Food incidents

Reporting an incident

All food incidents should be reported to your local authority environmental health department. This includes incidents involving poor food hygiene, a foreign object in your food, allergy concerns, labelling issues or the cleanliness of facilities. For urgent concerns regarding food safety you can also call the 24 hour FSS food incidents line on 07881 516867.

• Local authority contact details  
• Find your local authority

What is a food or feed incident?

A food or feed incident occurs when there are concerns about the safety or quality of food and or feed that could require intervention to protect consumers’ interests. During an incident, our Scottish Food Crime and Incidents unit (SFCIU) will support public bodies, such as the local authorities in relation to matters concerning food and feed, with the goal of protecting the public from risks to health which may arise in connection with the consumption of food. 

Incidents fall broadly into two categories:

• Hazardous - a food/feed incident with the potential to cause an adverse effect to the health or safety of consumers, involving (or suspected to involve) a biological, chemical and or physical agent in, or condition of food.​

• Non-Hazardous - a food/feed incident which does not have the potential to cause an adverse effect to the health or safety of consumers but which may involve issues detrimental to consumers’ interests such as food standards, integrity, provenance, authenticity, composition and labelling.​

Preventing incidents is important for protecting consumers' interests, ensuring food standards and safety and maintaining trust in the food chain.

FSS deals with a wide range of incidents such as: 

• Microbiological Incidents including Outbreaks of Listeria Monocytogenes, Salmonella , Norovirus and E. coli.

• Allergen Incidents such as mislabelling or undeclared ingredients.

• Chemical Incidents such as pesticide, natural toxins or environmental contaminants.

• Foreign Body in food Incidents such as glass, plastic metal or string.

• On-farm incidents affecting animals such as cattle or sheep.

• Contaminants that have not been intentionally added to food but may be present as a result of its production, packaging or environment.