Number of food complaints received by Solihull chiefs last year

Several hundred complaints about food premises were made to Solihull Council during the course of last year.

Figures for 2018/19 reveal that a total of 339 incidents were flagged up with the local authority.

A breakdown shows that 57 of these related to poor food hygiene, 41 were linked to food standards (such as mislabelling) and 78 arose from food appearing to have gone off. Twenty nine complaints were about “foreign bodies” – items which have found their way into food that shouldn’t be there.

The remaining 131 cases were classed as “general” enquiries.

Although an annual report, presented to councillors this week, argues that the vast majority of the borough’s shops, cafes, restaurants and other outlets had a good track record.

Caroline Naven, head of neighbourhood and regulatory services, quoted figures for the “scores on the doors” hygiene rating handed to food businesses.

“If you eat in the borough you will see this advertised in our premises and 96 per cent of our businesses, I’m glad to say, have a rating of three or higher [outlets are ranked between zero and five].”

By law, the Food Standards Agency requires all councils to have a food services plan in place each year.

At the last count, when figures were collated in April, Solihull had 1,874 food businesses on its database.

These range from traditional takeaways and supermarkets to more specialised companies.

Among the more unusual businesses in the borough are a major cheese manufacturer, an outlet which produces airline meals and a “seasonal slaughterhouse” which processes turkeys for Christmas.

Read more: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/how-many-food-complaints-were-16986248