The Council receives notification from the Food Standards Agency about problems associated with food. These may be alerts about ‘food incidents’ or ‘food hazards’ and they are often issued in conjunction with a product withdrawal or recall by a manufacturer, retailer or distributor. Sometimes they are initiated by the local authority perhaps as a result of an inspection or food poisoning investigation.
A “food incident” is where there are concerns about actual or suspected threats to the safety or quality of food that could require intervention to protect consumers' interests.
A “food hazard” is a food incident involving a biological, chemical or physical agent with the potential to cause an adverse effect on the health or safety of consumers.
The Food Standards Agency issue an alert either 'For Information' where a solution to the problem has been put in place or 'For Action' where intervention by enforcement authorities is required.
Consumers can subscribe to an e-mail alert system to receive automatic messages whenever alerts are issued. To find more details go to www.food.gov.uk| .