Keep food safe in your childcare setting

The rules here are for providers in England.

Register as a food business

If you provide meals, snacks or drinks other than mains tap water for the children you look after, you are a food business. That includes reheating food a parent has sent in and cutting up and preparing food.

Food hygiene inspections and ratings

Your local authority inspects you, and how often depends on the risk your food poses, which takes account of vulnerable customers such as young children.

Run a food safety system

You must tell Ofsted or your childminder agency within 14 days if food poisoning affects two or more children in your care. Failing to do so without reasonable excuse is an offence.

Manage allergens

All staff need to know the symptoms and treatment of allergic reactions and anaphylaxis, and that children can develop allergies at any time.

Serve healthy, balanced food and drink

You must have regard to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) nutrition guidance, which means following it unless you have a good reason not to. It asks you to plan meals and snacks across the four main food groups and to plan menus in advance. For drinks, it asks you to offer only fresh tap water and plain milk and to avoid fruit juice, squash and smoothies.

Prepare food in a way that prevents choking, and sit babies and young children safely in a high chair or low chair. Children must always be within sight and hearing of staff while they eat, and a person with a full paediatric first aid certificate should be in the room. You should record any choking incident that needed intervention and tell the parents.