Food Standards
At Cheshire East Consumer Protection and
Investigations we aim to protect consumers and assist
Cheshire-based businesses by carrying out a variety of food-related
activities. We are responsible for the enforcement of the
Food Safety
Act 1990 (as amended), and other associated legislation and we
aim to ensure the integrity of food standards throughout the
food chain. This can include checking legislative compliance with
areas including: food labelling, species & meat contents,
ingredient composition, claims and descriptions as well as with
weights & measures. Whereas, Environmental Health are responsible for
ensuring compliance with the safety of food and the hygiene of
premises used to store, prepare or serve food.
If you feel you have a justified complaint in
relation to Food Standards, please contact Citizens Advice Consumer
Service on 0845 4040506 or via the
Citizens Advice online complaint form, who will forward it to
us so that we can take the appropriate action, if necessary.
What do we do?
- We carry out a planned programme of
interventions, such as inspections, of the different types of food
premises that exist in Cheshire East, including bakers, butchers,
grocers, food manufacturers, supermarkets, farmers and local
markets & events, cafés, restaurants and public houses.
For example, we check compliance with national standards, examine
food menus to check that they are accurate, and check food
labelling and food & drink descriptions.
- We can also take samples of food and drink which
are then tested and analysed. This is done to check, for example,
that the declared nutritional information is correct, that the name
of the food is not misleading or that spirits have not been watered
down or replaced with inferior substitutes.
- We react to food safety alerts issued by the
Food Standards Agency. We work
closely with Cheshire food manufacturers and provide compositional
and labelling advice. We also field enquiries from other local
authorities from around the country about Cheshire East-based
businesses.
- We deal with complaints from the public about
the composition and labelling of foods sold within Cheshire East,
such as where there might be a suggestion that food is not as
described. This may involve an arranged visit to a business or
individual, or perhaps when necessary an unannounced spot check,
where relevant.
- We follow up incidents of food sold past its
use-by date, as this type of food is generally more perishable and
could make people ill if the eaten after the marked date. Foods
labelled with a use-by date must be sold or disposed of before the
end of the marked date. Best before dates however are
advisory and indicate the period up to when the food will be at its
best. It is not an offence to sell food beyond a ‘Best Before’
date, although it is good practice not to.
Registration of a Food Business
All food businesses must be registered with or in
certain cases approved by Environmental Health. Please see our
pages on Registration of Food
Business.
Feed Hygiene Enforcement (Animal Feeds)
Cheshire East has a large farming community and
there are a number of mills within the Authority that produce
animal feed. Officers from Cheshire East Consumer Protection and
Investigations carry out visits and take samples of feeding stuffs
to ensure that they are wholesome and not harmful to either the
animal or the human food chain.
All feed business, including farms,
hauliers that transport animal feed, or any food business that may
also produce animal feed as a bye-product needs to be registered
the Authority. The Food Standards Agency has
further advice if you think you may need to register.
Further Advice and Guidance
