Baking from home - Food Hygeine certification?

longwalks1

My OH loves baking and has made several cakes for family and friends over the last year, and would like to maybe branch out further. If she was to sell to the public, what sort of certification would she need, to work from home?

She seems to think some sort of food hygeine certificate??

Any help greatly appreciated


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colleensims

Check this out, might help

http://food.gov.uk/business-industry/caterers/sfbb/

Naf

Essentially someone in the business would need a food hygiene certificate (presumably its just her anyway); she would need to ensure her kitchen meets hygiene standards: i.e. separation of cooked and raw foods, sufficient temperature controls; but the biggest issue in typical kitchens is the fridge. A home fridge tends to have the veg drawer at the bottom, while food standards require it to be stored higher up, and raw meat must be kept at the bottom - this includes her personal food, not just what she intends to sell. So unless she invests in a separate fridge for her baking then all of her fridge would need to be arranged in this manner. There's no guarantees they would accept the separate fridge either.
Then all she needs to do is register with the council to say what she's doing; and at some point they will visit to ensure she has her hygiene standards in place.

feefeefalloo_2

I totally agree with the above. I think if you have never worked in a professional kitchen before you might be surprised how much actually goes into making food safe to eat, although of course doing a food hygiene course would help with this.

I think having separate fridges is a good idea too - all food needs to be dated when opened with use by dates etc and you may not want the hassle of doing this with all food which is for your own consumption.

A couple of the places I worked were very small and had the government's 'safer food, better business' guide which would help you get everything set up okay and continue to monitor it.

Also if you have any pets they would need to be banned from the kitchen completely at all times. I know in my own home this would not be possible so it's worth thinking about.

Hope this helps

Who?_me?

Contact your local Environmental Health Food Safety officer. THey will give you a shed load of free advice, come and see your house and give you the right guidance on changes requried so it will pass their hygiene check. As it is only cakes / baking, the standards etc won't have to bee as high as somewhere dealing with raw / cooked meat. The food hygiene course is one day, EHO will know where these are run (they ususallydo their own courses), and you will also need insurance.

Naf

Who?_me? wrote: »

As it is only cakes / baking, the standards etc won't have to bee as high as somewhere dealing with raw / cooked meat.

I'm sorry but I must beg to differ here.
This would be true if setting up a kitchen in a premises solely for the business. Using your own kitchen the standards need to be just as high; unless you can show that you never use the kitchen for your own raw meat.

whittnat

Hi, I'm a local authority environmental health officer, here's what I would advise:

The course you need is Level 2 Food Safety in Catering (this is what was formerly Basic Food Hygiene) and you can find local trainers by going to the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health website (this won't let me post a link but it will come up on Google) and going to 'Coursefinder' and entering your postcode. If your local council offers this training they will appear on the search. Shop around as prices differ. There are various online courses but these are not always of the best quality so are best avoided it you can.

Then give your council environmental health dept a ring and ask for some advice on starting up a food business. An officer will usually arrange to visit, have a look at your kitchen and explain what you need to do.

HOWEVER, this does depend where you live. I've moved around a lot as a freelance EHO and some London councils don't give this advice any more due to staff shortage/cuts etc. If that's the case they will just advise you to register and then they will inspect you.

I would advise a separate fridge if possible, if not then be aware of cross contamination from your own food. You don't have to label your own food, however you do need to make it clear which items are for the business and which are your personal items.

And as said above, pets need to be kept out of the kitchen (esp cats who may go on kitchen surfaces), and no laundry should be either done or stored in the kitchen when you are baking. I would suggest that any young children are also kept out of the kitchen while you are baking.

All surfaces in the kitchen should be easily cleanable (no unsealed wood) and you will need a means of disinfecting surfaces e.g. kitchen antibacterial spray.

They will also ask what sort of quantity of cakes you are planning and who you will supply them to.

You will need a basic written management system - look at the Food Standards Agency website for 'Safer Food Better Business' which means you need to check the temperature of your fridge so a fridge thermometer will be necessary.

Hope that helps - good luck! My wedding cake was made by a lady who I inspected in a former job!