Service Make a complaint about food
We deal with complaints about:
- Food containing foreign bodies, for example, insects, metal or glass
- Food that is mouldy
- Food sold past its use by date
- Food that is contaminated or unfit to eat
- Dirty premises
- Unhygienic practices
In the current situation we are prioritising our work and it may be some time before an officer can respond to enquiries. Please bear with us.
Start the journey
More info about the journey
- Details of your complaint.
- The name and address of the food business.
- Your contact details.
If you have any of the food:
- freeze it in a clean freezer bag if it is likely to deteriorate before it can be collected.
- any wrapping associated with the food
- any bill or receipt for the food
Any personal information which you provide will be held and used by East Devon District Council for the purpose of investigating your complaint and on the basis of public task and our legal obligation under Food Safety and Hygiene legislation.
Who will receive or see my personal information?
Your information may also be shared within East Devon District Council for the purposes of carrying out our lawful functions. Otherwise your personal information will not be disclosed to anybody outside East Devon District Council without your permission, unless there is a lawful reason to do so, for example disclosure is necessary for crime prevention or detection purposes. Your information will be held securely and will not be retained for any longer than is necessary. There are a number of rights available to you in relation to our use of your personal information, depending on the reason for processing. Further detail about our use of your personal information can be found in the relevant Privacy Notice which can be accessed here.
Once we have collected the relevant information, we use national and local guidance on food safety to decide what action to take. We may refer your complaint to another authority to investigate if the food was purchased or produced outside our area, or should be dealt with by another agency such as Trading Standards Departments or the Food Standards Agency.
In many cases the action taken will be informal. We will only give your details, i.e. name, address, etc. to the food business concerned if you ask us too. If we decide to deal with matters in a formal manner and take legal action, you will be asked to produce a statement and we may need further details.
It may take several weeks to collect all the necessary evidence and decide what action is appropriate. We will tell you what the outcome of the investigation is, usually in writing.
Can I get compensation?
We do not discuss compensation on your behalf, this is a matter between you and the retailer.