Restaurants and catering

what

What is registration?

Registration of premises used for a food business (including market stalls, delivery vehicles and other movable structures) is required by law. Registration will allow local authorities to keep an up-to date list of all those premises in their area and enable them to visit them when they need to. The frequency of the visits will depend on the type of business. There is also a public register held in the Environmental Health Department.

who

Who needs to register?

If you run a food business for more than 5 days in any 5 consecutive weeks, you must tell (or arrange for someone else to tell) the local authority about any premises you use for storing, selling, distributing or preparing food. Food premises includes restaurants, hotels, cafés, shops, supermarkets, staff canteens, kitchens in offices, warehouses, guest houses, delivery vehicles, buffets cars on trains, market and other stalls, hot dog and ice cream vans etc.

If you use vehicles for your food business in connection with permanent premises such as a shop or warehouse you only need to tell the local authority how many vehicles you have. You do not need to register each vehicle separately. If you have one or more vehicles but no permanent premises, you must tell the authority where they are normally kept.

Anyone starting a new food business must register with the local authority at least 28 days before doing so.

exempt

Exemptions

The majority of premises will have to be registered. However, certain premises are exempt from registration e.g. Some which are already registered for food law purposes, certain agricultural premises, motor cars, tents and marquees (but not stalls), some domestic premises and some village halls. You should contact you local authority if you think you might be exempt.

how

How do I register?

By filling in the registration form available to download below. Registration cannot be refused and there is no charge. If you use premises in more than one local authority area, you must register with each authority separately.

formApplication form for the submission of food premise registrations. The document also provides a guideline for registration regulations.

home

Home catering

This guidance is intended for anyone who intends to run a food business from his or her own home. This might include preparing food at home to sell in a shop or from a market, selling to other businesses, a sandwich round business, or even full scale catering. It is becoming increasingly popular to start and run a business from your own home, but when food is involved this can present a whole range of new problems which many people do not properly consider when starting out.

The Food Standards Agency starter's guide (This link will open in a new window) gives advice about running a catering business.

What you need to do

If a home-based business is going to operate successfully and safely then you will need to take account of the following points:

  • Registration
    Your home may well have to be registered with the Council as a food business. This is free and there is only one simple form to fill in, but it is a legal requirement and you can be prosecuted if you do not register before starting. Contact the Environmental Health team for the form, or use the link above. The form must be returned to us 28 days before you begin trading.
  • Planning permission
    You may need planning permission to run a business from home, so take advice from the Council's Planning Department. Approval of the proposals by this department does not constitute planning permission.
  • Business rates
    You may have to pay increased rates if you use part of your property for a business. You should take advice from the Council's Tax and Business Rates Department.
  • Insurance
    Just in case things go wrong, you are strongly advised to take out insurance to cover claims against you. You should consult your Solicitor about this.
  • Restrictive covenants
    Especially in older properties, you may find that the deeds contain clauses that prevent you from carrying out certain activities and running a food business may be one of them. You should consult your Solicitor about this.
  • Mortgage instructions
    If you have a mortgage on your property, you must contact your lender to talk to them about your intentions.
  • The Law
    The laws on food safety apply just the same to a business run from home as they do to all other commercial premises. You will be liable to periodic inspections by officers from this Department and you may face legal action if you are found to be breaking the food hygiene laws. This also applies if you use a kitchen somewhere else to prepare food (e.g. a village hall kitchen) and the kitchen or your own hygienic practices, fail to meet the proper standards. You might wish to contact one of our Environmental Health Officers and your Solicitor about the legal aspects and the problems you could face.
  • Your kitchen
    In general, your Environmental Health Officers recommend that any business which intends to prepare food in anything more than very small quantities should be operating from properly designed and equipped commercial premises and not from an ordinary domestic kitchen.

We advise that the following matters should be attended to prior to commencing your business from home.

  1. Your kitchen and any associated food stores and vehicles are required to comply with the provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990, the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995 and the Food Safety (Temperature Control) Regulations 1995. This is extremely difficult to achieve in domestic kitchens because they are primarily not equipped for commercial food operations and may also on occasions be used for practices such as feeding pets, washing dirty clothes etc that would be considered to be unacceptable in any commercial food premises. The control and prevention of contamination of foodstuffs is therefore much more difficult to achieve.
  2. Operating any type of food business from home must therefore only be seen as a short term arrangement and consideration must be given to acquiring commercial premises if it is your intention to expand your business.
  3. The kitchen must be thoroughly cleaned and any surfaces with which food comes into contact with must be disinfected prior to being used.
  4. Suitable and sufficient storage including refrigerated storage must be provided. Food stored in refrigerators must not exceed 8° Centigrade and must not be exposed to a risk of contamination i.e. cooked foods must be stored above raw foods.
  5. One sink will generally not be sufficient for washing food and equipment. Separate sinks should be provided, alternatively dish washing machines may be utilised.
  6. Domestic kitchens are not usually fitted with wash hand basins. However this is a major requirement of the above regulations. Arrangements must therefore be made that will enable food handlers to wash their hands before and most importantly when handling food. Sinks must not be used for this purpose.
  7. All possible sources of contamination must be removed from the kitchen prior to it being used for food preparation. Pets must be excluded from the kitchen and normal routine activities such as washing clothes must not be carried at such times. Persons must not smoke in the kitchen and at any other time when handling food.
  8. It is extremely important when transporting food that it is protected from any risk of contamination and is maintained at a temperature which is less than 8° Centigrade in order to control the growth of food poisoning bacteria.
  9. A major requirement of the above legislation is that food proprietors carry out a 'hazard analysis' of their business to highlight where the potential risks are likely to occur and more importantly how to control them. From 1st January 2006 it will be a legal requirement to a documented.
  10. Anyone who handles open high-risk foods or works in a business will require a Foundation certificate in Food Hygiene. South Cambridgeshire provides these courses on a regular basis.

It is important that you give the above matters your utmost attention and that you contact us again before operating your food business. If you require any further information do not hesitate to contact the food safety team.


foodBusiness

Setting up a food business

If you are in the process of setting up a food business our officers are always available to provide advice on food safety requirements and the health and safety steps you should be following.

New Business Pack

This information pack is designed to help if you are intending to start a food business. It contains various leaflets, which cover the essential information you need to understand about the legal requirements for food businesses regarding food hygiene and health and safety.

The Safe Food Scheme

This information booklet is designed to help if you are currently operating a food business or intend to start one. It outlines legal requirements and helps you to understand the legal requirement of hazard analysis.

Please contact the Environmental Health team if you would like to receive either of these information packs.

Alternatively there is plenty of information available from various food agencies. You may find some of the following links useful:

Other useful Food Safety publications from the Food Standards Agency


The HSE small business start up guide (This link will open in a new window) - All employers, including the self-employed have duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, to ensure their workplace is safe. They need to develop good working practices and prevent accidents and work-related ill health from happening. This page brings together information particularly relevant and of interest to new small businesses. HSE can provide you with information and advice on improving health and safety in your business.

HSE index of health and safety guidance for the food industry (This link will open in a new window) - This is an index to the main guidance appropriate or specific to the food industry. It has been categorised under headings which cover the significant risks, which cause around 80% of reported injuries and ill health to those in the food industry, together with health and safety management.