Hygiene for food businesses

Food businesses must register with their local council and comply with food law.

Food business registration

You must register your business with the environmental health service (EHS) at your local council at least 28 days before opening. Food operations include:

• selling food
• cooking food
• preparing food
• distributing food
• storing food
• handling food

You may also need to have your business approved if you supply another business with:

• meat and meat products
• eggs
• milk and dairy products
• fish and fish products

For information on how to register, contact the EHS at your local council. They can also advise you on the food hygiene law, and how it applies to your business in practice.

Food hygiene and safety inspections

Food safety enforcement officers from your local council will inspect your business to make sure you are complying with food hygiene law. Inspections are usually unannounced.

Where necessary, inspectors can take enforcement action to protect public health, including:

• serving a legal notice that sets out actions you must take, or forbidding you from using certain processes, premises or equipment
• recommending prosecution, in serious cases

Find out what to expect from a food safety inspection.

Food hygiene regulations

Food hygiene regulations set out requirements covering all aspects of your business. You must make sure that:

• your establishments meet hygiene standards
• staff follow good personal hygiene practice
• food safety hazards are identified and controlled, including cooking, refrigeration and cross contamination
• staff receive appropriate instruction or training in food hygiene, and are supervised

Depending on the nature of your business, you may also need to keep written records of how you manage food safety hazards.

You must put food safety management procedures in place based on the principles of HACCP (hazard analysis critical control point). In practice, this means that you must have documented procedures to manage food safety hazards in your business.

New rules on food safety culture

In March 2021, the EU adopted Regulation (EU) 2021/382 which introduced 'food safety culture' into the main EU food hygiene law.

This new requirement means food businesses in the EU must build a culture where everyone, from management to staff, understands and prioritises food safety in their everyday work.

Because the UK had already left the EU by the time this update was made, it doesn’t apply in Great Britain. However, under the Windsor Framework, EU food safety laws (including this update) still apply in Northern Ireland.

So, in practice, food safety culture is a legal requirement in Northern Ireland, but not in Great Britain. Local councils in Northern Ireland can look at how a business promotes food safety culture when they carry out inspections or other official checks.

Guides such as the Safe Catering Pack, Safer food better business and industry guides will assist you in meeting food hygiene legal requirements.