We inspect most of the food premises in Torfaen on a regular basis, in order to ensure that they all comply with the law and sell safe food. To do this, we follow the requirements of the Food Standards Agency Code of Practice, which lays down when and how we should inspect food businesses.
Our inspection programme is based on a number of factors, such as whether a business is selling high risk foods, how many customers they have and our confidence in their management. This means that some premises will be inspected every 6 months, whilst other premises may only be inspected every 3 years, and we have specific dates that each premises must have been inspected by.
There are some premises that we may not inspect, such as childminders, as these are not required to be on our database. We also exclude some very low risk premises, and we take alternative action to get information from these businesses and to pass on advice.
We generally carry out our inspections unannounced and when the food premises is open for business, so that we can see what premises are like when they are selling food to their customers. We have the legal right to enter food businesses at any appropriate time, although we will try to visit at a time that is also suitable for the business.
Unless we think there is a serious problem that may result in serious illness or injury, we will generally:
- Inspect at a time that is convenient for the business concerned (this also makes it easier for us to carry out our inspection)
- Introduce ourselves, and make sure there is someone around who is able to speak to us on behalf of the company and give us the information we need.
- Take someone from the business around with us during the inspection so that we can show them what we find and discuss any work that needs to be done
- Inform the proprietor of the business in writing of any contravention’s found, what action they are required to take and the time-scale for this work. We will also make recommendations if we see anything that would help to improve the way their business complies with the law.
In most instances, we give advice to businesses, and we may write to confirm any problems that we find. In serious cases, we can serve a notice requiring action to be taken, and we can prosecute and temporarily close a premises where standards are very poor.
Food Service Plan
All local councils now have to produce an annual Food Safety Service Plan, which outlines what we are doing to ensure food safety.
This Service Plan has been produced in response to the Food Standard Agency's framework agreement on food law enforcement. It tells you how we will protect and promote food safety throughout Torfaen by a combination of measures, which include enforcing food safety law, sampling of foods and liaising with other organisations. It also outlines the priorities, targets, resources and performance on food safety, and shows how this ties in with the other work carried out by the teams delivering this work.
The plan should help in service management, performance planning as well as assisting in comparing performance against other local authorities.
Each year we inspect a percentage of the food premises (in accordance with a national risk based inspection plan) in the area to make sure they are run hygienically and selling food which is safe to eat.
The Food Standards Agency's Food Law Code of Practice allows a number of different interventions to be used instead of inspections. This allows a risk based approach to be taken. Most of the food businesses in Torfaen already meet high standards of food safety, and we put a lot of effort into ensuring these standards are maintained and have a firm, but fair approach.
We believe our approach works, as we rarely need to take legal action against food outlets and have very few cases of confirmed food poisonings originating from local business.
A copy of the Torfaen Food Service Plan (opens in new tab) can be downloaded here.
If you would like any further information or to comment on this plan, you can e-mail us on foodandhealthprotection@torfaen.gov.uk