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A food business is any business that:

• sells food
• cooks food
• stores or handles food
• prepares food
• distributes food

Your responsibilities as a food business

If your business deals in food, you must:

• make sure food is safe
• register with your local authority
• train all your staff and make sure they follow good personal hygiene practices
• have a system for managing food safety
• manage the risk of food allergies
• manage the risk of all chemical and physical hazards to food
• manage the risk of microbiological hazards in ready-to-eat food
• make sure you do not add, remove or treat food in a way that makes it harmful
• label, advertise and market food accurately - do not mislead people about the quality, ingredients or processes used
• keep records of your suppliers and every business you supply - these are known as traceability records
• withdraw or recall unsafe food, report the incident and tell people why the food has been withdrawn or recalled
• only use approved additives and do not exceed the maximum permitted level
• check whether you need to

Register with your local authority

You must register with your local authority wherever you trade from, including your home, a van or a stall. You might need to register if you are a charity or community group that distributes food.

Food safety inspections and ratings

Your food business will be inspected regularly to make sure you comply with food safety laws. You’ll be given a food hygiene rating based on the inspection.

In Wales and Northern Ireland it’s mandatory to display your rating sticker so it’s clearly visible to customers. This is voluntary in England.

Staff training

You must be able to show that your staff have the right skills and up-to-date training for their role.

Keep a record of any training staff have completed so you can show this during an inspection.

Skills can be learned through:

• courses provided or recommended by your local authority
• training on the job
• self-study
• relevant previous experience

Food handlers do not have to hold a food hygiene certificate. If you want one, ask your local authority for information.

The Food Standards Agency provides free to help staff understand the cause of food safety incidents and prevent them.

Personal hygiene

You must make sure staff wear suitable, clean, protective clothing.

When preparing or handling food, staff should:

• keep hair tied back and wear a suitable head covering such as a hat or hair net
• not wear watches or jewellery, except a plain wedding band
• not touch their face or hair
• not smoke, spit, sneeze, eat or chew gum

Make a plan to ensure personal hygiene using the ‘Safer food, better business’ (SFBB) guidance or the ‘Safe catering’ standards, if you’re in Northern Ireland.

Handwashing

Washing your hands properly helps prevent harmful bacteria from spreading. Anyone who works with food must wash their hands:

• before preparing food
• after touching raw food
• after handling food waste or emptying a bin
• after cleaning
• after blowing their nose or touching their face or hair
• after touching phones, light switches, door handles and cash registers
• after going to the toilet

Staff illness

Staff must tell their manager if they are not feeling well.

They must not handle food or enter the food handling area if they have any of the following:

• diarrhoea
• vomiting
• infected wounds or sores
• stomach pain, nausea, fever, or jaundice
• infected skin, nose or throat
• any other disease likely to be transmitted through food

Staff must also tell their manager if anyone they live with has diarrhoea or vomiting. They must avoid handling food if there’s any chance they’re carrying an illness.

Learn about your .

When your staff are ill

If you find out people have worked while ill, clean effectively to stop the illness spreading. Pay close attention to the areas they have come into contact with.

Most staff will be entitled to statutory sick pay. If you penalise staff for being ill, they might work while sick and this could lead to food safety problems.

Returning to work

After illness, you could use a fitness to work questionnaire to check if it’s safe for staff to return to work.

Staff with diarrhoea or vomiting must not return to work until they have had no symptoms for 48 hours.

Check the UK Health Security Agency’s guidance on managing gastrointestinal infections.

You must manage food allergies when preparing and selling food. This includes providing accurate information, avoiding cross-contamination and appropriately training staff.

The allergens you must manage are:

• celery
• cereals containing gluten - including wheat, rye, barley and oats
• crustaceans - including prawns, crab and lobster
• eggs
• fish
• lupin
• milk
• molluscs - including squid, mussels, cockles, whelks and snails
• mustard
• nuts
• peanuts
• sesame seeds
• soya beans
• sulphur dioxide or sulphites at levels above 10mg per kilogram or per litre

Allergen information

You must be able to provide accurate information about allergens. This is a legal requirement.

You should keep written allergen information and put procedures in place to:

• update allergen information whenever recipes or ingredients change
• make sure all staff know about recipe changes
• make sure kitchen staff know when someone has ordered a meal without an allergen
• always serve food to the correct customer

You should have a process for giving customers accurate allergen information, including how staff should:

• respond to allergen questions
• check allergen information is accurate before answering
• check if they’re unsure

Avoiding cross-contamination

You must prevent allergen cross-contamination.

As well as general food hygiene procedures to avoid cross-contamination, you should also have procedures in place to:

• check deliveries to make sure everything is the same as what you ordered
• store and label all ingredients to avoid cross-contamination
• deal with spillages of one ingredient into another ingredient

You can use the allergen checklist for food businesses.

Staff training

You should make sure all staff are given appropriate training to manage allergens in their role.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) provides .

Additional guidance

Check the FSA’s additional allergen guidance for food businesses.

There is also guidance on:

• food labelling and allergies
• food that is prepacked for direct sale (PPDS)

Use a reputable supplier to make sure the products you buy have been stored, processed, handled and transported safely.

When food is delivered, check that:

• chilled and frozen food is cold enough
• the packaging is not damaged
• it is what you ordered

If you think food has not been handled safely or is poor quality, do not use it. Contact your supplier straight away.

You must keep traceability records to help track food through the supply chain. These allow for quick withdrawal or recall of unsafe food. Your records must include:

• the name and address of every supplier
• the name and address of every business you supply
• the type and quantity of products
• the dates of each transaction and delivery

Keep all records up to date and available for inspection at all times.

You can be inspected by your local council at any point in the food production and distribution process. All inspectors must follow the Food Law Code of Practice. Usually, you will not be told an inspection is going to happen.

How often you’re inspected depends on the risk your business poses to public health. You might not be inspected as often if you’re a member of a recognised assurance scheme. You can search for a registered assurance scheme online.

If you’re a food retailer or caterer you’ll be inspected regularly to make sure you comply with food safety laws. Check the guidance for caterers and guidance for food retailers.

What will be checked

The inspector will check:

• how hygienically the food is handled - how it’s prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored
• the physical condition of your business - including cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation, pest control and other facilities
• the processes, training and systems you use to make sure good hygiene is maintained

Food samples can be taken as well as photographed.

After the inspection

You’ll be told in writing what your food hygiene rating is and why you were given this rating. This will be either at the time of inspection or within 14 days.

If you’re given a low rating, the letter will confirm any improvements you need to make and by when.

For serious food safety problems you may be sent a ‘notice’. Your business will be revisited to make sure you have followed the improvements in the notice. Example notices include a:

• Hygiene Improvement Notice
• Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notices - banning you from using certain equipment or following certain processes

Appeals

If you think your rating is wrong, you can publish a response, submit an appeal or request a ‘re-rating inspection’.