Officers in the Food Team are readily available to offer advice to customers on food related issues. We also encourage our customers to take an active role in reporting food businesses, within Bath and North East Somerset, that have poor food safety practices.

Throughout the year we receive such service requests from customers, and regularly carry out investigations into requests raised.

Service requests we investigate include:

• sightings of vermin or pests on food premises
• poor levels of cleanliness in kitchens, store rooms or preparation rooms
• poor food handling practices

If customers have bought an item of food that they believe is contaminated in some way, we will also investigate those concerns. Some examples of things that might be investigated include: 

• Foods containing foreign bodies (e.g., stones, glass, insects, hair, plasters, cigarette ends etc.)
• Food that is out of condition (e.g. mouldy, rotten, off-smelling etc)
• Food that is out of date (e.g. beyond its use by date)

The Council will only investigate complaints about food businesses, which relate to food safety. Our role is not to seek compensation and we cannot be involved in any financial aspect of the complaint.

We therefore cannot investigate complaints about the price of food, or poor customer service. However Trading Standards may be able to assist with this type of complaint.

Other Food Safety Headings

• Food Safety - What We Do
• Food Hygiene - How Often Do We Inspect?
• Food Businesses - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 
• Register Your Food Business
• Scores on the Doors
• Training 
• Infectious Diseases