Food and feed

The safety of food in Scotland is governed by laws and guidance, covering everything from production to processing, distribution, retail, packaging and labelling.

Food and feed law

Our regulation and enforcement of food and feed law in Scotland also covers audit of Local Authorities and audit of Approved meat premises. Food Standards Scotland has around 70 staff based in Approved meat premises around Scotland.

Food and Feed Law Codes of Practice and the Scottish Food and Feed Law Guide.

Multi-Annual National Control Plan

The way different authorities and organisations work together on food law in the UK is described by the Multi-Annual National Control Plan.

Your Local Authority

Problems or concerns about poor hygiene and safety in a food outlet or a food standards issue such as mislabelled food should be reported to the local authority. In Scotland, Officers authorised within environmental health services deal with all food law enforcement matters.

If you have any suspicions about food being offered for sale, please report it to your Local Authority.

Food business operators who suspect that any food information law is being contravened must report this directly to Food Standards Scotland.

Europe

A lot of the detailed legislation on food safety and standards in Scotland is from the European Union. You can read more about it on food.gov.uk.

Codex Alimentarius

There are international standards on food and agricultural products, set down to ensure fair trade and consumer protection. Collectively, they’re known as Codex Alimentarius.

More on this topic

Related

Food and feed law

Food Law Codes of Practice for local authorities.