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What do I do if I have a food complaint? |
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Greater public awareness of food safety and our service has resulted in an increase in the number of food complaints received by this unit over recent years. Due to the large number of individual complaints received and the demands on our officers time to enforce other food safety laws, the following guidance has been drawn up in conjunction with a food complaint advice booklet.
What do I do if I have a food complaint?
Officers are available throughout office hours to give you advice. However we suggest that complaints that fall into the three categories below are best dealt with by this section, as outlined in Option 1 below. For all other types of complaint we recommend that you follow Options 2 or 3 below.
- Food is unfit. i.e. has deteriorated or become contaminated accidentally to an extent that the food would be harmful if consumed.
- The food contains an inorganic foreign body that could pose a threat to health to an individual consumer or be indicative of a wider threat to general health (e.g. glass in a mass produced food).
- The food contains any insects or organic matter which would be indicative of a particular problem at the place of retail sale, and/or manufacture.
The following courses of action are available to you for dealing with food complaints;
Option 1:
Ask the Environmental Health Unit to investigate. An officer will assess the complaint in accordance with the criteria and as a minimum, make contact with the originating premises and where appropriate the local authority in whose area the complaint originates from. This could involve contacting the manufacturer, retailer or supplier by telephone or letter. If the product has been produced locally then it may involve contacting the local producer and could involve a visit to the premises.
Option 2:
- For non pre-packed fresh foods return the food, container etc to the shop from which it was purchased and ask to see the person in charge.
- For pre-packed fresh foods write to, or telephone the manufacturer. The address will be on the package.
Explain the nature of your complaint and ask them to investigate. Ask them to write to you with their explanations of how the problem arose.
Option 3:
You may wish to take private legal action against the retailer/manufacturer. You should discuss this matter with a solicitor.
If after pursuing the matter with the relevant shop/company you are still not satisfied with their response you should return to this unit with details of your progress. At this stage we may not be able to take any action other than to write to the company concerned noting their failure to satisfy you. We would hop that this would stimulate them into responding to your complaint and also enable us to record their failure and take this into account in any further dealings we might have with them.
Stockton on Tees Borough Councilis unable to negotiate compensation for complaints on your behalf. Investigations undertaken by this authority only cover the criminal aspects of the case and not civil liabilities.
What should I do with the food complaint?
Remember the following when dealing with food complaints;
- Avoid handling foreign objects. If they are embedded in the food do not displace them.
- Keep the food in its original container where possible.
- Keep any wrappings and labels etc.
- If the food is perishable keep it in the refrigerator or freezer.
- Keep any till receipts.
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