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Complaints about food businesses

We investigate complaints about food items, the condition of food businesses, or food hygiene practices.

Complaints about food items

Discovering that food you've bought is contaminated in some way can be an unpleasant experience. However, not all forms of food contamination are a risk to your health.

You can submit a complaint to us about a food item bought from a business in Barnsley. If the food wasn't bought in Barnsley, you'll need to contact the local authority where the food business is located. If you're not sure which local authority the food business is in, you can contact the Food Standards Agency.

How to make a complaint

You can complain about a food item by filling in our online form below.

If you still have the food you should keep it, along with any packaging and the receipt, in a safe place until you've contacted us. If you're concerned about the safety of the food or think it's made you ill, keep it in the fridge or freezer to stop it from deteriorating.

What happens next

We'll advise you what you need to do and may arrange to collect the food and any further information from you. We may also ask you to provide a simple factual statement about the purchase and discovery of the offending food.

We'll ask you to sign a declaration of release; this means that you're formally handing the food complaint over to us to investigate further. We'll examine the complaint and discuss the most appropriate course of action to take with you.

It may take a several weeks or even months for a complaint to be fully looked at. This is because there are often a number of different agencies involved. Once we've completed our work we'll give you an explanation of the outcome.

Action we can take

We may have an informal discussion with the owner of the food business. We could also take more formal action resulting in prosecution or even closure of the business.

In most cases, the action taken will be informal. There is a defence available to a food business that is known as 'due diligence'. To rely on this as a defence in law, the business needs to show it's taken all reasonable precautions to avoid the offence and exercised all due diligence during the production of the food.

When we investigate a food complaint, we consider the systems used by the company to prevent the complaint occurring. If the manufacturer of the food isn't in the Barnsley area, we'll contact the local authority where the food was produced and ask them to report on production conditions and any similar complaints.

When we decide to pursue a complaint to prosecution, we first consider whether our action is in the public interest, as it can be very expensive and time consuming. If we do decide to take formal action, this may be a prosecution in the magistrates' court or offering the food business a simple caution. You'll have to provide a witness statement and be prepared to attend the court and give evidence if the food business is prosecuted. If a simple caution is issued, you won't need to attend court.

Compensation

We can't get involved in any claims for compensation. Our concern is whether or not the food business has complied with legal requirements. You should consult your own solicitor if you want to claim for compensation from the business.

Action you can take yourself

You can take the food back to the shop you where you bought it and ask them to investigate and report back to you. You could also contact the manufacturer of the product and ask them to investigate your complaint. The manufacturer details should be on the packaging.

Find out more about common food complaints and what to do about them.

Complaints about the condition of premises or food hygiene practices

We investigate complaints of poor food hygienic practices or dirty food premises operating in our borough. You can make a complaint about these by filling in our online form below.

For more information

You can find out more about food safety on the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website.