If you are thinking of starting a food business must
- register at GOV.UK
- contact us to discuss how you intend to operate and what you are going to sell
You can find out on our latest Coronavirus information for food businesses.
When we carry out your first inspection, we will give your business:
- a risk rating
- a food hygiene rating
The risk rating is based on scores in:
- the size of the production
- the number of customers served and how vulnerable they are
- the standards of repair, cleanliness, and food hygiene
- the history of compliance with the law
If you are given a high risk rating you are more likely to be inspected on a regular basis.
When will we visit?
Following government advice, we have restricted our food hygiene visits at the moment.
if you are starting a food business, you should register it first online at GOV.UK.
Once you have registered your food business, you should contact our Food Safety team to discuss the next steps.
The time between inspections can vary between six months and three years.
We will not make an appointment and may visit outside normal office hours. It is a criminal offence not to let us into your business, this will result in a fine or conviction.
During the inspection we will:
- show you a proof of identification
- talk to you and your staff about training
- looks at your records for temperature, cleaning and pest control
- look at food safety management
- look at how you work
- look at your equipment
- take hot and cold temperature using a thermometer
We may:
- take food away for further inspection
- close down the premises
- take legal action
After the inspection
We will discuss what has been found during the inspection and give you a report to read.
It will detail any problems found and what you can do to fix them. If it is very serious you will be sent a letter telling you what needs to be done.
If you do not carry out work to fix your problems, we will issue you with a hygiene improvement notice.
You must complete the work listed in the hygiene improvement notice, if you do not we will take legal action.
We will work with you to agree on a reasonable timescale. If you cannot make the changes within the timescale agreed, you must contact us.