Copies of the Act can be obtained from any of Her Majesty's Stationery Offices (HMSO) or online at www.hmso.gov.uk. Alternatively, a copy of the Act can be viewed at all Council offices. If you require further assistance to understand the requirements of the Act please contact us.

An estimated five million people suffer from food poisoning in England and Wales each year. Running a food business means that you have a particular responsibility in protecting the health of your customers.

The food team of the Environmental Health and Housing Service carries out regular checks on all food premises in the area to ensure that Food Safety legislation is complied with.

Visits to premises are carried out, as far as possible, without prior notification and are priority programmed according to the degree of potential risk. This ensures that higher risk premises are visited more frequently than those in lower risk categories.

A proprietor of a food business has a responsibility to ensure that the structure of the premises is clean, in good condition, and that suitable equipment is provided for handling, preparing and storing food.

Food handlers should be appropriately trained, instructed and supervised. Where practices or conditions are not satisfactory, every attempt will be made to resolve the situation by informal means, but where poor conditions persist, or where there is a risk to public health it may be necessary to resort to formal action. This could involve either the service of legal notice, prosecution, or in extreme cases closure of the business.

There must be suitable controls in place to ensure that food is safe to eat. A process of hazard analysis must be followed to ensure this and to identify and implement monitoring and control of critical points to ensure food safety. For more information regarding hazard analysis, please select this link.

During an inspection, Officers will want to reassure themselves that potential food safety risks have been identified by the business, and that there are adequate controls in place to prevent any problems. They will also look at the training of managers and food handlers to ensure that it is suitable, and they will check that the condition of the premises and equipment is satisfactory.

Further Information

If you require any further information or advice about food safety inspections please contact us

Other sources of information

• Food Standards Agency
• Public Health Laboratory Service
• Department of Health