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We can investigate:
It is important for us to have a sample of the food a complaint is about - it is very difficult to investigate the problem without a sample.
We can only investigate complaints about food which was eaten or purchased within the borough of Elmbridge. Complaints about another area will be forwarded to the relevant Local Authority as defined under the Food Safety Act 1990.
Minor Complaints
No food producer or shop is perfect and if you have a minor complaint such as salt crystals in tinned fish, a maggot in frozen peas or items past their |best-before-date (but not |use-by-date) we recommend you take the food back to the retailer as soon as possible and draw it to their attention.
Other Types of Complaint
Complaints concerning the adulteration of food, labelling, composition or staleness of food are dealt with by |Surrey County Council's Trading Standards Department.
Why we Investigate Food Complaints
The Environmental Health & Licensing Division investigate complaints:
The purpose of our investigation is not to obtain compensation for you. If you want to seek compensation you should retain the food and obtain legal advice.
What to do if you have a Food Complaint
Contact us as soon as possible during normal office hours (Mon-Fri 8.45 am to 5.00 pm) or complete and submit our |online complaint form so we can take initial details and advise how best to keep the food before it reaches us. You can bring the food to us at the Civic Centre in Esher, or we can collect it from your home or office.
Try to avoid disturbing the food and keep it in the original state and packaging and keep it in the refrigerator (unless we ask you to keep it differently).
If the food has made you ill (|food poisoning) please tell us as soon as possible.
How we Investigate Food Complaints
When we receive a food complaint:
As part of the investigation we may send details of your food complaint to:
We ask for their comments on what caused the problem and the precautions normally taken, or which will be taken in the future, to prevent this happening. We ask the producer's or importer's local council to provide information on hygiene conditions at the production plant, the precautions taken and how well they usually comply with legal standards.
Possible Enforcement Action
If we are satisfied an offence has been committed, further action will be taken in accordance with our enforcement policy. This ranges from warning letters to a formal caution or prosecution.
The Food Safety Act 1990 contains a legal defence known as 'due diligence'. Where a business is able to show they have taken all reasonable precautions they may be able to rely on this as a legal defence in any prosecution, even though the food was sold to you in an unsatisfactory condition. In such circumstances we may decide not to prosecute.
Further help we may need from you
If we think a prosecution in the Magistrates Court or a formal caution is appropriate, we ask if you are willing to provide a witness statement and possibly attend court as a witness. If you are unhappy about doing this it is important that you tell us because it significantly affects the way the case can be dealt with.
Outcome of the investigation
Food complaint investigations can be lengthy. It can take several months to obtain all the necessary information which shows whether a food business has a due diligence defence. We need this information before we can finalise the investigation and any enforcement action. Once our investigation is complete, we write to you and explain our conclusions and any action we propose to take.
If an investigation has been completed and resolved informally, the retailer or manufacturer concerned normally requests the complainant's name and address so they can apologise or recompense them. We only release this information if we have obtained your permission, so please advise if you are unhappy about your details being released.
If you have any queries regarding the information above: