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Food Safety - Making a Complaint
Food Safety - Making a Complaint
If you have a complaint about food sold or the condition of a food premises in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames our food team will investigate the complaint. If the food was purchased in another borough we will refer your complaint to that borough.
There are many regulations that govern the quality, composition and labelling of foodstuffs and details can be found on the Food Standards Agency website linked below.
If you are concerned over the condition of food that you have purchased you can either return the product to the retailer and seek a refund or make a complaint to the Environmental Health Service.
We are unable to investigate if you no longer have the food or to become involved in any issue concerning compensation.
How to report a food complaint
The 5 main steps:
1.Take the food product, with any object found in the food and any packaging they were purchased in, to the Food Safety Team, Environmental Health Service, Guildhall, Kingston upon Thames as soon as possible.
NB:If you are unable to bring the object to us, for example, limited mobility, please contact us on 020 8547 5536 and alternative arrangements to collect the complaint may be made].
2.If possible, put the product into a sealed plastic bag.
3.If the product is perishable [ie. it might ‘go off’], put it in a freezer until you bring it to us.
4.Gather as much information about the product as you can to give the officer dealing with the investigation [see below].
5.If you have any doubts about the food complaint, please contact us for further advice.
Information we need
To carry out a thorough investigation and take appropriate action we will need the following information:
- Your name, address and a contact number.
- The name, address and a contact number for the purchaser [if different].
- The name of the person finding the food unsatisfactory [if different].
- When the product was purchased.
- Where the product was purchased.
- Whether you noticed any damage to the packaging when it was purchased.
- The storage conditions of the product when purchased.
- The storage conditions of the product since it was purchased.
- Any treatment given to the food, e.g. cooking.
- Whether you still have the receipt or any other proof of purchase.
- The precise circumstances in which the complaint was found/noticed.
If you would like more information please contact the Environmental Health team on 020 8547 5535