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Home Kitchen Inspection Baking From Home

by Sharon
(East sussex)

Hi There ,

Firstly what an amazing and informative site thank you so much .

My question is .... I'm going to buy a Citroen hy catering van and plan to sell cream teas , cakes biscuits etc .

I have bistro tables and cotton table cloths and vintage china ( tea cups and saucers) my business will be all about the look, theme and experience .
I am planning on having a couple of regular pitches in remote country beauty spots and hope to attract the ramblers and sightseers , I'm very excited !

I am a fully qualified cook and have all the food hygiene certificates I need , but as I am planning on cooking all my cakes etc. from home and not on board , would I need the local FSA to inspect my kitchen at home ? I am concerned as my house is perfectly clean and organised but I do have pets ?

Many thanks

Sharon Manville

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Apr 07, 2014
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by: David

Hi Sharon,

If you are intending on cooking any food from home for public consumption then you will need to register your home as a food business. Just register with your local authority and they will come out and inspect your kitchen and then offer advice. They will want to make sure that you are following (covered in Food Hygiene course) food safety laws and keeping a documented food safety management system based on the principles of HACCP amongst other thinks.

You may also be asked to make alterations to your kitchen to meet the required standards, but hopefully this won’t be the case if you only intend to bake cakes. Be aware that you may also have to inform you mortgage/landlord and insurance company of the changes, since you will now be running a business from home.

As far as pets are concerned some local authorities are more tolerant that others, but as a general rule as long as you keep your pest away from cooking/food preparation areas you should not have any problems. The local EHO will be able to discuss this with you in more detail.
You may also find the following post helpful:

Selling Home Made Cakes From Burger Van

The idea sounds great let us know how you get on.
Best of luck

David


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