Registration and approval

Most food businesses must register with their local authority at least 28 days before they start trading. Registration is free. It applies to restaurants, cafés, takeaways, shops, caterers, food stalls and mobile vans. It also applies to people who run a food business from home or sell food online.

If you take over an existing business, you must register as the new operator. Each premises needs its own registration. A mobile food van is registered with the local authority where it is normally kept overnight. Tell the authority when something important changes, such as the operator, the address or the type of food activity.

Registration is not a licence and it is not a sign of good standards. It tells the authority that you exist, so that officers can plan an inspection. A registered business can still be found to be unsafe.

Some businesses need approval. Approval applies to establishments that handle food of animal origin, such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products, and supply it to other businesses. Such a site must be approved before it starts this work. Slaughterhouses, cutting plants and game handling establishments are approved by the FSA, or by FSS in Scotland. Most other approved sites, such as meat product makers, fish processors and dairies, are approved by the local authority.

Shops and caterers that sell directly to the final consumer normally need registration only. Some small local supply to other businesses can be exempt from approval. The rules are detailed, so ask your local authority before you start. Approved sites must put an identification mark on their products. The mark shows the approval number of the site.

Think about a butcher who makes sausages for the shop counter. This normally needs registration only. If the butcher starts to supply sausages to a chain of pubs across the region, approval may be needed. Discuss a change like this with the local authority first.