UK Food Safety Rights: When Food Is Unsafe or Makes You Ill

At a glance

• Your core consumer remedy: under section 9 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, food must be of satisfactory quality; if it falls short you are entitled to a refund under the short-term right to reject, which section 22 shortens for perishable goods to the period they could reasonably be expected to last.
• The main food safety statute: the Food Safety Act 1990 makes it a criminal offence to sell food that is unsafe (s.8) or not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by the purchaser (s.14).
• Hygiene obligations: the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 and assimilated Regulation 852/2004 impose day-to-day duties on food businesses, including HACCP-based management and temperature controls.
• Allergen rules: 14 major allergens must be disclosed under the Food Information Regulations 2014; since 1 October 2021, Natasha's Law extends full ingredient and allergen labelling to food pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS).
• Enforcement bodies: the Food Standards Agency (FSA) sets policy and directly regulates some sectors; local authority environmental health teams enforce hygiene rules at individual premises and can inspect, issue improvement notices, and prosecute.
• Food Hygiene Rating: mandatory display in Wales and Northern Ireland; voluntary in England, though the FSA is actively exploring mandatory display there. Check any registered business free at ratings.food.gov.uk.
• If you are made ill: report to your local authority environmental health team, see a GP to create a medical record, and keep all evidence (packaging, receipt, any remaining product).

The legislative framework: four pillars

Food law in England and Wales is built on four overlapping pieces of legislation. Understanding which pillar applies to your situation tells you both what protection you have and which route to take.

1. Consumer Rights Act 2015 — your civil remedy against the seller

When you buy food from a retailer or food business, the contract is governed by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Section 9 implies a term into every sale that goods must be of satisfactory quality — meeting the standard a reasonable person would regard as acceptable, taking into account the price, description, and any other relevant circumstances. This is a legal requirement, not guidance: it applies automatically to every sale, whether or not the seller mentions it.

Applied to food, this means a product must:

• be safe to eat throughout its stated shelf life;
• be free from contamination, infestation, mould or foreign objects that make it unfit;
• match its description and ingredients list.

If food does not meet these standards, the short-term right to reject (sections 20–22) lets you return it and demand a full refund. The standard rejection window is 30 days, but section 22 shortens this for goods — including most food — that could not reasonably be expected to last that long: the window runs instead to the point the goods could reasonably be expected to perish, which in practice, for food with a use-by date, is that date. After the short-term window closes, you may still be entitled to a repair, replacement, or price reduction in appropriate cases.

The retailer — not the manufacturer — is legally responsible for goods that do not conform. Keep your receipt, the packaging, and any remaining product before returning.

2. Food Safety Act 1990 — criminal liability for unsafe food

The Food Safety Act 1990 creates criminal offences that run in parallel with your civil rights under the Consumer Rights Act — a business can be prosecuted under the 1990 Act and still owe you a civil refund under the 2015 Act for the same incident. The two most important offences for consumers are:

Section 8 — selling food that does not comply with food safety requirements. Food fails to comply if it is "unsafe" within the meaning of Article 14 of assimilated Regulation (EC) 178/2002 — broadly, injurious to health or unfit for human consumption. This is the provision that underpins enforcement action against businesses where food has caused illness or where products are contaminated.

Section 14 — selling food not of the nature, substance or quality demanded. A business commits an offence if it sells food that does not match what the customer asked for or what is described — for example, haddock sold as cod (a "nature" failure), a product containing an undeclared foreign body or falling below a legal compositional standard, such as cream with insufficient milk fat (a "substance" failure), or food that simply falls below the quality a consumer would reasonably expect.

Under section 35, offences under sections 7 or 14 carry an unlimited fine on summary conviction in the magistrates' court (the former £20,000 cap was removed in England and Wales on 12 March 2015), or up to six months' imprisonment, or both. If the case is serious enough to go to the Crown Court, the maximum rises to an unlimited fine and up to two years' imprisonment, or both.

The Act is enforced by local authority environmental health and Trading Standards officers, who have powers to enter and inspect premises, take samples, seize food, issue improvement notices, and prosecute.

3. Food hygiene regulations — day-to-day duties on businesses

The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 enforce the assimilated EU food hygiene framework in England. They implement the key requirements from assimilated Regulation (EC) 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, including:

• Registration: every food business must register with its local authority at least 28 days before opening, under Article 6(2) of the Regulation. Registration is free but failure to register is a criminal offence.
• HACCP: under Article 5, businesses must operate food safety management procedures based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles, identifying and controlling hazards at each stage of production, processing and distribution.
• Temperature control: chilled food must be kept at or below 8°C; hot food at or above 63°C, unless a specific exemption applies.
• Premises standards: food premises must be kept clean, in good repair, and designed to prevent contamination and pest access.

The General Food Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/3279) underpin the wider framework by enforcing in England the general principles set out in assimilated Regulation (EC) 178/2002 — the food law cornerstone that prohibits placing unsafe food on the market, bans misleading labelling or presentation, and requires food businesses to maintain traceability records.

