Hygiene and rules for selling food

In short

• The producer answers for the safety of the food they sell, even in small quantities.
• Fresh vegetables and fruit are simplest. Eggs, honey and milk have special rules. Processing (cheese, preserves, bread) usually needs registered premises or a cottage food permit. Meat for sale comes from a licensed or inspected slaughterhouse.
• UK and Irish rules allow lighter rules for direct sale of small quantities of primary products; US states have cottage food laws for some low-risk home-made foods. What counts as "small" or "low-risk" is decided locally.
• The basis of everything: clean hands, drinking water, the cold chain, raw kept apart from ready-to-eat, records.
• Every batch has a number, a record and a label. Check with the relevant authority where you live before your first sale.

What's inside

Chapters

1. Who answers for the food
2. Product groups and their rules
3. Registering and approving premises
4. Good hygiene practice
5. Temperatures and the cold chain
6. A food safety plan on HACCP principles
7. Batches and traceability
8. Labels
9. Testing and inspection
10. Most common mistakes
11. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Questions for the authorities
• Food safety plan for one product
• Temperature log
• Cleaning plan
• Batch record
• Compliance cost calculator
• Label templates
• Hygiene and rules calendar