Food safety complaints

Common food complaints

Finding there is a problem with your food can be a very unpleasant experience, however, there may be simple steps you can take to resolve the issue yourself.

Our guide to common food complaints provides information on routine food issues, how they occur and suggests how best to deal with them.

The guide should allow you to help yourself in many circumstances and let our food safety officers concentrate on more serious reports that pose a potential risk to public health.

What we investigate

We can look into issues with food bought in Newcastle or that came from a business trading within our area.

That includes concerns and complaints about: 

• sightings of pests such as rats, mice or cockroaches
• poor levels of cleanliness in kitchens, storerooms, or food service areas
• unhygienic food handling
• food that it unfit to eat
• contaminated food
• food containing objects that could cause harm (eg. glass)

Report a problem

Please email us to report a food safety issue or make a complaint about a business in Newcastle or food bought from a business based in the city.

Please note that we cannot assist with civil claims for compensation, and for that you will need to seek independent legal advice.