Food poisoning or spoiled food at a restaurant in Peru: who do you complain to?

Two different authorities, not one

If you got food poisoning or were served spoiled food at a restaurant in Peru, the law splits responsibility between two laws that don’t cross-reference each other: Ley N.º 29571 (Consumer Protection Code) holds the restaurant responsible to you as a consumer, and Ley N.º 27972 (Organic Law of Municipalities) together with Ley N.º 26842 (General Health Law) split sanitary oversight of the venue between your district municipality and the national-level health authority.

The restaurant is responsible for what it sold you

Article 30 of Ley N.º 29571 is direct: “Los consumidores tienen derecho a consumir alimentos inocuos. Los proveedores son responsables de la inocuidad de los alimentos que ofrecen en el mercado, de conformidad con la legislación sanitaria” (consumers have the right to safe food; providers are responsible for the safety of the food they offer, in accordance with sanitary legislation). This doesn’t depend on whether the restaurant’s permits are in order — article 18 clarifies that state authorizations to operate don’t exempt the provider from liability to the consumer.

The municipality controls the venue’s hygiene

Article 80, numeral 3.2 of Ley N.º 27972 gives each district municipality the function of “regular y controlar el aseo, higiene y salubridad en los establecimientos comerciales” (regulating and controlling cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in commercial establishments). Numeral 3.5 of the same article empowers it to “expedir carnés de sanidad” (issue health cards). That numeral does not say who the card is issued to or what it certifies, and requiring it of food handlers is disputed: see restaurant business obligations. If the problem is the venue’s hygiene itself (a dirty kitchen, pests), this is the direct channel.

The national authority sets standards above both

Article 92 of Ley N.º 26842 assigns “la Autoridad de Salud de nivel nacional” (the national-level health authority) sanitary control of food and beverages. Article 90 of the same law strictly bans selling “alimentos y bebidas alterados, contaminados, adulterados o falsificados” (altered, contaminated, adulterated or counterfeit food and beverages). This law doesn’t name DIGESA, and this site hasn’t confirmed the regulation assigning it that specific function from an official source — if you need the exact agency name for a procedure, confirm it directly with your municipality or Minsa.

What to do

1. Take care of your health first: if you have symptoms, get medical attention and keep any report.
2. Save evidence: photos of the dish, your receipt with date and time, and a description of your symptoms.
3. Log it in the restaurant’s complaints book (15 business days, non-extendable, to respond).
4. Report the venue’s hygiene to your district municipality, which regulates and controls hygiene in commercial establishments.
5. Complain to Indecopi over food safety and idoneidad, with your evidence and the complaints-book record.

This page doesn’t cover a foreign object in the food, a wrong order, or an excessive delay with no harm to your health — those are a general idoneidad problem, covered on another page of this site.