens or I could swallow my pride and get one with being creative within the law. Now I'm glad I decided the latter - what excites me most about soap making is taking a very ordinary mould and making something interesting with it (rather than just pouring into an interesting mould and letting the mould be the creative part of it - to me, that holds no interest at all).

So ... I'd advise you to be sure that you want to go ahead with food like sales, just to be on the safe side.

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PostPosted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:31 am 
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Thank you both, Honey and SoapByTheSlice for your replies. I'm still steaming about it; spent more time than I should today Googling 'Cake Soap' and variations on a theme, and couldn't believe how many sites came up (all UK) offering exactly what I'm making. Amazon, Amazon Marketplace, independent businesses. So how come they manage to slide past the legislation? I have to say that, in this case, The Law is just stupid. How can it be OK to sell doll's house 'food' (which is always Fimo or its equivalent, and therefore rock hard) which couldn't ever, by definition, pass the Choke Test, and not be OK to sell a huge slice of soap cake?

Honey, I agree with you wholeheartedly, though; the challenge is in finding another way to produce exciting soap, but that's not the point. I found a site today which cited all the instances of choking, from trivial to fatal, in under 3-year olds and over 3 year-olds, between 1986 and 1995. Think the web site was berr.gov.uk, or something like that. There were countless items listed which had been documented as a cause of choking, and nowhere was Soap identified as being the culprit. In fairness, it could have come under 'Non Food', but Non Food does cover a multitude of things.

I went out on my weekly shopping nightmare yesterday, first to Tesco, then to the local florist and then to the newsagent. Tesco were selling 'Fruit Slices', lemon and orange slices (which look astonishingly like the orange and lemon slices sold as Christmas sweeties - I forget who makes them), and Bath Pearls in raspberry, lime and orange, each one about the size of a cherry and smelling delicious (and they'd be a real choking hazard). That was Tesco. The florist is selling bath bombs, which look like yummy truffles, and cupcake bath bombs (or Fizzies, or something like that), and are placed at child-height. One cupcake bath bomb even had a sticker on its bottom saying 'THIS IS NOT FOOD'. The newsagent had more of the same, but they were almost all cupcake bath bombs, with no warning labels at all. Lush are selling all manner of 'food imitation' stuff, and I've mentioned before that there's a shop about 20 miles from here which does pretty much nothing else but make soap cakes. Just Google 'Wedding Cake Soap' and you should find a link to the Halifax Courier website which had it splashed all over its pages.

From what you've all said it's clear that different T&S's look on the issue differently, but that makes it worse, not better. If the 'Food Imitations Regulations 1989' have been passed into law, THAT'S THE LAW!!! It's not open for negotiation - unless the majority of sensible people recognise that it's pants and simply ignore it. Trading Standards don't have the power to interpret the law as they see fit; they're supposed to apply it across the board. If they did, I'd have no issue with it but the law's clearly unenforceable (back to Amazon and Lush and Google).

I just can't believe that we've got to the point where the Nanny State claims to know more about personal and parental responsibility and common sense than we do as individuals. It's the Thought Police gone completely mad, and I've got to an age where I'm not prepared to roll over and have my belly scratched by some prat in Whitehall. The sad fact is that all our 'lawmakers' in government have precious little else to do other than try and justify their ermine cloaks and expenses; few of them have any experience of the real world and even fewer could do up their own shoelaces, I suspect.

Honey, I take my hat off to you - your soaps are just beautiful and you've 'surmounted' the issue unbelievably. I can't believe that this is all about SOAP!!!! As a child I was given Sunlight Soap - and if any of you out there are old enough to remember it, you'll appreciate how lovely it is to wash with Apple Pie or Strawberry Ripple Flan!!

Sorry for ranting ... am I forgiven ... ?!! :D

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PostPosted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 3:08 pm 
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Hehe, I was exactly the same when I found out about this law - fuming!!
It just seems so ridiculous. And unfair that large, well known companies are selling soaps/bath bombs/'smoothies'/'butters' that imitate food. There must be some kind of loop-hole, surely?? How else can they get away with it?

