What to do if you think you have been made ill by eating or drinking food
How to complain about food or standards of hygiene in food premises
Starting a food business – permissions, registration and licensing
Mobile food vans – requirements
Training of food handlers
Inspection of food premises
Laws that apply to food premises
The Council’s Enforcement policy
Toilets for customers in restaurants and cafes
Food sold at open markets
Darlington Borough Council awards to food businesses
Food Labelling
Food safety advice for caterers at outdoor events
If you think that you are suffering from food poisoning you should visit your GP who may arrange for tests. Doctors who suspect that a patient may be suffering from food poisoning must notify the local authority. Officers working in the commercial team then interview the patient to try to find out where the illness may have come from and, where necessary, prevent its spread. You can also contact the commercial team directly yourself for help and advice.
If you are a food handler and you are ill, you must tell your employer. Because symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting may indicate that you have a food poisoning organism which you could pass on, it is important that you do not handle food until your symptoms have stopped and a further 48 hours have passed before going back to your food handling duties.
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All complaints that are brought to our attention about food premises, or food, which has been purchased from premises in the Borough will be investigated by officers in the commercial team.
Complaints about food should be notified to us as soon as possible as the longer you wait, the harder it is for us to prove that the foodstuff was in that state when it was sold to you. If you have a receipt for the food, keep it, as well as any packaging and keep the food in the refrigerator or freezer. Arrangements will be made to collect the foodstuff and you will be advised of the outcome of our investigations.
However, we will not seek compensation on your behalf and if your wish is purely to obtain a refund or compensation, then you should contact the retailer yourself or seek legal advice on how to take your own action.
If the complaint is about conditions at premises a visit is made and the proprietor is interviewed by an officer from the commercial team to decide if the complaint is justified. The officer will then consider whether any further action is necessary in line with our enforcement policy which considers the nature and severity of the offence, whether it could have been avoided, and also the past record of the company.
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If you are starting a new food business or taking over an existing one you must register it with your local authority. If it is a new business then this must be done at least 28 days before you plan to open. Certain premises are exempt (for example if your premises are used very infrequently. You can contact the Commercial Team in the Environmental Health Section for further information if you think that this might be your case.
Before registration, we suggest that you contact us so that we can discuss your plans and advise you. A registration form can then be sent to you.
The completed form should then be returned to us. There is no charge to register and registration cannot be refused. The information on the form will be entered onto the Local Authority’s Register. The details about the address of the premises and the type of business carried out will be available to members of the public on request.
You can find further information on Setting up a new food business [pdf document]. You can also contact our commercial team for further advice. We recommend the Food Standards Agency website [external link] and their booklet ‘Starting Up’.
It is important to check whether the premises have planning permission for the sale of food. This is particularly important if you plan to sell hot food. You should also check the planning permission to see if there are any restrictions on trading hours since some premises are not permitted to be open for business in the evening or later at night.
Even if there are no planning restrictions and you want to trade after 11.00pm, you will currently need to obtain a ‘premises licence’ licence from the Council before you open. You are advised to contact the Council’s Licensing Section or an independent legal adviser if you are in any doubt.
There is no longer any requirement to licence a butchers shop.
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Mobiles must be of sound construction, kept clean and be provided with fixed facilities for hand washing or any necessary washing of equipment or food. You must keep any high risk food at the correct storage temperatures. Water must not discharge directly out of the van but into a container and waste must be collected. If there are fryers or other cooking equipment on board high and low ventilation must be provided in addition to any openable hatch or skylight. Fire safety will be important if LPG is used on the vehicle and further advice can be obtained from the commercial team.
The place where the vehicle is normally garaged or kept must be registered with the local authority under the Food Safety Act. Information on registration is given above.
In the town centre Street trading is only permitted from a fixed location with the approval of the Licensing Section. In other areas trading is permitted provided the vehicle and staff selling have been approved and there is no contravention of highway or planning legislation. You should contact our Licensing Section for details of the areas where there are restrictions.
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Once a business is open, there will be regular inspections from officers working as part of the commercial Team to monitor your compliance with the requirements of the Food Safety Act and related regulations. How often you are visited will depend upon the type of food that you handle/prepare and the standards maintained at your premises. This means that higher risk premises are visited more frequently. Officers are out and about during the day, in the evenings and at weekends and you will not normally be given advance notice of the visit.
