Odour Control

Taking away the Takeaway Smells

By plasma-cleanair

taking-away-the-takeaway-smells

“Have you ever lived near a fast food take away, restaurant or chippy? How did you cope with the daily bombardment to your senses?”

This question was posted on a very famous internet forum for mums this year.

And it’s not unusual.

Questions like this are cropping up on blogs and local forums all the time from concerned residents who live near takeaways, chippies, restaurants and pubs.

The Nuisance of Unwanted Smells

For many local residents, it’s a daily issue, and one they are no longer willing to put up with.

We’ve seen an overall increase in the number of complaints being made to councils about uncontrolled odour; and according to Sheffield County Council: “The majority of the smell complaints we receive are about hot food takeaway premises.”

We’ve also seen the number of objections increase when it comes to new planning projects for takeaways and other establishments which operate commercial kitchens. When a local newspaper in Worcester informed residents that a takeaway restaurant was being introduced to their area the responses were not positive!

“The smell of such an establishment will be overwhelming and spoil the fresh air we have enjoyed for more than 40 years.”

“We want shops which close at shop times. We don’t want smells … (and the) …real risk that nuisance could be caused to neighbouring residents from cooking smells within the takeaway.”

Today’s newspapers may be tomorrow’s chip wrappings, but takeaways want to be in the news for the right reasons.

Dealing with smells

With increased awareness of smell as a nuisance, EHOs and local councils are taking action.

In some cases, dealing with the issue at the planning stage by giving advice on the best air handling and other equipment to use and the best ways in which to build a flue to disperse the cooking smells. In other cases they are taking action when a takeaway is in operation

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local councils have a responsibility to investigate all complaints about odour.

If the problem is being produced by a local business or industry, then the Environmental Health team will determine whether the smell constitutes a Statutory Nuisance under the Act and whether they need to offer advice on good practices for minimising the odours or impose regulatory sanctions.

If any area of operations is found not to be conforming to guidelines and is causing a nuisance, the takeaway can be made to cease operation.

Keeping up with the Law

The best way to keep up with the law is to conform to the guidelines.

Defra 2005 (and 2010) guidelines are very clear and provide detailed information on the requirements for the control of odour and noise.

The primary goal of the Defra guidelines is to make sure that the ventilation systems will not cause complaints from neighbouring properties.

The guidelines give details on best practice and aims to ensure that commercial kitchens and proposed developments have adequate ventilation systems. They explain in detail the key elements of a good extraction and ventilation system in all types of premises where hot food is prepared.

If you are planning new catering premises and you have an architect or agent, it’s wise to study this guidance so that the necessary details can be built into your plans.

Take away smells and keeping in line with DEFRA Guidelines

There are simple solutions available to help keep up with the guidelines and prevent unwelcome kitchen odours. So for today’s takeaway, there is almost no excuse for being a nuisance.

The range of solutions offered by Plasma Clean are specifically designed to help commercial kitchens keep in line with Defra Guidelines. They also have the positive impact of controlling grease and smoke as well:

Solutions include:

All of these products are supplied by Plasma Clean. See our full range HERE

We are always willing to work with contractors, specifiers and planners to make sure that any project complies with all the guidelines. And that local residents aren’t reaching for the pens and the placards when a new project is announced.

To find out more about how we can make sure your kitchens meet DEFRA guidelines and to cut down on nuisance noise and smells see our guide to Take Away Smells.

Or download our Six Simple Steps to Clean Air.