Food Safety Level 2 (VTQ)

58 videos, 3 hours and 2 minutes

Course Content

Food complaints

Video 53 of 58
3 min 35 sec
English
English

Handling Food Complaints: What You Need to Know

Types of Food Complaints

Food safety teams deal with various types of complaints:

  • Food that is unsafe to eat or causes illness.
  • Foods so contaminated that they are inedible (e.g., mouldy food).
  • Food containing foreign objects like plaster or glass.
  • Chemical contamination and improper use of additives.
  • Food composition issues (e.g., mislabelled sausages).
  • Labelling offences and misleading claims.

Handling Complaints

Steps taken by food safety teams when addressing complaints:

  • Formal action requires evidence of public health risk and negligence by the company.
  • Complaints that pose no health risk (e.g., insects in canned foods) are not typically pursued.
  • Food safety teams do not handle compensation claims; these are civil matters dealt with by manufacturers and courts.
  • Enforcement actions are guided by council policies.

Dealing with Specific Complaints

Examples of specific food complaints and their handling:

  • Foreign objects in food (e.g., plaster in a cake) warrant investigation if they pose a health risk.
  • Tinned food complaints involving insects are addressed; however, canned foods are typically safe due to sterilisation processes.