Do I have to register as a food business?
The Food Standards Agency, following discussions with the Office
for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills and the
National Childminding Association, has provided the following
advice to help identify whether childcarers, such as childminders,
should be considered as a food business operators.
If you provide no more than the following
levels of food service as part of your normal business, you
should not be required to register as a food
business operator:
- Provision of mains drinking water.
- Provision of crockery and cutlery for use by children to eat
their own packed lunches.
- Provision of chilled storage for packed lunches that belong to
the children.
- Occasional assistance to children with cutting up their own
food in response to individual need rather than as an established
service.
- Occasional provision of food that is not part of the normal
service - for example, a cake to celebrate a child’s birthday or
provision of food where a parent/guardian has been delayed.
- Operating in the child's own home and serving food that belongs
to the child's parent/guardian - for example nannies and home
childcarers.
The regular provision of snacks or soft drinks
as part of the normal service would require
registration as a food business.
The Food Standards Agency has also produced an advice leaflet
which you can view by following the link below:
Please note that the advice in the leaflet is aimed at
registered childcarers on domestic premises, including
childminders, and is not intended for nannies and home childcarers
or care operating from non-domestic premises such as nurseries,
care homes and schools.
Food hygiene regulations
Since 2006, many childcarers, such as childminders, have been
covered by food hygiene regulations. These regulations do not apply
to all childcarers - it depends whether they regularly provide
snacks or meals for the children in their care (see above). The
Food Standards Agency has produced a special pack called Safer Food
Better Business for childminders, which has been designed to help
them comply with these regulations with as little paperwork as
possible.
Registering as a food business
To register as a food business operator you will need to inform
your local authority - the authority where your 'business' is
based.
Suffolk Coastal's Food and Safety team is responsible for the
registration of food businesses in this district. You can call
01394 444357 or email
foodsafetyteam@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk
if you have any questions or need advice.
Registering as a food business operator is free of charge. You
will need to print out and complete the registration form below,
sign and to return it to the Food and Safety team.