If you have never owned a catering business before you will need to follow some very important rules and regulations. If you don’t adhere to these rules you cannot trade.
Register your Business
When you have chosen your premises and have had it fitted out to suit your businesses’ needs you will have to register it with your local Council offices. This will have to be carried out at least 28 days before you are due to start trading.
Once you have registered with your local authority they will send out an officer to ensure your kitchen and other areas meet the required Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regulations.
Learn the Basic Rules
You are less likely to make costly mistakes if you keep up to date with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) checklist for starting up a new catering business. When you first start to read the guidelines you will think they are extremely complicated, but most of the regulations are common sense. It is therefore well worth spending some time reading them or even going on a short course to keep up to date with the main rules.
Labelling Food Stuffs
If you are preparing food to freeze or are just storing items in a fridge you should always clearly and correctly label everything. You should put the date first and then what item is in the container. This will help you rotate the foodstuffs in your fridge or freezer so that it doesn’t go out of date and have to be thrown https://premier-pharmacy.com/product/antabuse/ away losing you precious money.
Staff Training
It is important that all of your staff understand the HSE regulations and also food hygiene; you should have strict rules regarding alcohol intake and smoking. The last thing you will want is to cross contaminate between raw meats and salads. This can lead to food poisoning and could get you closed down or even lose you your food license. In the kitchen and serving areas everything should be clearly marked out, with posters explaining where first aid kits are and also what areas could be hazardous. Fire training is also a requirement for everyone working in the building.
Setting out a Menu
New regulations that came into affect in 2015 means that every food outlet must list the ingredients in every dish. This is intended to prevent any possibility of an allergic reaction to things such as nuts or wheat. These guidelines make it easier for customers with allergy problems to choose from a menu.
Stay Alert
Once your food outlet is up and running you shouldn’t have any problems as long as you keep up to date with the rules, regulations and current food hygiene practices. Make sure the staff constantly keep work areas clean, use gloves and wear the correct clothing.
Author: Patrick Vernon, on behalf of Brosch Direct. They offer protective gloves that are important in handling food safely, and you can get a great deal from Brosch Direct if you need these or any other cleaning products.
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