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Food Safety (Natasha's Law)

  • If cooking on site, you must ensure food is cooked to a core temperature of 75 degrees Celsius for at least two minutes.

  • If a product contains one of 14 food allergens (see guide), then this information MUST be displayed in an obvious place to make customers aware of the food's contents.

  • Ready to eat foods such as sandwiches, milk, yoghurts, cheese, cooked meats and ready meals must all be kept below 8 degrees.

  • Hot foods must be stored or displayed at temperatures above 63 degrees Celsius, a probe thermometer should be used and records of these checks maintained.

  • Food temperatures should be checked daily to ensure that food is being kept below 8 degrees Celsius.

  • Keep waste away from food. Waste must be stored in lidded containers to avoid contamination with food.

  • There should be a cleaning schedule in place that lists whats needs cleaning, when and how. Records of these checks should be retained for six months.

The most important things to know about selling food are:

  • The food you sell must be safe for customers to eat.
  • Allergenic ingredients must be listed for customers to see.
  • You need to have a ‘documented food safety management system’ in place to ensure that your business complies with procedures in place.
  • Your staff must be trained on how to comply with the law.
  • Your business MUST be registered with your local council environmental health office before it can sell food.

Download the Food Safety and Hygiene Guide

Main principles

The first step to managing food safety and hygiene is to consider the foods you are selling or wish to sell, and how they are being stored. Some of the most common issues are set out on pages 4-5 and this guide includes a template food management system for you to download and complete.
Generally speaking, the more involvement you have in the preparation of food (making sandwiches, heating pies) the more you will have to do.

This ACS Assured Advice Guide for Managing Food Safety and Hygiene contains an overview of what is expected of you as a business owner with regards to the sale of food, either wrapped, loose or heated under food safety and hygiene laws.