Food Safety in England and Wales

If you are running a business that offers food or drinks to consumers, you will want to make sure that you are familiar with food safety regulations. This is important if your business is a restaurant, a manufacturer or supplier of food, or even a bar or pub. Failing to follow food safety rules can put consumers at risk of unsafe food and foodborne illness. Additionally, not being properly licenced can put your business at risk. This article will outline some of your key responsibilities and elaborate on what you should know about food safety. 

Your General Responsibilities

The legal meaning of food is any substance or product intended to be ingested by humans. Therefore, ‘food’ includes: 

• drinks, including liquor;
• chewing gum; and 
• any substance which is ‘incorporated’ into food during the food’s preparation. 

The legal meaning of food does not include: 

• feed;
• plants that have not yet been harvested;
• tobacco; and
• residues/contaminants. 

You can read more about your specific obligations on the Food Standards Agency website, but generally, these obligations include:

• making sure that your food is safe to consume;
• ensuring that you do not sell contaminated food;
• making sure that your food is the quality that you say it is;
• withdrawing unsafe food;
• completing an incident report if you have to withdraw unsafe food; and
• displaying your food hygiene rating.

Some of these basic responsibilities will include ensuring that you do not serve raw meat which carries harmful bacteria. Doing so can be particularly dangerous for young children. Similarly, you should be aware of freezing food correctly and safely. 

Also, you should keep in mind that you will be obliged to withdraw unsafe food. Further, if you discover contamination within the supply chain where you receive your produce, you will still be obliged to compile an incident report. You can find further guidance on compiling an incidence report on the UK government website.

Making Sure You Use Appropriate Additives

Food additives are ingredients added to foods for a particular reason, for example, to stop the food from changing colour, or to preserve the food for longer. If you use additives in your food, you must make sure that your additive is:

• an approved additive; and
• appropriate for use in the food you are offering

Food Hygiene Rating Requirements

If you are running a business that serves food to customers, you will also have to meet food hygiene rating standards in yearly inspections by a food safety officer. The food safety officer will give you a score on a scale of zero to five (with five being the highest), which you will have to display within sight of customers.

The inspection will focus on:

• hygiene and safety;
• structure; and
• confidence in management.

Your business will have to do well in all three areas to score a five. To score well, you will need to do things such as make sure that: 

• the structure of your property is hygienic;
• your food preparation process is safe;
• you are aware of food allergies and appropriately display risks; and
• that you have a high level of food safety awareness.

Further, to meet these standards, you will have to have a comprehensive approach to food hygiene. For example, your fridge temperature can be an important factor in making sure that frozen food is kept safely. Similarly, you might need to refurbish your premises to meet modern hygiene requirements. 

Traceability Requirements

Traceability refers to your obligation to keep records of where you source your food and show this information if a regulator asks you to.

If you are a food business operator or a business selling food, this will mean that you are required to keep records of food substances and the businesses to which you have supplied food. The traceability requirement helps authorities if they need to make food recalls in the case of contamination.

Key Takeaways

Making sure that you know food safety laws is highly important if you are running a business that deals with food. This is because it is important for public health and for your business to stay competitive. If you fail to meet food safety standards, a regulator may be able to take action against your business and begin proceedings to close it down. 

For help understanding the food safety laws, LegalVision’s regulatory and compliance lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

Frequently Asked Questions