Food premises inspections

Knowsley Council has a legal duty to enforce food safety laws. We can inspect most food premises without making an appointment or giving advance notice.

During an inspection, our officers will consider

• Whether your premises meet the structural requirements of food safety law, such as cleanliness, adequate facilities, maintenance, and pest control arrangements.
• Food handling practices.
• How you manage food safety risks.

Our officers have the right to

• Inspect and take copies of documents.
• Take photographs and samples for analysis.
• Carry out other investigations.
• Speak to staff and request information.

After an inspection, we will send you a written report of our findings. If your business is part of the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, you will also get a sticker showing your rating score.

Action we can take

If we find that your food business is not meeting food safety standards, we may take action to protect the public, this could include:

• Writing to you to outline the problems and ask you to fix them.
• Serving you with a formal legal notice that sets out things you must do by a certain date.
• Preventing you from using certain processes, premises, or equipment if we believe your business is posing an imminent risk to health.
• Recommending a prosecution in serious cases.