Has your food making hobby transformed into a new business?

A call has gone out for new food businesses in Ballymena to register with Mid & East Antrim Borough Council.
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Following a rise in the number of new food businesses during the pandemic, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched a campaign calling for all new food businesses to register with their local authority.

The Covid-19 period has seen a huge increase in food being sold from people’s homes with the internet making it easier for this type of market. According to the FSA’s Register a Food Business digital service (RAFB), 32% of new ventures registered in Northern Ireland since the start of the pandemic (March 2020) are run from domestic kitchens at private addresses.

Many home-based sellers do not consider themselves to be a food business and therefore have not registered with their local councils. As a result, some newly established home-based sellers could be putting consumers at risk because they haven’t demonstrated good food safety knowledge, according to the FSA.

If you sell, cook, store, handle, prepare or distribute food for the public, you may be considered a food business and will need to register with your local authority.If you sell, cook, store, handle, prepare or distribute food for the public, you may be considered a food business and will need to register with your local authority.
If you sell, cook, store, handle, prepare or distribute food for the public, you may be considered a food business and will need to register with your local authority.

Michael Jackson, Deputy Director - Head of Regulatory Compliance, at the FSA said: “District Councils need to know the businesses trading in their area so they can give them the help and support to ensure businesses get their hygiene and standards right to protect consumers from the moment they open.

“If you cook, store, prepare, sell or distribute a food product then you are a food business, and you need to get registered straightaway.

“Our advice is clear, if you’re planning to start a new food business, or taking over an existing food business – you must register with your district council. Registering is free and easy to do.”

All food businesses have a legal obligation to register with their district council 28 days before opening and it is an offence not to do so. Businesses must register whether they sell food via social media (Facebook Marketplace or Instagram store), sell via e-commerce sites such as Amazon or eBay, trade from a physical customer-facing premises or simply run a food business from a home kitchen. Businesses must also register with the district council if they are taking over an existing food business.

Registering a food business means that district councils will be aware of the operation and will carry out a food hygiene inspection. Without registration a local authority cannot assess the nature of the business and give a Food Hygiene Rating. District councils also provide businesses advice on how to improve food hygiene and food safety practices.

The FSA’s Register a Food Business (RAFB) digital service has been running successfully since September 2018.

To find out more information on how to register a new food business and when registration is required visit https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/how-to-register-a-food-business

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