SPRING 2020 FOOD REGISTRATION Food businesses offered internet service If you deal with food, you must register with your local authority and a new digital service is making it easier than ever to do To make it simpler for food businesses to register with their local authority, the Food Standards Agency has introduced a central digital registration service. Several West Midlands authorities including Birmingham and Worcestershire have already signed up to this 24/7 system, which can be accessed via a laptop or mobile device, so your application can be completed any time, from anywhere. In law, a food business is an individual, group of people or company that prepares, cooks, stores, handles, distributes, supplies or sells food. This includes commercial and domestic settings, mobile traders, market stalls, pop-up kitchens and online selling. Registration cannot be inherited; if you take over an existing food business you must register it again Every new food business operator must register with their local authority at least 28 days before opening. Registration is free and cannot be refused, but every year food safety inspectors find that around 10 per cent of premises have unregistered owners. Running a food business means long hours and hard, physical work. As a result, around 20 per cent close or change hands every year. However, registration cannot be inherited; if you take over an existing business you must register it again. Operators who fail to register their food business commit an offence that could result in them being fined, or imprisoned for up to two years. Not being registered also affects the food hygiene rating that a business will receive and it is an offence to continue displaying the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme sticker given to a business that you have taken over. Registration is easy. The online form guides you through the process step by step, and you will automatically be sent an acknowledgement. A copy of the form will also be sent to the relevant local authority, which will then follow up with an inspection. You will also receive various links to further food-safety advice. Simply go to the gov.uk website and search for food registration. A postcode finder will take you to the local authority with which you are registering. If it has not yet joined the system, the website will direct you to an alternative registration form. Credits: Helen Cameron, Environmental Health Officer; Image: iStock / Goodboy Picture Company You can also download a registration form, for posting or sending by email, from your local authority website, where you will also find links to the new FSA form. THE LANGUAGE OF LABELS If you supply pre-packed food with labels printed only in a foreign language, you may be putting your livelihood and customers lives at risk. Food for sale in the UK must be labelled in English. You can have information on the label in a different language as well, but the information required by law must be in English. This includes any allergens, which must be highlighted in the ingredients list. If customers cant tell whether an allergen is in the food, it could lead to serious health implications and even death. Not providing the correct allergen information is a criminal offence, with a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine. Ultimately, if your action or inaction leads to the death of an allergy sufferer, there would be a police investigation that could lead to criminal charges. If a translated label is needed, the English translation should be done by the manufacturer or the business named on the label; they are in the best position to know exactly what is in the food. Do not translate the label yourself you will be responsible for its accuracy and liable for any errors. If a Trading Standards or Environmental Health officer visits your premises and finds incorrectly labelled food, you may initially receive a written warning, followed by a formal enforcement notice but you could also have your stock seized and face prosecution. For more advice, contact your local Trading Standards or Environmental Health Service. Credit: Stuart Powell, Trading Standards Officer, Image: iStock / ChuckSchugPhotography As a retailer, you should not put food on your shelves that does not have English-language labelling. As a wholesaler, you must ensure food information is given in English. If the food is prepacked and ready for the consumer, all English labelling should appear on the packaging before you sell it do not supply loose English labels and leave it to the retailer to affix them. For further information, please contact your local Trading Standards Service