Food Hygiene
The council's Food Safety team is here to advise consumers and businesses and to enforce food law. It is our aim to ensure that the food purchased by consumers in Stratford-on-Avon District is safe to eat. We are committed to following the Regulators' Code in our dealings with businesses.
We have organised Food Safety content with separate sections for businesses and consumers.
What We Do
As a local authority we are responsible for the safety of food produced, sold and consumed within the District of Stratford-on-Avon.
We work closely with the Food Standards Agency to ensure food law is applied throughout the food chain. We are here to advise and educate food businesses and take enforcement action where appropriate. We also:
- carry out food inspections
- carry out food sampling
- investigate food complaints
- take enforcement action when hygiene standards are not met and maintained
For more details, please view our Food Safety Service Plan.
Food Law
The Food Safety Act 1990
The Food Safety Act 1990 provides the framework for all food legislation. The Act applies to all types of food businesses and the main responsibilities under the Act are:
- to ensure you do not include anything in food, remove anything from food or treat food in any way which means it would be damaging to the health of people eating it
- to ensure that the food you serve or sell is of the nature, substance or quality which consumers would expect
- to ensure that the food is labelled, advertised and presented in a way that is not false or misleading
The Food Standards Agency has provided a guidance document for businesses.
Food Law Code of Practice
The Code of Practice governs the enforcement and execution of The Food Safety Act 1990Food Businesses . The purpose of this is to ensure that every local authority discharges its duty as effectively as possible using means that are most appropriate to the circumstances. It also regulates the standard of enforcement throughout every local authority in England.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to enforce legislation relating to food, including the primary production of food and imported food. This is done through programmed inspections, sampling and responding to food complaints.
To contact Environmental Health:
