Food safety - inspections

 

The Council is responsible for enforcement in around 1800 food premises from manufacturers and distributors to caterers and retail shops. We inspect all premises under the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006.

We are required to keep a record of all food businesses and we have a programme to make sure that all food businesses are inspected on a regular basis.

Food businesses must not commence any business activity which requires approval, unless they have received conditional or full approval for the proposed activity from the Food Safety Team. To commence business without approval is an offence for which the business is likely to be prosecuted.

To obtain approval you will need to submit a written request to the Food Safety Team at the address stated below. You must not operate your business until approval is granted.

Officers have a right to:

  • enter and inspect a food business at all reasonable hours
  • they do not need to make an appointment and usually visit without advance notice
  • They have the power to inspect a premise, inspect food, examine records (including computerised records),
  • they can seize food, take samples and take photographs to be used as evidence.
  • check any written records of deliveries, suppliers, temperatures of stored products in refrigeration and cooking temperature records if cooking takes place.

The management must also have records of cleaning schedules, stock control, staff training and a written risk assessment of their business.

The general cleanliness and repair standards will be assessed along with the standard of equipment and fittings. Evidence of pest control and correct refuse disposal will be examined and staff may be questioned about operations they perform at work.

All areas associated with the business may be checked including staff changing rooms, storage areas and preparation areas.

After the inspection:

  • The officer will discuss their findings with the person in charge after the inspection.
  • An inspection report will be left with the food business operator. Where appropriate this will be followed up with a detailed letter. This will specify those statutory requirements that are not being complied with and what action must be taken to comply with the law. In addition, advice on good practice may be included.
  • 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 take a more formal route which could result in the service of Statutory Notices or prosecution in the magistrates court.

Following an inspection:

  • Each premise is assessed for the level of compliance with relevant legislation.
  • The premise receives a score, which will determine when the premise will be next inspected. This will range from an inspection within 6 months to every 3 years.

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme

The scheme is a Food Standards Agency and local authority partnership designed to help consumers choose where to eat or shop for food. It does this by giving them information about the hygiene standards in all food outlets at the time they are inspected.

The food hygiene rating tells you about hygiene standards in restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways. hotels as well as supermarkets and other food shops.

Businesses are encouraged to clearly display their certificate and a window sticker showing one of the six ratings. These ratings are on a scale of '0' at the bottom, which means urgent improvements are necessary, to '5' at the top which means the business was found to have very good standards.

The ratings are only a reflection of conditions found on the day of inspection and standards may have gone up or down since that inspection.

For more information on this scheme please go to the Related pages section on the right hand side of this page.