Food Law Enforcement
- What are the duties of the Council?
- Aims of the Service
- Fareham Borough Council's Food Safety Team
- Inspection of Food Premises
- What Action can the Inspectors Take?
- Food Hygiene Training
- How to produce a Food Safety Management System
- Further Information
What are the Duties of the Council?
Fareham Borough Council is designated as a Food Authority under the Food Safety Act 1990 and as such has a statutory duty to enforce the Act.
Environmental Health staff working within the Food, Health and Safety and Licensing Team have the delegated authority to enforce the legislation.
Aims of the Service
It is the Authority's aim to strive to ensure that food and drink on sale for human consumption, which is produced, stored, distributed, handled or consumed within the Borough is without risk to the health and safety of the consumer.
The enforcement of the Food Safety Act in Fareham is the responsibility of Fareham Borough Council and Hampshire County Council (Trading Standards Department).
Service Objectives can be found on the page headed About the Food Safety Service.
Inspection of Food Premises
The Food Safety Team carries out periodic routine inspections of all food premises producing, manufacturing, processing, storing and handling food.
Mobile caterers, outside events and domestic premises where catering takes place are also liable to inspection.
The frequency of inspection varies from premises to premises with maximum intervals prescribed by the Food Standards Agency. These intervals range from up to 6 months to 5 years.
The factors taken into account when determining inspection intervals are:
- the potential risk of foodstuffs handled
- method of processing
- size of business
- degree of compliance with food safety, hygiene and maintenance of premises
- Food Safety Management System (hazard analysis) in place
- training of the staff
What Action can the Inspectors Take?
When they think it is necessary, inspectors can take 'enforcement action', to protect the public. For example they can:
- take samples and photographs of food, and inspect your records
- write to you informally, asking you to put right any problems
- serve you with an 'improvement notice' if you are breaking the law, which sets out certain things that you must do to comply
- detain or seize suspect foods
- serve an 'emergency prohibition notice', which forbids the use of premises or equipment (this notice must be confirmed by a court)
- recommend a prosecution, in serious cases.
If a prosecution is successful, the court may prohibit you from using certain processes, premises or equipment, or you could be banned from managing a food business. It could also lead to a fine or imprisonment.
What do Trading Standards do?
Hampshire County Council's Trading Standards Department (this is an external hyperlink) is responsible for general consumer protection matters including:
- food compositional standards
- food additives and contaminants
- labelling, description and advertising
- weights and measures
- food quality
Trading Standards (this is an external hyperlink) can be contacted on a local cost telephone number: 0845 6030081.
Further Information
The Food Standards Agency (this is an external hyperlink) is a UK-wide independent Government agency, providing advice and information to the public and Government on food safety, nutrition and diet. The Agency's advice is based on the best scientific evidence available from independent expert advisory committees, and all its advice is made public.
For information on any of the above or to request leaflets please contact the Department of Regulatory Services on 01329 236100 or email us on regulatory@fareham.gov.uk.
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