Food complaints

If you are worried about the standard of food safety in a premises, or, if you have purchased some food which is, for example, contaminated or past its Use By Date, you should email the Food and Safety Team.

You can expect to be contacted by an officer within 3 working days to discuss your case.

Read Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Council's Food Complaints Policy

What do I do if I have a food labelling or food quality complaint?

For labelling, false descriptions or quality issues, phone Consumer Direct: 08454 04 05 06

What do I do if I have a complaint about the condition of a food product?

Discovering a foreign object in food, or other problems with food, can be a very unpleasant experience.

However, not all problems pose a serious health risk.

Here are some common food complaints together with a short explanation and suggestions for the best course of action.

A guide to common food complaints

If you still wish to make a complaint about a food business, the condition of purchased food or food purchased past its Use By Date, you can contact the Food and Safety Team by completing the following:

Make a food safety complaint

Should I take the food product back to where I bought it?

You can take the food back to the shop where you purchased it. If you do this you may be offered a refund which, if accepted, would make it difficult for the local authority to subsequently deal with the problem.

What information should I have available when I contact you?

If you decide to contact the Food and Safety Team or Trading Standards Department, please do so as soon as you can and it will be helpful to know where the food was bought and any other details you have available.

What happens after a complaint is reported?

If you take your food complaint to the Food and Safety Officers they will carry out a thorough investigation.

This may result in legal or court proceedings being taken and could require you to attend court as a witness. This would only be with your consent.