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If you or your family purchase food which you believe to be
unfit for human consumption, damaged, or contaminated in some way,
then you have several options available:
- If you purchased the food from a retailer you may return it for
a replacement or refund. Most complaints about packaged
food arise from contamination by foreign bodies, and are isolated
incidents. Major retailers have good systems in place which
feed back complaints about food products to their head office,
enabling any generalised problem to be identified.
- The food product can be returned directly to the manufacturer
who may offer an explanation regarding the problem, and some form
of compensation for being supplied with a substandard product.
- The purchaser can ask our Food Safety Team to investigate
the problem. If we consider that the complaint item may have
wider public health consequences, or had the potential to cause
harm to the consumer, then we will carry out an investigation,
working closely with the laboratories of the public analyst and the
local authority for the factory where the food was produced.
This process can take many weeks, so you should not expect a quick
outcome.
- If the complaint is about a product purchased outside of
South Somerset you should contact the local authority
where the product was purchased. The Food Safety Team will
assist in identifying the relevant local authority and may, in
certain circumstances, assist in transporting the product to the
appropriate authority.
We will ask you to give a statement and confirm your
willingness to appear in court, if necessary.
The Food Safety Team will not become involved in any claim for
compensation - our role is solely to establish if there has
been any breach of food safety law, although the court may
make a compensation order, if we prosecute successfully.
Investigation of complaints, dependent upon the food chain
involved, can take some considerable time to conclude.
Officers will endeavour to communicate
with you throughout the process.
Common Food Complaints
The advice sheets below are for the more common food
complaints and you should refer to these in the first
instance.
If you have been harmed by food you have consumed you may be
entitled in law to damages, and should consult Consumer
Direct, the Citizens' Advice
Bureau or a solicitor. If you have not been harmed then
your entitlement is restricted to a refund from the retailer.
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