Regarding the common-sense factor though, I think that there are people out there that need 'protecting' from the soaps-in-desserts-clothing. I made a bunch of wedding favour soaps for a friend as a wedding gift and several of her guests thought they were cupcakes/edible. They were cupcake shaped, yes, but also topped off with dried rose buds, lavendar and glitter lol.

Very frustrating, especially for hobbiests looking to turn their passion into a full-time business as it's yet another wall in the way. :(


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 2:34 am 
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The issue with food immitation is not really the choke factor - it's the issue that someone might mistake it for food (even an adult) and eat it. One would think that after a single taste, that they'd spit it out. But we apparently arn't able to think for ourselves, and we need govt laws to protect us from our own stoopidity. :roll:

I know of someone who had lage blocks of green coloured CP soap on a market stand, and was asked once if they were mint iced cakes. :shock: In amonst all the other soaps, and bath products. :roll: Had the person tried to east it, they'd have quickly realised.

It's an issue that gets me going too - and a lot of others too. But like has been said - it's the law. ....... now, having said all of that, I was given a suggestion by someone. Use those same techniques - and cupcake moulds, but use non food associated colours. Such as a clear blue base, with orange topping (Just leave the spinkles off.) How it looks as an end product will depend on how it will be percieved. As Honey said, it's what you do with the mould that determind the look, not the mould itself. So have a think about it. :wink:


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 4:20 pm 
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I agree, it's madness. It is the straight banana thing! There are people breaking that law every day... I figure they could afford the fine if someone actually did prosecute.. however, I cannot. So I said no, won't do it. I won't even make them and give them away as pressies (despite much pleading from one friend). I did that exact search and I know there are lots of sites/stores out there breaking the law and it's not fair and it is stupid but.. it's the law. It's up to each individual to decide what they want/need to do. In this case, I'm not going to criticise someone for deciding to sell food like items but I choose to not do it myself.. even though I know that the buggers would sell so quickly!!! It's galling and a pain in the rear but it's there. I was very mad when I found out, fuming even. But I had to make a decision and that was mine.

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 4:25 pm 
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That's some really ridiculous legislation. It's probably a good thing you decided not to Honey, as it seems small businesses usually get hit harder by those kinds of fines. It's unfortunate. =/


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 1:17 am 
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I had to smile when I saw your mention of the 'straight banana', Honey; that's one piece of ridiculous EU legislation that's recently been repealed, so somewhere common sense has prevailed. Perhaps there's hope for soap ... ?

I do agree that the way to tackle the issue is to produce weird and wonderful, un-foody coloured soap, and it sounds like fun as well. It skirts the issue, though, doesn't it? BathFairy, have you ever seen any figures relating to the number of people admitted to A&E in the US for eating soap? If so, were there any fatalities as a result of it? From all the reading I've done it appears that eating soap will not cause death, it'll just cause severe diarrhoea. There's a disease called Pica which causes people to eat strange things, particularly soap and washing powder as far as I can gather, but that's outside of this legislation.

As far as my simple brain sees it, if there's A Law in existence, that's it ... it's the law. If it's not going to be applied across the board then it's clearly unenforceable and completely pointless. It shouldn't be up to individual TS officers to decide how, when or if they should apply it, should it? I intend to build up a collection of 'cake soap' purchased from as many outlets as possible, just in case I need to prove a point, and I intend to carry on making my soap cakes. I recommend a visit to www.theyorkshiresoapcompany.com ... a few miles from here. And this weekend I'm going to redo all my labels to include as many warnings as I can think of ('Don't buy this if you're stupid' is an option, I guess).

Cake, anyone ... ?

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 12:54 pm 
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Just out of interest, does this law also apply to candle making?
:?:


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 2:53 pm 
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 12:29 am 
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:shock:

How rubbish!!!! Grrrrrrrrrr. :x


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 12:56 pm 
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Yup!!

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PostPosted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 3:47 pm 
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There is an old saying "the law is an *a*s*s".

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Last edited by Honey on Sat Dec 05, 2009 2:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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