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Safety

Food Quality

Responsibility for dealing with food quality issues is divided between the Trading Standards Department within Bedfordshire County Council, and the Environmental Health Unit.

The division of responsibility is as follows:  

Trading Standards

• Wrong amount
• Wrong labels 
• Wrong description
• Inferior product  

Environmental Health 

• Foreign bodies
• Unfit food
• Mould
• Contamination

Environmental Health Officers will investigate complaints relating to food quality by examining the food and then visiting or contacting the supplier(s) and or manufacturers.

Difficulties can be encountered because of the number of organisations involved in the chain of production and supply, and time which may have elapsed between production and supply, supply and purchase, and purchase and consumption. The EHO will keep the complainant informed of progress.

Sometimes their investigations will result in enforcement action being taken. More often they prompt improvements to be made in the production – supply chain.

Food businesses are now strictly regulated and, particularly, larger, national companies have their own arrangements for ensuring food quality and investigating complaints. They try hard to ensure that food is of good quality, what is expected and is safe to eat.

If you do have a complaint about the quality of food purchased, contact Environmental Health or Trading Standards. If possible, keep the receipt and packaging for the food and write down where and when you bought it. Keep the food refrigerated if it is perishable.

These arrangements do not affect your statutory rights to raise your concerns directly with the supplier or manufacturer of the food.

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