Report a food business for investigation

When to report to us

You can report a food business to us for investigation if it’s located within the borough and you think it’s: 

• supplying food that’s unsafe or harmful to human health
• not following food hygiene standards 

We only investigate reports about food that: 

• is not safe to eat
• makes people ill
• contains a foreign object, such as a fragment of glass or metal
• has a false description, incorrect labelling or misleading claims
• is being sold after a 'use by' date 

We cannot get: 

• you a refund for your food
• involved in compensation claims
• involved if you’re already in contact with the retailer or manufacturer about the problem 

When to complain direct to the food business

Many companies have robust customer complaints policies and processes. This means there’s limited benefit in us investigating some types of complaints. 

You may get a more satisfactory response for less complicated issues if you contact the food business directly. This includes: 

• products bought from a restaurant chain or large retailer (including items ordered through Amazon)
• food beyond its 'best before' date
• poor quality food, such as over-ripe or damaged fruit and vegetables
• something being on or in the food that comes naturally from the product or its surrounding environment, such as bones in meat and fish, insects on or in fruit and vegetables 

Report a food business to us

To report a food business, email us at food.concerns@royalgreenwich.gov.uk. 

Include in your email: 

• name and address of the business
• a brief outline of your concerns
• any photo evidence 

How we assess your report

We review your report and investigate based on the risk to public health. Our level of investigation depends on the: 

• nature of the complaint
• risk posed to health
• the business’ history of compliance
• professional judgement of the investigating officer 

Until we contact you, it will help our investigation if you keep as much information as possible. This includes: 

• a description of the food
• the place, date and time you bought it
• the food item itself – keep it in a fridge or freezer separate from other food
• any food packaging
• any foreign object as you found it in the food 

Without these details, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to investigate further. 

Our investigation

We may take one or more of the following actions to investigate your report: 

• contact the business to let them know we’ve received a report
• check the business’ standards the next time we inspect their premises
• ask the business to supply details of any previous complaints and relevant internal procedures
• visit the food business unannounced
• contact another councils for information
• send samples for analysis (this is rare and not usually required) 

Investigations can be lengthy and time-consuming, so it may take a while to hear from us.  

When our investigation is complete, we’ll contact you with any significant findings.  

Legal considerations

Before we consider taking formal action, we must consider the legal defences available to the business. 

If the food business can demonstrate it took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence, it can rely on the ‘due diligence’ defence. This applies even if the food was unsatisfactory when it was sold. 

In these circumstances, it’s not appropriate to take formal action.  

If the business cannot demonstrate it took reasonable precautions to prevent the report, we may take legal action in line with our Environmental health and trading standards enforcement policy. 

More information

Read our leaflets about some common food issues: