Slough Borough Council

Food complaints

As part of the council’s role to protect public health, the Food and Health & Safety Team investigates food complaints and customer complaints concerning food safety issues relating to food premises.

Discovering a foreign object in your food can be an unpleasant experience. Food purchased from restaurants, takeaways, supermarkets and local shops must be fit to eat and be free from contamination.

If you think that an item of food is contaminated in some way, you should email foodandsafety@slough.gov.uk for advice.

The following are examples of complaints that will be investigated:

• food contaminated with foreign objects e.g. metal, glass or plastic
• food which is mouldy
• food which is unfit
• food which you believe may have caused illness to the consumer

How to store affected food before handing it over to a Food Safety Officer

The food, foreign object and original packaging should be:

• placed in a clean, sealed bag
• stored the affected food in a safe and secure
• chilled or frozen products should be stored in either the fridge or freezer to prevent further deterioration
• take care not to remove or dislodge foreign objects or to contaminate other food products in your kitchen

You will be asked to provide details of:

• the date and time of purchase (keep any receipts that you may have)
• description of the complaint and any ill effects suffered if the food has been consumed
• you may be asked to provide a witness statement in order to assist the officer with the investigation

The officer will then carry out a thorough investigation which may involve liaising with the:

• retailer
• manufacturer
• other Local Authority Environmental Health Departments
• if the product has been imported into the UK then liaison with overseas agencies may be involved

You will be kept informed of the progress of the investigation and the eventual outcome.

We will not attempt to gain compensation or financial redress on your behalf, but you are free to take civil action independently against the retailer or producer of the food if you wish.

Food premises complaints

The Food Safety Team also follow up complaints about food premises:

• hotels
• restaurants
• takeaways
• supermarkets
• mobile food vendors etc

Such complaints may include:

• poor food handling practices observed
• poor cleaning standards
• sightings of pests
• absence of a hot or cold water supply

Poor food quality and customer service

We will not investigate complaints about poor food quality or unsatisfactory customer service.

Some food complaints are dealt with by Slough Borough Council’s Trading Standards team, such as:

• foods contaminated with taints or chemicals, food purchased past
• the use-by date and labelling and false descriptions of food

You can call the Trading Standards team on 01753 875255.

Food complaints to refer to retailer

Some food complaints do not pose a risk to public safety, but still should not have occurred. In practice it is best to return the affected item to the manufacturer or the retailer and request a refund.

A list of the most common complaints which should be referred to the retailer can be found below.

More information

• Food complaints for retailers