Starting a food business

Starting a new food business

The below summary should help any new food business owner get started.

The food business operator must first register with their local authority (council).
This should be done 28 days before opening. There is no fee and can be completed online by clicking here.

The owner, manager and staff must be appropriately trained for their roles.

Most staff will require training to a level 2 standard. We offer both classroom and online courses.
See our training courses.

Structural and practical issues in setting up your new food business

The premises you use to run your food business may be your home kitchen, a mobile unit or commercial kitchen. Each must satisfy the requirements set out in Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004.

The below list is a general summary to prompt you on what you must do to comply with these regulations. It is not meant as a full interpretation of the law.

General requirements

You must have access to an adequate number of flush lavatories.
Toilets must not open directly into a food room.
You must have a hand wash basin designated for such use.
Hand soap, hot water and a means of drying hands are required.
Both WC and kitchen must have adequate ventillation (mechanical or natural).
Lighting must be sufficient.
Adequate drainage and means to dispose waste, including oil, safely.
A seperate area must be available for staff to keep outdoor clothing.
Cleaning chemicals must be stored seperate to food.

Room where food is prepared, treated or processed

Floors and walls must be of impervious material and therefore easy to clean. They must also be kept in good condition.
Ceilings must be constructed and finished to prevent dirt and mould from building up and the shredding of particles.
Windows and doors must be well fitted, easy to clean and where necessary fitted with insect screens.
Surfaces (including equipment) must be maintained in a sound condition and easy to clean and disinfect. This means they must be made of materials that are non absorbant, smooth, and washable.
You must have seperate adequate facilities, where necessary, for washing food and equipment.
Vehicles and/or containers used to transport foods must be kept clean and maintained in good repair and condition.
Equipment must be constructed of appropriate materials as to minimise the risk of contamination and allow effective cleaning and disinfecting, including the surrounding area.
Food waste must be kept in lidded containers and removed from food rooms as quickly as possible. All waste must be disposed of according to EC legislation.
The water supply must be of potable (drinking water) quality.

Personal hygiene

People working with food must maintain a high level of personal hygiene, wear suitable protective clothing and tell their employer if suffering from illness or symptoms of food poisoning.
Anyone suffering from diarrhoea, whom has infected wounds, skin infection or sores or are suffering from or carrying a disease likely to be transmitted through food must not handle food or enter a food handling area.

Food Safety

You must have adequate, written, food safety procedures in place to control the levels of bacteria in food.
You must not accept raw materials or ingredients if known or reasonably expected to be unfit.
You must store food as to protect it from contamination.
At all stages of production, processing and distribution you must protect food from contamination.
You must have adequate procedures to control pests and pets (where applicable) contaminating food.
Unfit food must be appropriately labelled and stored.
Any wrapping or packing of food must not be a source of contamination.

Temperature control

You must not keep foods at a temperature that might cause a risk to health.
Cold food must be kept at 8 degrees c or below.
Hot food must be kept hot at 63 degrees c or above.
When serving or displaying food it may (if necessary) be kept out of temperature control for a single limited time of 4 hours for cold food and two hours for hot food.
Defrosting must be undertaken in a way that minimises the risk of harmful bacteria growing.

Training

Staff must be adequately supervised, instrcuted and / or trained in food safety appropriate to their duties.
The person or people responsible for developing or maintaining the food safety management system must be adequately trained to do this.

Movable and temporary premises

Different requirements apply to premises such as market stalls, mobile vans vending machines and food made in peoples homes.

Premises and vending machines are, so far as is reasonably practicable, to be so sited, designed, constructed and kept clean and maintained in good repair and condition as to avoid the risk of contamination, in particular by animals
and pests.
In particular, where necessary:
Appropriate facilities are to be available to maintain adequate personal hygiene
Surfaces in contact with food are to be in a sound condition and be easy to clean and, where necessary, to disinfect.
Adequate provision is to be made for the cleaning and, where necessary, disinfecting of working utensils and
equipment;

Where foodstuffs are cleaned as part of the food business’ operations, adequate provision is to be made for this to
be undertaken hygienically;
An adequate supply of hot and/or cold potable water is to be available;
Adequate arrangements and/or facilities for the hygienic storage and disposal of
waste;
Adequate facilities and/or arrangements for maintaining and monitoring suitable food temperature conditions are
to be available;
Foodstuffs are to be so placed as to avoid the risk of contamination.

Action points:

Use the above as a checklist to ensure you have addressed each of the requirements.

Make an appointment for our qualified food officer to come and advise you on how to comply with the law and obtain a 5 star hygiene rating.

Train your staff. Book now.

Put in place a food safety management system based on HACCP. Find out more.

A full copy of the regulation the checklist is based upon can be found here.