Information for food businesses

If you run a food business or are thinking about starting one you need to make sure the food produced is safe to eat.

How the legislation affects you will depend on the size and type of your business.

There are a number of new regulations from the European Commission (EC), which apply directly to food business in the UK, and also new national legislation in England. You’ll find more information about the new regulations and what they mean for different food industry sectors by following the relevant link on the Food Standards Agency website.

Definition of a food business

A food business is any undertaking - whether carried out for profit or not, and whether public or private, involved in any of the following:

• Preparation of food
• Processing of food
• Manufacture of food
• Packaging of food
• Storage of food
• Transportation/distribution of food
• Handling of food
• Offering food for sale

All food businesses must be registered or approved.

Registered food businesses

You must complete and return the food registration form to the local authority at least 28 days before you begin trading. This allows Plymouth City Council to keep an up to date list of food premises in the area so they can contact or visit them as necessary. The frequency of visits depends on the type of business. Food registration is free of charge. If you have a mobile catering unit you must send the registration form to the local authority stating where the catering vehicle is stored overnight. Further information is available for mobiles on the mobile traders page.

Approved food premises

Food businesses that need to be approved are those that manufacture food containing meat or meat products, dairy products, fish or shellfish, such as:

• Minced meat
• Meat preparations
• Mechanically separated meat
• meat products
• Live bi-valve molluscs
• Fishery products
• Raw milk (other than raw cows milk)
• Dairy products
• Eggs (not primary production)
• Egg products
• Frogs legs and snails
• Rendered animal fats and greaves
• Treated stomachs, bladders and intestines
• Gelatine and collagen
• Certain cold stores
• Certain wholesale markets

There are some exemptions to these requirements for retail premises, therefore if a business owner believes their premises requires approval, in the first instance they should contact the Food Safety and Standards Team and ask to speak to an Environmental Health Officer to discuss the situation. If an officer is not available, a request for service will be generated and an Officer will usually make contact within five working days.

Following the initial discussion, it may be that approval is not required and that the usual food registration process is all that is required.

If the premises requires approval, an application form will need to be submitted to the Food Safety Standards Team.

Food hygiene training and education

The unit provides many of the courses offered by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) in the areas of food safety and health and safety. Course information can be found on the courses and training page.

Target completion time

Once we have received the completed application and associated supporting documents (if required) the target completion time is 21 days.

Will tacit consent apply?

Yes. This means that you will be able to act as though your application is granted if you have not heard from the local authority by the end of the target completion period.

Registration form [83KB]