Food hygiene laws in the UK affect all food businesses, including caterers, primary producers (such as farmers), manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

How the legislation affects you will depend on the size and type of your business.

Most food businesses will need to register all of their premises with their local authority. This is required under EU regulations. For more information on registering your premises with Tendring District Council, including an online registration form, please see our 'Register a Food Premises' page.

This application is not subject to tacit approval under the European Union Services Directive. The indicative timescale for dealing with the application is proposed to be within 45 days of receipt of a full application. The deadline may be required to be extended, you will be notified of the new deadline and the reason for extending it.

Approvals

Approval is required from the local authority for anyone handling meat or other animal products, e.g. re-packaging or cold storage, which is supplied to a third party that is not the final consumer.

To check if your business would need to be Approved please contact the Food Team (details below).

You'll find information about the legislation, and what it means for different food industry sectors on the Food Standards Agency (FSA) web site, this includes frequently asked questions and food safety management packs to help food businesses comply with the legislation that you can download.

The Essex Food Group have produced a list of Food Hygiene Training Providers who run a variety of food hygiene training courses.

If you have any queries or would like information on whether your business should be registered as a food premises please contact Tendring District Council's Food team:

E-mail: environmental.services@tendringdc.gov.uk
Write to: Public Experience, Council Offices, Thorpe Road, Weeley, Essex, CO16 9AJ
Telephone: 01255 686767