08 January 2009The quality of the the food and drink produced and sold in the Sevenoaks District is the concern of the Council's Food Safety Team who ensure the public is not put at risk.
The Food Safety Team
The aim of the Food Safety Team is to ensure that the food sold in restaurants, shops, pubs, hotels and on the streets is safe to eat. It carries out regular inspections of food premises within Sevenoaks District to assess if the operation is producing safe food. An inspector will look into food preparation, storage, packaging as well as other areas of the business.
Food hygiene ratings for most businesses that serve food are made available on this website, allowing residents and visitors to the area to make informed choices about where they choose to eat. See more about 'Scores on the Doors' food hygiene ratings for businesses.
If an establishment or producer is providing food that does not meet the basic safety guidelines, we will try to improve the standards informally. However, if this approach is unsuccessful, we may serve a notice on those involved and if there is an imminent risk we can stop them trading.
We are keen for the public to take an active role in reporting issues such as food poisoning, being sold out of date food or poor hygiene conditions. We also welcome queries and comments from businesses.
Inspections
Sevenoaks District has many eating places, food retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and other food business. It is our aim to work with them to ensure their food and drink is clean and safe.
Most of our work is ensuring compliance with current food safety legislation. This involves inspecting and enforcing hygiene standards in all food premises registered within the District.
Routine visits are made to all premises, ranging from individual traders to large multi national companies, from mobile food vans to national suppliers of manufactured foods. The frequency of our inspections depends on the level of risk associated with the type of premises and its past record.
'High risk' premises include food manufacturers, restaurants, take-aways, cafes, public houses serving food, nursing and residential care homes, schools, bakeries, butchers, supermarkets, hospitals and mobile caterers.
'Lower risk' premises include newsagents, small grocery stores, pharmacies, small post offices, off-licences and garages.
The purpose of an inspection is to:
For more information about food inspections and enforcement download a copy of Sevenoaks District Council's policy on formal action concerning food safety (
PDF 243K file details).
Investigations
In addition to our regular inspections we also respond to complaints from the public such as foreign objects in food, food which is mouldy, undercooked and tastes bad. Some complaints result from people becoming ill after eating out and who believe that they may have contracted food poisoning. In such cases we have to establish if a problem exists and it if does, we take action to stop it happening again.
Our role is not to seek compensation and we cannot be involved in any financial aspect of the complaint.
Sampling
In addition to random sampling of food supplies in our area, we and the other councils in Kent also contribute to co-ordinated sampling programmes of foods such as ready-to-eat salads, cooked meats, cooked rice and burgers.
Training
Sevenoaks District Council offers training and examination in the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene.
Complaints about food premises
Kent Trading Standards investigate complaints about the price of food, food descriptions on menus or poor customer service.
Sevenoaks District Council will investigate complaints about food premises which relate to food safety such as:
Complaints about food
Despite routine inspection of food businesses and food sampling, there are occasions when things do go wrong and food becomes contaminated.
If you have bought food and find that it contains a foreign object, is mouldy or has something wrong with it, you should either return the food to the shop where you purchased it or alternatively contact the Food Safety Team so that we can investigate the complaint. Please note that it is not the Council's role to seek compensation on your behalf.
Following a complaint of contaminated food an officer will carry out an investigation to find the reason and source of the contamination. Various parties, including retailers, wholesalers, producers, manufacturers and other local authorities may be contacted. When we have completed our investigation we will notify you of the outcome.
Click on the following link to report a food complaint to Sevenoaks District Council
Complaints about labelling or date codes should be reported to Kent County Council Trading Standards.
Food alerts
Food alerts are the Food Standards Agency's way of letting local authorities and consumers know about problems associated with food. See the latest Food Standard Agency food alerts.
Food Alerts are are also copied to the Health Protection Agency, Trading Standards and food trade organisations, to alert them to current food issues.
They are often issued in conjunction with a product withdrawal or recall by a manufacturer, retailer or distributor.
Food hygiene training
The Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene is for a course for all those involved in handling food. The course follows a syllabus devised by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and is taught by Environmental Health Officers from Sevenoaks District Council. See more about food hygine training courses offered by the Council.
For additional information see the food hygiene pages in Directgov website.
Contact the Sevenoaks District Council's Food Team
Food Safety Team
Sevenoaks District Council
Council Offices
Argyle Road
Sevenoaks
Kent
TN13 1GP
Call 01732 227000
Fax 01732 742339
e-mail environmental.health@sevenoaks.gov.uk
