If you are starting or running a business where you regularly produce, transport, handle or supply food or drink, you must register your business.
This includes any business that takes place in a domestic property, on a commercial site or on a voluntary basis. If you are a mobile catering business, you need to register with the Local Authority where your mobile unit is kept overnight.
How and when do I register?
- You must register at least 28 days before you start working with food
- You need to make sure that we have up to date information about your food business and tell us if your business changes its activities or closes
What is a Food Safety Management System?
If your business involves food, you must make sure any food is made safely and consistently. This means that you need to have a Food Safety Management System.
It’s an easy process. All you need to do is look for any areas in your business where there could be food safety problems. You then need to make sure you put steps in place to prevent them. It is important to keep records to prove that your system is working and to prove that the food you make is safe for people to eat.
The Food Standards Agency has put together a simple pack to help you. Click here: Safer Food Better Business. It explains how to spot the main food safety hazards in your food business and how to control them. It also includes a diary to help you keep good records.
Do I need food premises approval?
You must get register with us first and then get food premises approval if your business:
- Stores, prepares, distributes or sells food on premises
- Makes foods from raw (unprocessed) ingredients like raw meat, unpasteurised milk or raw fish
You don’t need food premises approval if:
- You are just handling food for friends and family
- If you are just running a one-off event
- You are carrying out a low risk activity on a small scale (for example cake making on less than 12 occasions each year)