With Easter approaching, people are asked to remain vigilant when purchasing festive foods, particularly confectionery that could contain banned or unauthorised ingredients.
Officers from Staffordshire County Council’s Trading Standards service want shoppers to be particularly cautious when buying food items from informal sellers such as social media platforms, pop-up shops or markets, or unverified online retailers.
The team are seeing an increasing number of food products with non-compliant labelling, those with missing allergen information and unauthorised ingredients, making them unsafe for consumers.
While many well-known and popular brands can be sold here legally, there are certain products that do not meet UK food labelling or safety requirements. This could span from missing traceability details or address information to having counterfeit and misleading branding that pretends to be well-known products.
Anthony Screen, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Resilience at Staffordshire County Council, said:
“Keeping people safe is our priority and we want families to enjoy Easter safely.
“These foods can look harmless, but many bypass essential checks that protect consumers. Products containing unauthorised ingredients or undeclared allergens can be extremely dangerous, especially for children or anyone with food allergies.
“If a food item does not have clear English labelling, including an ingredient list and allergen information, our advice is simple: do not buy it and do not eat it.”
To stay safe when shopping, officers have offered the following advice:
- Only buy food from reputable retailers or established online sellers.
- Check the packaging carefully. If the label is not in English or key information is missing, the product is unlikely to comply with UK law.
- Be wary of heavily discounted items or brands you do not recognise.
- Avoid food sold on social media, unless the seller is registered and clearly operating as a legitimate food business.
- Report suspicious products or sellers to Trading Standards
Anyone who wants to report dangerous products being sold in Staffordshire should do so by contacting Trading Standards Confidential on 01785 330356 or online at Trading Standards Report It.
