All complaints regarding food premises and food products brought to our attention are logged and dealt with through various methods depending on type and possible outcomes.
Examples of complaints dealt with include:
- customers feeling ill after eating food from a premises
- reports of dirty premises, unhygienic handling practices, sightings of pests etc
- foreign objects in food
- foods being past either their Best Before or Use By dates
- microbiological or chemical contamination
- allegations of watered down alcohol, or substitution e.g. for a cheaper brand
- wrongly labelled foods
- food not of the nature, substance or quality demanded.
- food that has been falsely or misleadingly described.
It is important for us to investigate your concerns to ensure public health is protected, to resolve any issues found and to prevent recurrences of similar problems.
If the complaint involves a food product that you purchased, and you still have the food, you should seal it and keep it in your freezer if possible. Food complaints for reasons such as foreign bodies eg insects, glass, wood, may not need to be frozen or even chilled depending on whether the food is perishable or not. If there is a foreign object in the food, leave the object in the food and handle it as little as possible. Keep any packaging and receipts you may have.
If the food is manufactured or prepared in Dundee then it will be dealt with by us. However, if the food item is manufactured outside Dundee and distributed nationally, then it's the responsibility of the local authority where the food originally came from to investigate. They will communicate any findings to us.
We have a responsibility to investigate all types of food complaints to ensure that production complies with food law. Any food we collect may be sent to the laboratory for examination.
Tel: 01382 433710 Option 7
Email: food.safety@dundeecity.gov.uk