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Complaints About Food and Food Premises
Despite the best efforts of everybody working in the food industry, there are still a number of complaints made each year about the foods we purchase. These complaints may relate to foreign matter in foods, contamination of food or the quality and fitness to eat of food.
If you have reason to complain about any items of food that you have purchased there are two ways of dealing with this.
- You may wish to take the item of food back to the shop where you purchased it and deal with them directly
- You could ask for the Environmental Health Section to take up the matter on your behalf. If you wish to follow this course of action, you should keep the item of food in a cool and secure place along with any associated packaging/wrapping materials and contact 01462 474000 as soon as possible.
An Environmental Health Officer may visit you at your home in order to collect the food complaint and to take the details required to progress the investigation. You will be asked to sign a declaration on the food complaint form.
Depending upon the circumstances of the complaint an investigation may take place.
The investigation may involve the releases of information and samples for analysis, however, the Council will not negotiate terms of compensation. In the event of legal proceedings your identity will be revealed in open court.
The purpose of the investigation is to secure food safety, to prevent further complaints and to provide information to the food industry.
The Commercial Team will also investigate complaints about the hygienic conditions of food premises and about poor practices of food storage, handling and preparation.
Further information can be found on the Food Standards Agency website.
Contact Details
The Commercial Team can be contacted via the Customer Service Centre on 01462 474000, or on service@north-herts.gov.uk, or at;
Commercial Team
North Hertfordshire District Council
Council Offices
Gernon Road
Letchworth Garden City
Herts
SG6 3JF