Operating a Food Business From Home
Has the COVID pandemic caused you to have to re-think your working arrangements or career? Many people are now looking to work from home and combine their love of cooking and baking. If this is something you are considering then read the following for advice on what steps you'll need to take.
If you are intending to operate a food business from home, the structure of your premises would have to be adequate to allow safe storage and preparation of foods. Food contact surfaces must be in good condition to permit cleaning and disinfection.
Qualifications
If you intend to be handling high risk open foods (e.g. fresh cream cakes or mousses rather than shelf stable goods) you would need to have hygiene training equivalent to level 2 (basic) in food safety in catering.
It would be good practice however to have this type of training regardless of the types of foods that you are handling.
Traceability
You would need to have traceability procedures in place to ensure you can keep track of where ingredients were purchased and in what foods they were used in case of a food safety product recall.
Registering as a food business
In addition you have to register your home as a food business at least 28 days before you intend to start producing foods. See link below on how to do that. On receipt of this our Environmental Health officers will be in touch to arrange an initial inspection.
See link 'Register as a Food Business' here
Hazard Analysis & Hygiene Procedures
You will also have to carry out a ‘hazard analysis’ of your food operation which requires you to identify stages that are critical to food safety, put in place safety controls at these stages and monitor that the controls are being implemented. For cake and biscuit making this would focus on preventing contamination of foods and ingredients and ensuring that foods are kept at appropriate temperatures (where necessary). Once you register with us an officer will be able to provide you with more detailed information on how to comply with this requirement.
It may not be a legal requirement to have written hygiene procedures (as this is dependent on the degree of risk) but low risk home caterers often find it useful to record their safety procedures using the relevant sections of the Food Standards Agency's 'Safer Food Better Business' pack and fill out the diary on the days that they bake. The template for the pack and diary can be found at
http://www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/caterers/sfbb/sfbbcaterers/
Additional Information
There is some additional information about starting up a new food business on the Food Standards Agency website at https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/setting-up-a-food-business
Whilst domestic premises may be suitable for small scale food production, there may be planning and hygiene implications if the business expands and this is something you may have to consider in the future.
You may also need to consider separate insurance for your business and talk to your home insurance to see if you need to amend you home policy to include the work you are undertaking. Seek advice from a qualified insurance broker/company regarding your insurance requirements.
For additional generic business support speak to Business Growth Hub who may be able to offer additional support and advice for a new business.
