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At Cheshire Trading Standards we aim to protect consumers and assist Cheshire-based businesses by carrying out a variety of food-related activities.  We are responsible for the enforcement of the Food Safety Act, this is a role which overlaps with Environmental Health Officers at your District Council. Trading Standards has a specific role to ensure that food is labelled correctly whereas Environmental Health are involved with food hygiene. Registration of a Food Business is the responsibility of the District Councils.

What do we do?

• We carry out a planned programme of inspections of the different types of food premises that exist in Cheshire including bakers, butchers, grocers, food manufacturers, supermarkets, cafés, restaurants and public houses.  As part of these inspections we check whether products comply with national standards, we will examine food menus to check that they are accurate, we check food labelling and food descriptions.
• We also take samples of food and drink which are then tested and analysed. This is done to check for example, that the declared nutritional information is correct, that the name of the food is not misleading and that spirits have not been watered down or replaced with an inferior substitute.
• We react to food safety alerts issued by the Foods Standards Agency    We work closely with Cheshire food manufacturers and provide compositional and labelling advice. We also field enquiries from other local authorities from around the country about Cheshire-based businesses.
• We deal with complaints from the public about the composition and labelling of foods sold within Cheshire, where there might be a suggestion that food is not as described.
• We follow up incidents of food sold beyond its use-by date as this type of food deteriorates and could make people ill if the eaten after the marked date. Foods labelled with a use-by date must be sold on or disposed of before the end of the marked date or a criminal offence is committed.  Best before dates on the other hand are advisory and indicate the period when the food will be at its freshest. It is not an offence to sell them beyond this date, although it is good practice for the shop to ensure that they are sold before the due date.

Registration of a Food Business

Registration of a Food Business is the responsibility of the District Councils. Their contact telephone numbers are given below.

• Chester City Council - 01244 402633
• Congleton Borough Council - 01270 505334
• Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council - 01270 537545
• Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council - 0151 356 6789
• Macclesfield Borough Council - 01625 504706
• Vale Royal Borough Council - 01606 867704

Contact Information

Please call 08454 04 05 06 or 01244 973708 for more information.

Feeding Stuffs Enforcement

Cheshire has a large farming community and there are a number of mills producing animal feeds. Officers from Cheshire Trading Standards carry out visits and take random samples of feeding stuffs to make sure that standards are maintained.

Farmers that mix their own feeds have to register with the Authority and routine inspections are made to ensure compliance with licensing conditions. 

• Also see our Farms webpages

 
The Food Standards Agency has developed a website with a wealth of material on Food Safety and Food Standards. As well as reading about the latest food hazard warnings, you can view other headlining food stories at www.food.gov.uk.

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