Business Advice

Food Safety Ratings

Businesses have a general duty not to undertake unfair trading practices under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (SI 2008 No.1277) (CPRs).

The CPRs aid in determining whether certain advertising and marketing practices are misleading, aggressive or lack due diligence.

In addition to this general duty, there are 31 business practices that are banned outright, such as displaying a quality mark without authorisation.

The aim of the CPRs is to provide a framework for determining whether certain practices are misleading, aggressive or lack due diligence on the basis that they would alter the behaviour of the average customer. In other words, if it can be determined that the customer made a purchase that they otherwise would not have done if they knew the full facts of the matter, then the business has engaged in unfair practices.

This covers engaging in misleading practices such as making false or deceptive statements in marketing material, or omitting important information that would have a bearing on the customer’s purchasing decision. For complete clarity this includes the display of a a false and outdated food safety rating. 

To see a related press item go to BBC News. 

Safety Alert: Water Beads

On the 20 September 2024, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) issued a Safety Alert to warn of the risks that water beads can pose to children and vulnerable adults. This follows action taken by OPSS to remove unsafe products from the market.

The Safety Alert advises that water beads should be kept away from young children, under 5 years of age, and only used with older children or vulnerable adults under close supervision.

Water beads are beads that can expand up to 400 times their original size when exposed to liquid. They are marketed for various purposes, including for use as toys, in crafting, as home decor or in floristry. They are sold under a variety of names including, but not limited to, jelly balls, water balls, sensory beads or water crystals.

When swallowed, water beads expand and can block the gastrointestinal passage which can then require surgery. The beads can also cause choking and have harmed children in the UK, with reports linking them to deaths overseas. Water beads can be difficult to detect and do not show up in x-ray.

Read the Safety Alert for water beads.

Read Product Safety Reports for specific water bead products where action has been taken.

Kings Speech 2024

"A Bill will be introduced to progressively increase the age at which people can buy cigarettes and impose limits on the sale and marketing of vapes [Tobacco and Vapes Bill]. My Ministers will also legislate to restrict advertising of junk food to children along with the sale of high caffeine energy drinks to children". 

E-Bikes and E-Scooters Fire Safety Advice

E-bikes and e-scooters are becoming increasingly popular. Most are powered by lithium-ion batteries which can be charged in the home. The use of these batteries in a wide range of household products is becoming increasingly common.

It is important when charging e-bikes and e-scooters, you do so safely to avoid a risk of a fire starting and putting your families and homes at risk.

With an increased use of e-bikes and e-scooters, comes a corresponding fire safety concern associated with their charging and storage. The use of these products is expected to continue to rise. Some fire services and fire investigators have seen a rise in e-bike and e-scooter battery fires.

Currently there is limited data relating to the number of fires, but London Fire Brigade reported 8 fires caused by e-bikes and e-scooters in 2019. This rose to twenty-four in 2020 and fifty-nine by December 2021.

On occasions batteries can fail catastrophically, they can ‘explode’ and/or lead to a rapidly developing fire. For media stories go to: BBC News and Sky News of the 27 July 2023 and the Chronicle of the 31 July 2023. 

For further information go to NFCC and to  access the OPSS safety poster (pdf 203 kb).  

Pricing Survey

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has now reviewed the way a range of grocery retailers displayed their prices in-store to assess whether they were clear, accurate and matched the price people were charged at the till.

The review looked at the price marking practices of 139 grocery stores in England and Wales, including supermarket chains, symbol convenience stores (small, independent retailers that operate under a symbol brand name), variety stores and independent food stores.

The CMA conducted on-site inspections and looked at a sample of products – such as fresh fruit and vegetables and products on promotion. During inspections at some stores, the CMA found examples where the retailer was displaying inaccurate prices or failed to display prices at all for certain products. Failing to provide clear and accurate pricing information for products on sale is a breach of consumer law.

Overall, the majority of issues were found at independent food stores and symbol convenience stores. The most common types of issues seen were missing prices, conflicting prices (instances where prices indicated on products conflicted with those shown on shelf edge labels) and prices not being displayed sufficiently close to products.

There were also issues with prices not being clearly legible, the selling price being obscured, and multibuy promotion labels that didn’t specify the price of the items individually.

The percentage of pricing errors found at each type of store were:

Supermarkets: 4.2%
Symbol convenience stores: 14.4%
Variety stores: 5.6%
Independent food stores: 7.8%
Overall, 60% of the errors resulted in a higher price being charged at the till. Further breakdowns by store type can be found in the report. For further detail go to CMA. To access a Poster (pdf 2.6 mb)

Proposed Ban on Wet Wipes

On the 22 April 2024 the Government will introduce new world-leading legislation to ban wet wipes containing plastic. Defra intend to bring forward the legislation for England ahead of summer recess, with Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales following by the autumn as part of an aligned approach to bring the ban into force.

Wet wipes containing plastic break down into microplastics over time, which research shows can be harmful to human health and disrupt our ecosystems – with a recent survey showing an average of 20 wet wipes were found per 100 metres of beach surveyed across the UK.

Once in our water environment, wet wipes containing plastic can accumulate biological and chemical pollutants, increasing the risk of harm to the animals and humans who encounter them. Banning them will reduce plastic and microplastic pollution and reduce the volume of microplastics entering wastewater treatment sites when wrongly flushed – meaning our beaches and waterways will benefit from the ban.

EU Exit

Updated guidance on the latest changes can be found on Gov.uk   

Illegal Activity

The job of the Trading Standards Service is to protect consumers and legitimate businesses in Newcastle upon Tyne. To do this we enforce government legislation, provide advice for businesses, deal with thousands of consumer complaints and business enquiries every year and investigate and prosecute offenders.

To report someone you suspect of selling illegal goods please:

• report illegal commercial activity online

We have over 8,000 business premises in Newcastle and these include farms, importers, multinational chains and independent start-ups. Before you get started on a new venture, or if you just want to make sure you're doing the right thing, Trading Standards can advise you on the legal requirements of compliance.

Guidance for businesses can be found at Business Companion which offers information on basics of the law, through to in-depth assistance. If you have a specific query, please contact us directly. 

Dealers in second-hand goods within Newcastle must register with the authority under the City of Newcastle upon Tyne Act 2000.

For more information on the work we do, please see our Business Service Plan page. 

Newsletter

The Trading Standards service with the aim of providing updates on our work, produces a newsletter twice a year. To access a copy of our newsletter go to High Standard (pdf 783 kb).

Contact

Trading Standards service, Directorate of City Operations, Neighbourhoods and Regulatory Services, Civic Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8QH. Email: tradingstandards@newcastle.gov.uk