Food production and quality

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Food safety services in Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire Council's environmental health officers and food safety officers deal with food complaints from members of the public about foreign bodies, food past its use-by date or food unfit for consumption. Enforcement officers often make a visit to the premises that sold the food. If the premises are outside Renfrewshire the complaint is forwarded to the relevant council. Most complaints result in a warning to the offender together with advice or instructions on how to prevent a repetition. In some cases the offender may be taken to court.

Environmental health officers and food safety officers inspect food premises throughout Renfrewshire and make sure that they comply with the relevant legislation and the council's food enforcement policy. You can download a copy of the policy below:

Food enforcement policy (pdf 198KB)

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Food safety advice
Everyone likes to blame a tummy upset on the meal or carry out they ate last night. About a third of food poisoning cases are thought to be caused by poor food handling in our own kitchens. Paying attention to how you store, handle and cook food as well as keeping your kitchen clean goes a long way to protecting you and your family from food poisoning.

General food safety tips

• always use food within the use-by date. Throw out any food that has not been eaten by the recommended date.
• get a fridge thermometer and make sure your fridge is cool enough. It should be below 5^o C.
• always wash your hands before preparing food, handling raw food after going to the toilet, coughing sneezing, toughing waste and handling pets.
• raw foods, especially meat and poultry can have harmful bacteria on them.
• keep raw foods away from ready to eat foods.
• always store raw meat/poultry under ready to eat foods in the fridge, in case they drip.
• always thoroughly wash your chopping board after it's been used for raw meat or chicken. Better still, have a separate chopping board for these foods.
• thoroughly defrost any meat/poultry. Thaw well away from ready to eat foods and leave sufficient time for defrosting.
• always wash hands before preparing food and in between handling raw and cooked foods.
• store food in accordance with instuctions on the labels.
• check that the juices are running clear in meats, and that there are no pink bits in chicken or burgers.
• if using a microwave, follow the instructions on the food packet and check that the food is piping hot throughout.
• eat hot food immediately, store leftovers in the fridge, re-heat them until they are piping hot and use them within two days.
• pets carry bacteria so keep them out of the kitchen.
• clean kitchen surfaces after preparing food. try to 'clean as you go'. Remember that raw poultry, meat, fish and vegetables can easily cross contaminate other foods. After handling these foods always wash hands, utensils and surfaces thoroughly.
• cloths and tea towels can be a source of cross contamination so use them sparingly. change them regularly and wash in a hot cycle. Preferably use disposable cloths or paper towels.
• pay particular attention to food safety if you are cooking for babies, young children or elderly relatives. They are more at risk from food poisoning, as their immune systems are not as strong.

Food wastage

We don't realise how much food we waste. Over a third of food we buy is thrown away.

• over £800m worth of food is wasted by consumers in Scotland
• around 650,000 tonnes of food waste is thrown out by Scottish households every year.

For advice on food wastage, visit the Waste Aware website below.



For more information:

• email: b-serv.es@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• phone: 0141 840 3106
• fax: 0141 840 3233
• call or write to us at:
  Renfrewshire Council
  Environmental Services
  Renfrewshire House
  Cotton Street
  Paisley
  PA1 1BR

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