Hi Stuart
God its ironic Im an EHO trying to get out of maybe into finance and youre looking to get into it!! TBH I wasnt into the course itself did BSc in Manchester and should have changed but thats another story..
In brief you ideally would need to do a BSc in Environmental Health and complete a log book, in the North and England its accredited to the CIEH. Speaking from experience this is the biggest money spinner and waste of time, but unfort in order to go into food safety in both places you need to complete it. Depends on what your area of interest is. I did my placement in the North and had enough of working for free for 6mths and decided not to complete it and worked in the South for over 3yrs and it hasnt held me back, Im now in Dubai working for an airline catering company in the hygiene dept. you need to complete it for the South also but its not as demanding which is good and the EHOs are more helpful they actually spend time helping to complete it woth you, again this is from experience.
Im not exactly sure where you are based, on the border counties etc. If I were you I'd contact your regional health boards and ask to speak to the Principal EHO's I know in the North due to lack of EHO's coming out of colleges they have opened up their doors to EH technicians with a view to doing your log book etc and a fully fledged EHO. This may be the more viable option if they dont accept your current qualification. From experience the councils in the North tend to have an air of snobbery, for some reason thats beyond comprehesion, about them I found the South a more relaxed and younger environment.
I hope this may provide some light for you but definately contact the councils and health boards they should be able to shed more light on their entry requirements.
As for the job itself you do get out and about a good bit, Im more food safety, at the start Im sure most proprietors cant see you far enough but once you've been in a district a while you do build a relationship with most, some will always be complete spanners but thats everywhere, and for me i always liked to have a bit of a chat with them, depends on your personality I do think you have to be in some form personable otherwise you'll hit a brick wall, which is fair enough I'd be the same.
I really do hope this has helped and you see the light at the end of the tunnel for you. Fair played to taking the step I hope it all works out.