For those of you old enough to remember it, Trading Standards used to be called ‘Weights and Measures’.
Trading Standards Officers are employed by individual Councils to enforce Consumer Protection legislation. In this regard, they have a large role to play in Environmental Health, Health & Safety and Licensing enforcement.
This department is the lead enforcement agency for the Licensing Objective around ‘The Protection of Children from Harm.’
They are extremely efficient and professional in what they do, especially around counterfeit and non-duty paid cigarette investigations. They are highly proficient in intelligence gathering, surveillance, undercover and test purchase operations.
They like to pay house-calls on local businesses, usually unannounced, and often turn up with many of their friends from other enforcement agencies, in what are called a ‘Multi-Agency Premises Inspections’ (see Page 6). They will take numerous photographs and usually leave with lots of souvenirs of their visit.
Trading Standards will also visit to test your products unannounced. They will not disclose who they are initially and order various products. They will be looking to ensure that correct measures are being dispensed to the customer, that the product dispensed is the genuine product and that the product has not been diluted – otherwise known as “Tipping”
They may also look at the products described on your menu are the same as the products being used in the kitchen, for example “Whole Scampi” listed on the menu, but “Formed Scampi” is substituted and served.
☝️ In summary: They are impressive people, so do NOT upset them.