Food Safety

• In this section:
• Enforcement Policy
• Information Leaflets
• Food Safety at Party Time!
• Food Complaints - Frequently Asked Question and Contact Details
• Food Poisoning - Frequently Asked Question and Contact Details
• Infectious Diseases - Frequently Asked Question and Contact Details
• NELC Trading Standards
• External Information (opens in new browsers):
• Safer Food Better Business
• Guidance notes from www.food.gov.uk
• Regulation and legislation from www.food.gov.uk
• Eat well this Christmas

The Commercial Division of Environmental Services is responsible for the areas of Food Safety and Hygiene, across the whole area of North East Lincolnshire. Officers primarily work in the field using statutory powers to deal with requests from members of the public.

Food safety enforcement involves the routine inspection of some over 1800 premises ranging from factories of multi-national companies to small corner shops to enforce the various legislation which applies to them. North East Lincolnshire Council has a higher than average concentration of large manufacturers within its area and consequently its officers have built up a great deal of expertise, dealing with state-of-the-art companies and processes.

In addition to this pro-active work the section deals with food complaints, food poisoning and infectious disease notifications.

Purpose of the Service

• Carry out the statutory duties of the authority.
• Proactive enforcement of food hygiene legislation, including the inspection and monitoring of food and food sampling so that everyone may receive wholesome food.
• Reactive investigation of food complaints.
• Investigation of notified cases of food poisoning and infectious disease having particular regard to the most vulnerable such as the young and elderly.
• Provision of advice and education for food handlers and others, promotion of health and healthy lifestyles.
• Provision of advice and consultation to other departments and outside bodies on licensing, planning and other matters where food safety may be at risk.

Much of the work of the division is based on the enforcement of statutes and as such is governed to a certain extent by national codes of practice and guidance which lay down, for example, the frequency with which food inspection should be carried out.

The whole community must be sure that food it buys and eats is wholesome. When a problem arises, it must be investigated to prevent recurrence of illness or injury caused by contamination of food by either microbiological or physical contamination. The area has a high concentration of food manufacturing which relies for much of its trade on the import and export of food. We have on our doorstep two major ports through which much of this trade takes place.

The service actively educates and advises traders as to how best avoid problems by careful planning of processes such as food production, storage and service.

A risk based system of inspections is operated which means that priority is given to those premises presenting the greatest risk to consumers. A scoring system based on a number of criteria gives an inspection frequency ranging from 6 months to 5 years.

Other activities such as food complaints or notification of illness are largely reactive and demand rapid response to provide effective control. Response times are set in order to give this.

We welcome your views on what the service is doing and how well we are doing it. Please let us know by letter or e-mail us on customerrequests@nelincs.gov.uk or use the feedback link at the bottom of this page.

Safer Food Better Business (opens in new browser) - This pack has been developed to help small catering businesses, such as restaurants, cafes and takeaways, comply with the new regulations that came in from 1st January 2006 and require such businesses to have a documented food safety management system.