Guide
Food safety and hygiene requirements
HACCP-based food safety management systems, allergen labelling requirements including Natasha's Law, and food business registration for hospitality operators in the UK.
Food safety legal requirements
All food businesses in the UK must comply with food safety and hygiene regulations. This applies whether you run a restaurant, café, pub serving food, hotel with catering facilities, or any business that prepares or serves food to the public.
The key requirements are: registering your food business, implementing a HACCP-based food safety management system, and providing allergen information to customers.
HACCP documentation for hospitality
Whilst the Food Standards Agency's 'Safer Food, Better Business' pack is suitable for most small food businesses, you must maintain ongoing documentation as evidence of your food safety procedures.
Allergen information for customers
You must provide clear allergen information for all food you serve. The way you provide this information depends on whether food is pre-packaged or prepared to order.
Prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) labelling
Since October 2021, stricter labelling rules apply to food that is packaged on your premises before customers select it.
Staff training and food hygiene
Whilst food hygiene training is not legally required in England (except Scotland where Level 2 Food Hygiene is mandatory for food handlers), it is strongly recommended and demonstrates due diligence.
Training should cover:
- Personal hygiene and handwashing
- Safe food storage and temperature control
- Preventing cross-contamination
- Cleaning and sanitisation
- Allergen awareness and communication
Food hygiene ratings
Your local authority will inspect your premises and award a Food Hygiene Rating from 0 (urgent improvement needed) to 5 (very good):
Poor ratings can significantly damage your business reputation. If you receive a low rating, you can request a re-inspection once you have made improvements.