Food safety

Enforcement action

We investigate food complaints in line with the Food Standards Agency Code of Practice and Practice Guidance. The aims and objectives for investigating food and food premises complaints is to:

• contraventions of food legislation
• protect the consumer through the enforcement of legislation
• help decide whether advice or enforcement action is appropriate where it is suspected that poor practices and procedures exist at a food business
• give advice and guidance, where appropriate, on food hygiene matters to food businesses and consumers

What we will investigate

With respect to food complaints, we will investigate complaints arising from food sold from businesses in the city, whether the food originated from within or outside the UK.

Complaints investigated at a premises within the city includes:

• conditions which present an imminent risk to health
• poor personal hygiene
• poor food handling practices
• inadequate refuse arrangements
• pest infestations within a premises

Food sold at a premises which may be:

• contaminated by microorganisms or their toxins;
• of poor microbiological quality;
• contaminated by chemicals;

or have offences relating to:

• composition
• advertisement and presentation
• labelling
• allergen declarations

Complaints relating to animal feedstuffs will be referred to our Trading Standards team.

Complainant’s role

Any complaints made anonymously will be recorded and an Officer will make a decision on whether to investigate. However, complainants should be able to make their complaint such that they are free from retaliation, discrimination, or other form of unfair treatment. Requests to remain anonymous will be respected wherever possible. If the officer suspects that this will hinder an appropriate level of investigation, this will be discussed with the complainant prior to beginning or continuing the investigation.

You will be asked to provide details about the complaint, which may include who, what, where and when the complaint relates to.

Referrals

Where the complaint relates to an offence that may have been committed in another authority details will be transferred to the relevant food authority, this may include giving the complainant the contact details of that authority for them to contact directly.

If it is suspected that either the circumstances of a food or food premises complaint suggests that there may be a serious localised food hazard or a non-localised food hazard or deliberate of malicious contamination the Food Standards Agency will be notified.

Any suspicion of food fraud/crime will be notified at once to the National Food Crime Unit.

Liaison with other organisations

At the discretion of the investigating officer, we may liaise and share information relating to your complaint with other relevant organisations which may include one or more of the below.

• other local authorities
• Food Standards Agency, including the imported foods team
• DEFRA
• any Primary, Home, and/or Originating Authority for the business
• a trade organization relevant to the issue
• Food Examiner and/or Public Analyst, or other scientific body as appropriate
• UK Health Security Agency – particularly for cases where an outbreak control team may need to be convened
• National Food Crime Unit

This may mean the following outcome:

• transferring an investigation to another enforcement authority
• gathering of technical expertise and advice
• checking for similar experiences with the business being investigated
• checking for consistency of enforcement with other authorities
• arranging a joint investigation
• convening an outbreak control team

Complaints are investigated in line with the Enforcement Policy

General Criteria

All food and food premises complaints will be assessed on a risk basis and investigated where appropriate. The decision as to whether to investigate and what level of investigation is needed will vary depending on the circumstances and take into account the general criteria below.

• actual and potential severity of the event
• seriousness of the potential breach of food safety legislation
• history of compliance of the food business operator
• enforcement priorities, political factors, and where there is a high degree of public concern
• probability of achieving a successful outcome
• relevance of the event to a wider range of businesses
• legal factors including the availability of evidence
• resource constraints within Environmental Health
• any ongoing local or national survey or campaign (including current Food Standards Agency priorities)

Specific Criteria

The level of investigation deemed appropriate by the officer will be greatest in the below circumstances.

• complaints appearing to involve a serious breach of food safety legislation
• complaints involving any group deemed vulnerable (e.g. children, elderly persons)
• complaints which indicate a general management failure
• complaints for which there is a high degree of public concern
• complaints involving a new process, technique, or item of plant
• complaints relevant to any ongoing local or national survey or campaign (including current Food Standards Agency priorities)

Timescales

The aim will be to assess all food and food premises complaints and start an investigation, where appropriate, within 5 working days from the complaint being made.

The time taken to conclude the investigation will depend on the matter being investigated, the complainant will be updated on timescales.

Enforcement action

All enforcement action will be decided per our Enforcement Policy and may not result in formal action being taken.

All relevant parties will be informed of the outcome of the investigation either verbally and/or in writing, any action that the food business must take, and any further action that we propose.