Tip of the Week
What to do in the event of a food poisoning complaint
We recommend that all alleged food poisoning incidents are referred to and dealt with by the Manager.
Only ever have one person liaising with your customer. All staff should be aware of your procedure.
When a complaint occurs, it is vital you act swiftly and professionally.
Follow the guidance and ask your customer the questions on the Food Safety Guru Incident Form. Importantly, gather the following information:-
- Customer’s name, mobile number and email address
- Date, time and what they ate at your venue
- Symptoms shown, start date and time and time symptoms ended (important to know duration of illness and to establish if there is an ongoing problem)
- Did anyone else in their party experience any symptoms (if so, what did they eat and what are their symptoms)
- Did they feel anything was wrong during their visit and what else did they eat on this day
Explain that you take their complaint very seriously and you will undertake a full investigation and come back to them within the next 72 hours.
To investigate:–
- Identify if any other similar complaints have been made. Also check your social media accounts to check there are no additional complaints
- Check all food safety records are in order and note any anomalies
- Identify if there were any problems with any of your procedures
- Contact Food Safety Guru to go through your findings
Alert
Investigate first – DO NOT ADMIT LIABILITY – Contact Food Safety Guru to go through your findings before going back to your customer
Weekly Food Fact
Did you know that 80% of communicable diseases are transferred by touch alone which means that they can be easily prevented by washing hands. Touching food, fridge handles, worksurfaces etc., with contaminated hands spreads foodborne illnesses such as Salmonella, E.Coli and diarrhoeal infection.
