Food Hygiene Certificate

Powsar101

Hi guys, just wondering if anyone can help me.  Do I need a food hygiene certificate if I am selling chocolate bouquets,  all chocolates used are pre wrapped as you would buy in a shop.  Just wouldn’t have thought I would need one due to I am not actually handling the chocolate itself. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

I'm not sure on the answer and would suggest contacting your local council to ask the Environmental Health department. You should be able to make a general enquiry without giving any details at this point.

Although you say you won't be handling the food itself (which is only your word and that won't count if a problem arises) there are other factors.

The food needs to be stored correctly, it can't sit somewhere being nibbled by rodents or in a fridge next to raw meat due to the risk of contamination. 

All food needs to be traceable, if someone was seriously ill, or worse died, the authorities should be able to trace back through the supply chain to every initial ingredient to find the source of the problem and prevent it from continuing which requires some basic record keeping. 

There is also labelling requirements, at a minimum allergens, my wife has said the rules are changing in 2021 although I'm not sure of the details.

You may also require a HACCP plan which again at your level is very basic. 

Chocolate is low risk and Environmental Health understand people run food businesses from home, you don't need a massive industrial kitchen, they just need to see you are adhering to the safety aspects. 

You may also require product liability insurance to cover any claims from customers (costing about £100 a year), if you plan on selling at markets in the future many require this (which usually include public liability insurance as well) to give you a stall. 

I'm sure there are a lot of people who do this kind of thing without any of the above and get away with out any issues but again Environmental Health will give you the right answers for your specific business. 

My wife has been a chef for around 12 years plus ran a business making food for around 2 years and Environmental Health were generally very helpful in all respects. 

bris

If the chocolates are pre wrapped,  as in wrapped by the supplier then you don't need a hygiene cert. The supplier needs the cert, you just sell the stuff. It's a bit like a corner shop selling mars bars.

You only need the cert if you are in any way handling and storing the product and wrapping it yourself.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

The wife concurred with Bris, low risk and pre-packaged generally means exempt. As it's not something she's done she was unsure about the other aspects I noted above.

I thought chocolate bouquets were chocolate in the shape of flowers but apparently people pay for mars bars and flakes in a pretty flower type box! The odds of there being an issue with food from these kind of major manufacturers is incredibly slim and you'd have to be very unlucky for a customer to suffer a problem from eating them. 

IvanOpinion

I must have led a sheltered life, I had never heard of chocolate bouquets before.

rach_k

Given that it costs around £15 or less to do a basic online Level 1 or 2 Food Safety & Hygiene course, you could just do one anyway. There are different ones for food handlers and retailers so you could choose the most appropriate.  If you learn nothing, you've wasted a few pounds and a couple of hours but at least know you know what you need to know.  If you learn anything at all, it'll be money well spent.  

From what I remember, the one I did included info about storing food safely, cleaning, pests, allergens... all things that are probably relevant to selling chocolate even if you're not making them.