# The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, Paragraph 7: Hot holding defences

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

(1) In any proceedings for an offence consisting of a contravention of paragraph 6, it shall be a defence for the accused to prove that —
(a) a well-founded scientific assessment of the safety of the food at temperatures below 63 °C has concluded that there is no risk to health if, after cooking or re-heating, the food is held for service or on display for sale —
(i) at a holding temperature which is below 63 °C, and
(ii) for a period not exceeding any period of time specified in that scientific assessment; and
(b) at the time of the commission of the alleged offence, the food was held in a manner which was justified in the light of that scientific assessment.
(2) In any proceedings for an offence consisting of a contravention of paragraph 6, it shall be a defence for the accused to prove that the food —
(a) had been kept for service or on display for sale for a period of less than two hours; and
(b) had not previously been kept for service or on display for sale by that person.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/2996/schedule/4/paragraph/7 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/food-safety-and-hygiene-england-regulations-2013/schedule-4/paragraph-7
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.