4. Food information and allergen rules

The Food Information Regulations 2014 implement in England the labelling requirements of assimilated Regulation 1169/2011. Their most load-bearing requirement for consumers is mandatory allergen disclosure.

The 14 major allergens that must always be disclosed are: cereals containing gluten (including wheat, rye, barley and oats), crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, tree nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews and pistachios), celery, mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide and sulphites (above 10 parts per million), lupin, and molluscs. On pre-packed food, these must be emphasised within the ingredients list — by bold type, contrasting colour, underlining or capitals.

Natasha's Law — the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019, which came into force on 1 October 2021 — significantly extended these duties. Before that date, food pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS) — a sandwich made and wrapped in-store before a customer selects it, for example — could provide allergen information verbally. Since October 2021, all PPDS food must carry a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised, in the same way as fully pre-packed products. Equivalent regulations apply in Wales and Scotland. The change followed the death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse in 2016 from an allergic reaction to an unlabelled sesame ingredient in a pre-made baguette.

For food that is not pre-packed — loose food sold in a deli, a hot dish served in a restaurant, or items ordered from a menu — businesses must still make allergen information available, and staff must be able to provide it on request. The FSA's allergen guidance for food businesses sets out the practical requirements in detail.

The enforcement bodies: who does what

The Food Standards Agency

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is the government body responsible for food safety and food hygiene policy in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its objectives — to protect public health from food-related risks and protect consumers' interests — are set out in the Food Standards Act 1999.

The FSA directly regulates certain high-risk sectors, including approved meat, dairy and wine establishments. Outside those sectors, the FSA sets the policy framework, issues guidance to businesses, monitors local authority enforcement, and operates the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. It also publishes food alerts when a product presents a risk to public health, and is currently running a Future of Food Regulation programme looking at reforms including mandatory hygiene rating display in England and improvements to business registration.

Local authority environmental health teams

For the vast majority of food businesses — restaurants, cafés, takeaways, supermarkets, market stalls, mobile food vans — day-to-day enforcement falls to the environmental health department of the relevant local authority (district council, London borough, or unitary authority).

Environmental health officers (EHOs) have powers under the Food Safety Act 1990 and the food hygiene regulations to:

• inspect food premises without prior notice;
• take samples of food and have them analysed;
• issue an improvement notice requiring a business to remedy a specific hygiene failure within a set period;
• issue a prohibition order (via a magistrates' court) closing a premises or banning a person from working in food businesses;
• prosecute for criminal offences.

Trading Standards

Where the issue is misleading labelling, misdescription of ingredients, or false marketing of food — rather than hygiene — the relevant body is usually Trading Standards, also operating at local authority level. Consumers can report labelling or description concerns via Citizens Advice, which routes them to the appropriate Trading Standards team.

Food Hygiene Ratings: what they mean and how to check

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated jointly by the FSA and local authorities. After inspecting a food business, an EHO awards a rating from 0 to 5:

| Rating | What it means | |--------|--------------| | 5 | Very good | | 4 | Good | | 3 | Generally satisfactory | | 2 | Improvement necessary | | 1 | Major improvement required | | 0 | Urgent improvement required |

In Wales and Northern Ireland, displaying the rating sticker prominently at the entrance is a legal requirement. In England, display is voluntary — most eligible businesses do display their rating, but a meaningful minority do not, and a business choosing not to display is often, though not always, a sign of a lower score. The FSA has confirmed government funding to explore mandatory display in England through its Future of Food Regulation programme, but as at the date of this guide the change has not been legislated — check food.gov.uk for the current position. In all nations, ratings are publicly searchable free of charge, regardless of whether a sticker is displayed, at ratings.food.gov.uk.

A rating reflects the business's compliance at the time of its most recent inspection, not a continuous assessment. A highly rated business can deteriorate between inspections; a low-rated one may have already made improvements that have not yet been re-inspected.

Worked example: checking before you book

Priya, a fictional consumer, is choosing between two similarly priced restaurants for a birthday meal. She checks both on ratings.food.gov.uk. The first has a rating of 5, inspected four months ago. The second has no rating displayed on its door, but the same website shows a rating of 2 ("improvement necessary"), inspected eight months ago. The rating itself is not proof that the second restaurant is currently unsafe — food businesses can and do improve after a poor inspection — but it is a legitimate factor Priya can weigh, and she is entitled to check it regardless of what either restaurant displays on its door.

What to do when something goes wrong

Step 1: preserve the evidence

Before doing anything else, keep the product, its original packaging, any foreign object found in the food, and your proof of purchase (receipt, bank statement, online order confirmation). Photograph the issue. If the product is perishable, store it in a sealed bag in the fridge or freezer. Note the date, time, and place of purchase, and the batch or lot number if one appears on the packaging.

