Food safety

Our environmental health team is responsible for enforcing food safety in approximately 2,000 businesses operating in the Portsmouth city area.

As soon as you register a business with us you will receive an acknowledgement, and can begin to trade.

What we do

We inspect a wide variety of premises including restaurants, takeaways, pubs, hotels, home and outdoor caterers, and food manufacturers.

As well as enforcing food safety legislation, our officers encourage maintenance of satisfactory food standards. We offer technical advice to existing and prospective food business operators, along with food samples. We also provide information and access to training on food hygiene and labelling matters.

Information on our food business inspections within the city is available on the Food Standards Agency’s Food Hygiene Ratings website where you can see the hygiene score of premises within Portsmouth.

The environmental health business support team will investigate complaints relating to food and the conditions found within food premises in the Portsmouth City area. This includes food imported/exported through Portsmouth’s Port. The team also deals with:

Reports of infectious diseases with partners, the NHS and Public Health England (whether food borne or not)
The testing of seawater around the city’s beaches for contamination, including local shellfish beds in Portsmouth and Langstone Harbour. Visit the Food Standards Agency site for the latest biotoxin monitoring results.
The sampling and testing of animal feed, and the inspection of animal feed businesses within the city

Download Portsmouth City Council’s food service plan

Further information can be found on the Food Standards Agency website.