Food Safety

We aim to:

  • Protect people by improving the hygiene and safety of food businesses
  • Improve the safety of the food people eat
  • Provide consumers with a trusted source of advice and information.

We do this by:

  • Inspecting businesses - our officers routinely assess all food businesses to ensure they comply with the law and provide safe food for customers. This is done mainly by unannounced inspections and by sampling of foods.
  • Investigating serious complaints - this includes allegations of poor hygiene, finding foreign objects in food, mouldy or unfit food. However, labelling concerns and out of date foods are dealt with by Trading standards Officers.
  • Investigating allegations of food poisoning if you believe you became ill after eating a meal out or a take away. However, you will need to visit your GP and submit a specimen to confirm you have food poisoning.

However, we do not deal with complaints about poor customer service or front of house issues such as dirty toilets. If you are concerned about such issues you should complain direct to the manager or owner of the business.

For specific information about running a food business please visit our Wealden Business Help (external link) website.

National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme

Wealden has now joined the Food Standards Agency's national scheme to improve food hygiene.

What To Look For When Eating Out

Here are some of the tell-tale clues you can look out for when choosing somewhere to eat out or buy a take away.

Food Sampling

Information on the food sampling carried out by the Public Protection Team   

Food and Health and Safety Performance

Find out how many food businesses we have inspected in the past three years and how many complaints and accidents we have investigated.

Starting a New Food Business? (external link)

Visit our Wealden Business Help site for advice and support on starting your new food business and download the documents you need to register.

Find out about Training Courses Available for Food Handlers (external link)

We offer a range of training courses in food hygiene and health and safety at work to local businesses, organisations and individuals.  

Wealden Food and Safety Bulletin (external link)

See the latest copy of of the Public Protection Team's Food and Safety Bulletin    

Public Protection's Customer Charter - Safe Food and Safe Workplaces (pdf)

See our Customer Charter which sets out the standards you can expect from the Public Protection Team

Food Safety Service Plan (pdf)