The purpose of food premises inspections:
Authorised Officers (Environmental Health Officers and Environmental Health Protection Officers) have the authority to enter food premises at all reasonable hours and as a general rule without prior notice.
The officer should identify themselves upon entering the premises (all officers carry photographic identification) and the reason for their visit. They may call to carry out a routine food hygiene inspection, in response to a food complaint or to take samples.
To discover specific information relating to the food business, the officer will ask to see someone in authority, such as the manager/proprietor of the business. The officer will probably want to meet the person who is in charge of food preparation activities, eg the the chef/catering manager.
Under the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006, it is an offence to obstruct an officer in the pursuit of their duties. Obstruction may be:
Persons convicted of obstructing authorised officers may be subject to a fine and/or a prison sentence.
The officer will wear a clean white coat and appropriate head protection, during the course of the inspection.
A thorough inspection of the structure of the food premises (including equipment used in food preparation) and discussing practices and procedures, the officer will also expect to examine various records about:
These records will allow the officer to make an assessment of the adequacy of the systems already in place and to offer advice on improvements required.
After the inspection, the officer will write a report for the proprietor of the food business, with details of any matters which were apparent at the time of the inspection and which need attention.
The report will specify those statutory requirements that are not being complied with and what action must be taken to comply with the law. In addition, advice on good practice may be included.
Authorised officers can serve a number of different notices on the proprietor of a food business to make sure food safety legislation is complied with. The type of notice served will depend on the:
An authorised officer can serve a Hygiene Improvement Notice where they have reasonable grounds to believe the proprietor of a food business is failing to comply with the regulations. This Notice will specify:
The time period is usually agreed with a representative from the business. The Notice also includes details of how the person may appeal.
Failure to comply with a Hygiene Improvement Notice is an offence that, on conviction, can lead to a fine or imprisonment.
If an authorised officer believes there is an 'imminent risk of injury to health' because of:
they may serve a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice. This has the effect of prohibiting the continued use of the equipment or premises or the process. The officer must then apply to the Magistrates’ court within 3 days for a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Order. If the court makes an Order, this must be displayed on the premises so that the public can easily read it. The Prohibition Order can only be removed once the defects have been remedied to the satisfaction of the officer.
An Order can also be applied by the court to the manager or proprietor of a food business. This type of Order would prohibit that individual from working or participating in the management of any food business. The Order can only be lifted by the court.
The frequency of inspections of food premises is based upon an assessment of risk. Some food premises and businesses will present a higher risk to the consumer than others. This is depends upon factors such as the:
Those premises posing a higher risk to the consumer will be inspected more frequently than those premises with a lower risk.
Food premises are inspected within the range of at least every 6 months, for food manufacturers and businesses with a poor record of food hygiene compliance, to at least every 3 years. These are only minimum inspection frequencies and local authorities may carry out more frequent inspections where they consider this appropriate.
Food premises which fall into a low risk category, such as:
are currently sent a questionnaire every 3 years. The questionnaire helps officers to determine if a significant change in activities have taken place since the last inspection.
Depending on the information received, an inspection may not be required.
For all enquiries please contact the Customer Service Centre
01753 475111
01753 875030
MyCouncil
Landmark Place
High Street, Slough
SL1 1JL, opposite
Slough Library
MyCouncil opening times.
This symbol indicates a link will take you outside this website. Links will open in a new browser window.
