Aviation House
125 Kingsway
London
WC2B 6NH

Tel (Helpline): 020 7276 8829
Tel: 020 7276 8000
Web: www.food.gov.uk

The Food Standards Agency is a non-Ministerial Government Department led by a Board rather than directly by Ministers. The Board comprises a Chair, Deputy Chair and between eight and twelve ordinary members of whom one is appointed by the Welsh Health Minister, one by the Northern Ireland Health Minister, two by the Scottish Health Minister and the remainder by the Secretary of State for Health.

The Food Standards Agency is responsible for food safety and food hygiene across the UK. They work with local authorities to enforce food safety rules and have staff who work in UK meat plants to check that the requirements of the regulations are being met. They also commission research related to food safety.

If you want to report an issue such as poor hygiene practice in a food outlet or mislabelling, you should contact your local authority. Local Environmental Health Officers usually handle complaints about food quality, hygiene and safety issues, while Trading Standards Officers deal with complaints about food labelling, compositional standards, ingredients, and weights and measures.

The Department of Health is responsible for nutrition policy, including nutrition labelling, in England. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is responsible for food labelling not related to food safety or nutrition in England. It is also responsible for animal welfare. The FSA retains responsibility for labelling policy in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and for nutrition policy in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Responsibility for nutrition policy in Wales lies with the Welsh Assembly Government.

If you are unsure who you need to speak to you can contact the helpline.

The Agency produces a wide range of publications for the public and the food industry. Many of these are available free of charge from Food Standards Agency Publications.
To order copies:
Telephone: 0845 606 0667
Minicom: 0845 606 0678
Fax: 01375 484 556
Email: foodstandards@ecgroup.co.uk

Some titles can also be downloaded from their website: http://www.food.gov.uk/aboutus/publications/

Nutrition related information can be found at www.nhs.uk