Food Complaints
The Enviromental Health team deals
with complaints of poor food hygiene and food safety at premises
that are in the Allerdale Borough.
Complaints generally fall into two
categories:
- Complaints about food premises.
- Complaints about food purchases
Complaints about food premises.
All complaints will be treated as confidential unless express
permission is given that your name and address may be released. It
is important that complainants give their name and address in order
that we can respond to you personally the outcome of your
complaint.
You may be concerned that your complaint seems trivial or you are
not sure if it is worth complaining about. Officers of the
Enviromental Heath Team are happy to discuss any food safety
issues with you and they will advise you accordingly.
Complaints about food purchases.
The legislation that aims to ensure consumers are protected in
relation to the food they buy is The Food Safety Act 1990.
Consumers expect that the food they buy is safe to eat, reaches
quality expectations and is not misleadingly presented. If
food does not meet these criteria then consumers need to know how
to complain.
Some complaints can be dealt with by returning the food to the
store where it was purchased from, some complaints however warrant
further investigation. Complaints about food purchased in the
Allerdale Borough are investigated by officers of the
Enviromental Heath Team. Where food has been purchased outside the
borough we have no powers to investigate, but we will undertake to
pass the details on to the correct authority.
Please Note; The Council does not undertake to seek compensation
for complainants. We do not have any influence over companies in
relation to "goodwill gestures". If you feel you may be entitled to
compensation you should seek legal advice.
Examples of some frequent food complaints;
- Mouldy food.
- Food containing foreign matter.(e.g. Pieces of metal, glass,
plastic, insects)
- Contaminated food.( e.g. with chemicals)
The outcome and length of time it
takes to investigate a complaint will depend on individual
circumstances. Some investigations involve complex analysis and
this may often take longer than you would expect. In any event we
will keep you fully informed of what investigations have been made
and the outcome.