Navigating Local Authority Food Approvals: What Every Food Business Needs to Know…..

What are approved food businesses?

Some food businesses supplying products of animal origin (POAO) such as slaughter houses and cutting plants need to be approved by The Food Standards Agency . However if you handle or produce meat, fish or other products of animal origin such as milk and eggs including storage in a cold store, you may need to be approved by the Local Authority where your food business premises is located.

Approved businesses need to provide detailed food safety documentation to their local EHO BEFORE they can start trading, and this can be proposed or actual food safety arrangements. This is different from other non approved food businesses who after registering their business through the food.gov.uk online registration portal can start trading straight away.

Think you might qualify as an approved food business? Contact your local Authority EHO as soon as possible so they can advise you further, if not exempt they will send you an approval application form to complete. You will need to provide a proposed date when you intend to start trading and give yourself enough time to get all the paperwork together.

Dried sausages

Which food businesses are exempt from approval?

Here are some exemptions to approval but always check with your local EHO who can advise you further:

• Cold stores that just transport and distribute products of animal origin or supply the final consumer exclusively or supply on a marginal, localised and restricted basis

• Direct supply of small quantities of primary products to the final consumer or small retail businesses e.g. less than 24 pints of milk, 360 eggs per week

• Supply products of animal origin to other establishments on a marginal, localised and restricted basis (retail exemption)

• Supply products of animal origin to the final consumer including restaurants, hospitals, supermarkets, retail shops etc.

• Supplying food that is assembled and contains products of plant origin and processed animal origin (composite product) e.g. making pre packed ham and salad sandwiches if the ham is bought in already processed.

What is the retail exemption?

Food businesses must qualify for ALL of the three following criteria to be exempt:

• Marginal

  POAO supplied in small quantities being up to a quarter of the annual turnover of your business in terms of food or in relation to meat up to 2 tonnes a week.

• Localised

  Supplying POAO within the county where your business is based plus the greater of either the neighbouring county or counties; or 30 miles/50km from the county boundary. If you wish to sell nationally you would need to be approved.

• Restricted

  This is not defined in the legislation or guidance but is interpreted as suppling only certain types of products or establishments, for example if you are suppling a wide range of POAO you may need to be approved

How FSL can help your food business become approved?

As EHOs we understand the approval process and can help make sure that you have the procedures and documentation in place to be successful with your application, contact us now for more information. We can help you:

• complete the local authority approval form correctly

• Design the food safety documentation for the production of your food products which is specified on the approval form including: HACCP Plans, monitoring forms, traceability documents, sampling and environmental sampling schedules etc

• Review information that you need to provide including location and premises plans, training information, pest contractor and waste management contractor details

• Liaise with your local EHO to provide advice and support throughout the approval process until all the paperwork is ready.

• Submission of the approval documentation to the EHO in an easy and logical format.

• Support with the approval visit if required

Helen Groves, EHO consultant with Food Safety Logic

What happens next?

Once the food safety paperwork has been submitted you will need to arrange a date for the EHO to visit before you start trading (an EHO consultant can attend this visit at your request). At this visit they will check your premises, food safety procedures and paperwork and will either grant Conditional approval where further information or works need to be completed within a specified time frame or Full approval.

Once approval has been granted you can start trading and will be given an approval number that must be indicated in the Identification Mark applied to all products of animal origin that you produce.

Approvals can be suspended or refused and remedial action notices (RANs) served for non compliance if necessary by the local authority.

What changes to my approval must I tell the EHO about?

• change to your products or providing additional products

• change to the layout or site plan

• change of ownership (this will require a new approval application to be made)

• change of trading name

• closure of your approved food business (including temporary or seasonal closure)

• surrender of your approval (business is no longer operating). If you move your premises you must surrender your approval and make a new application to the local authority area you are moving too.

Who have FSL successfully helped to become approved food businesses?

Niche & Bespoke - Private Aviation Caterers producing chilled and frozen ready meals (read our case study)

Homeplace Kitchen - small manufacturer producing Hong Kong Style dried meat and sausages

Kibis Good Food - small manufacturer producing Nigerian pastries and frozen ready meals.

Hellenic Food Market - cold store handling imported chilled greek food ingredients.