Evidence degrades fast with food complaints. Shops rarely keep their own records beyond the basics, and without the original product it becomes much harder to establish what was wrong.

Step 2: raise it with the retailer or restaurant first

Most issues — a mouldy product, wrong ingredients, a short-weight item — are resolved directly with the seller. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, food that is not of satisfactory quality entitles you to a refund. Be specific about what you found, what you want (refund or replacement), and give the business a reasonable opportunity to respond. Keep a written record of any communication.

Worked example. Tom, a fictional shopper, buys a pack of sealed chicken breasts with a use-by date of three days' time. On opening the pack the same evening, the meat smells strongly off and is visibly discoloured. He photographs the pack (unopened side), the date label, and the meat itself, then returns to the shop with the receipt and remaining product the next morning. Because the product fails to meet satisfactory quality under section 9 CRA 2015 and is well within the short-term right to reject, the retailer is obliged to offer a full refund — it does not need to establish exactly why the meat spoiled early, only that it was not of satisfactory quality when sold.

Step 3: report genuine safety or hygiene concerns to environmental health

If you suspect a hygiene or food safety problem — suspected food poisoning, pests seen at premises, dangerous storage practices, undeclared allergens — contact the environmental health team at the local council where the food business is based. You can find the right team via GOV.UK's local food safety team finder, or report directly via the FSA at food.gov.uk/contact/consumers/report-problem.

Environmental health investigate on a criminal basis: their remit is to identify public health risks and enforce the law, not to obtain a refund or compensation on your behalf. A successful investigation may result in an improvement notice, prosecution, or closure — but your financial remedy remains a separate matter between you and the seller.

For misleading labels or misdescription of food products, contact Citizens Advice (which refers to Trading Standards).

Step 4: see a GP if you have been unwell

For suspected food poisoning, see a doctor as soon as possible. This matters for two reasons: your health, and evidence. A medical record that documents your symptoms and links them to a likely source is the foundation of any future compensation claim. Without it, proving causation — that the food you ate at that specific business caused your illness — becomes substantially harder. GPs are also required to notify certain notifiable diseases (including salmonella and E. coli O157) to public health authorities, which can trigger a wider investigation.

Step 5: escalate if the seller will not engage

If the business refuses to refund or respond, your options include:

• Written complaint, giving a final deadline to resolve the matter;
• Chargeback, if you paid by debit or credit card — your card provider may be able to reverse the payment;
• Small Claims Court (apply online via GOV.UK), for claims up to £10,000 in England and Wales, where you can claim a refund or compensation without needing a solicitor;
• Personal injury specialist, if you suffered genuine harm — food poisoning, allergic reaction, injury from a foreign object — and wish to pursue compensation for losses such as medical costs or lost earnings.

A note on causation in food poisoning claims

Proving that a specific meal or product caused your illness is the central challenge in food poisoning cases. The difficulty is that many pathogens have incubation periods of 12 to 72 hours, so the meal responsible may not be the last one eaten. Civil courts require the claimant to prove causation on the balance of probabilities. The factors that most strengthen a claim are:

• a medical record confirming symptoms consistent with food poisoning;
• laboratory confirmation of a specific pathogen;
• evidence — from environmental health records, online reviews, or other affected customers — that others were similarly affected at the same premises or from the same product;
• receipts, bank records, or booking confirmations proving you ate at the specific premises.

Minor cases rarely justify the cost and effort of formal litigation. Serious illness causing lost earnings, hospitalisation, or lasting harm is a different matter; specialist legal advice at an early stage is the right approach — this is a good example of a situation that is fact-specific enough to be outside what any general guide can safely resolve for you.

Practical tips for consumers

• Use-by dates are food safety cut-offs; best-before dates are quality indicators. It is an offence for a retailer to sell food after its use-by date. Eating food past its best-before date is generally safe, though you may notice reduced quality.
• Check hygiene ratings before you eat out at ratings.food.gov.uk, whether or not the business displays a sticker. A rating of 0 or 1 means urgent or major improvement was needed at the last inspection.
• Loose and freshly prepared food in restaurants or deli counters must have allergen information available — ask staff before ordering if you have any allergy or intolerance. Do not assume something is safe because a similar dish was safe elsewhere.
• Licensed restaurants and bars must provide free potable water on request under the Licensing Act 2003 mandatory conditions. If you are refused, this is a breach of the premises licence.
• Food delivery apps do not change your legal rights — the business that prepared the food is the party responsible for its safety and quality, not the platform, though the platform's own refund process can still be worth using for a quick resolution.

This guide reflects the law in England and Wales as at August 2026. Food law is subject to change, particularly as UK domestic legislation continues to diverge from assimilated EU law and as the FSA's Future of Food Regulation programme develops. This content is provided for general information only and is not a substitute for legal advice on your specific circumstances.

Last reviewed: August 2026 · Next review due: August 2027 or on legislative change.