The officer on arrival will explain the purpose of the visit and show identification, if requested, and will then talk to the manager/proprietor and/or your staff about such things as your systems and procedures, training, temperature control, pest control and waste collection. They are legally entitled to inspect all parts of the premises, look at the equipment and may ask to see any written records and documentation.
The officer will leave a written record detailing the purpose of the visit and a brief summary.
Depending upon the conditions found, the Officer may offer advice and guidance and confirm this in writing and asking you to put right any problems. While we will always try to resolve the situation by informal means, sometimes, where poor conditions persist or where there is a risk to public health, we may take more formal action. This could be to serve an Improvement Notice or in certain circumstances recommend that legal proceedings are taken.
If there is an imminent risk to health of customers, the Officer can serve an Emergency Prohibition Notice to stop the use of the premises or a particular piece of equipment or activity. The court is then requested by the Council to confirm this action by making an Emergency Prohibition Order.
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The Food Safety Act 1990 and regulations made under.
It is an offence for anyone to sell or prepare food for sale which is harmful to health.
Food Businesses are required to carry out their activities in a safe and hygienic way.
The legislation is enforced by officers authorized for food safety enforcement in a wide range of premises where food intended for human consumption is present. This includes Importers, wholesalers, retailers, caterers and manufacturers.
For some types of businesses (for example: manufacturers of meat products) additional product specific legislation may apply and you are advised to contact us if you think that this might apply to you.
Food Safety Enforcement Officers are always willing to give free advice on how the law affects your business and information leaflets are also available free of charge.
Further information can also be found on the Food Standards Agency website [external link]
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Making Regulation Work [pdf document] is a leaflet explaining the Council’s policy. In addition the Development and Environment Department published an Enforcement Policy [pdf document] that includes details of the decision making process that officers follow when carrying out their work.
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The law requires that all food handlers should be trained to a level that is suitable for the job that they do. In house training to the required standard may be acceptable but a certificated course provides an accredited standard.
For any person handling high risk open food, understanding in the basic principles of food hygiene, such as contained in the 6 hour Chartered Institute of Environmental Health ‘Foundation’ course would be considered appropriate. This level 1 training should be updated every 3-5 years. CIEH and RIPHH both offer suitable certificated courses through various agencies.
For food handlers with less direct food contact, a lesser amount of training such as that contained in the 3 hour CIEH ‘options’ course module A may be sufficient.
Supervisory staff may benefit from level 2 (intermediate level) training.
Food Hygiene training courses are not offered by the Council. A number of local training providers including Darlington College of Technology provide nationally recognised training courses. Further information is available from our commercial team.
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Guidance on numbers and types of toilets to cater for customers is available on request from the Commercial team. At this time Darlington Borough Council has not adopted the law requiring that, customer toilets must be provided where seats and tables are provided for customers to consume food or drink on the premises.
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Food Safety Laws apply to stalls and vehicles selling food at any open market. Guidance for market traders identifying the key issues and where traders should seek further advice is available here in our Food Safety Guidance - Open Markets document [pdf document]
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Tees Valley Food Hygiene Award
On 1 July 2007 the award was launched with all food businesses in Darlington given a certificate to display showing the number of stars awarded. Each business was given a star rating - ranging from five stars (excellent) to no stars (major improvements required) based upon the last inspection of the premises carried out by a food enforcement officer employed by the Council. The number of stars is calculated using specific elements of the risk rating score:
- Food hygiene and safety (including food handling practices, procedures and temperature control)
- Structural requirements (such as: layout, facilities, cleaning, good repair)
- Confidence in management/control systems and training
The award remains valid until the next programmed primary inspection but can be withdrawn if standards are not maintained. The Council’s website provides open access to a data base showing the hygiene star rating of all food premises.
The introduction of this award and the implementation Smokefree legislation n 2007 meant the the Healthy School Award, the Heartbeat Award and the Heartbeat Gold Award administered by the Council no longer met their objectives and were discontinued.
National Clean Air Award
In 2006, the Council working with the Primary Care Trust and FRESH offered The National Clean Air Award Scheme to employers who implemented effective workplace no-smoking policies. This was the only smoke free places scheme endorsed by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and Asthma UK. The implementation of the Smokefree legislation in 2007 has meant that this award has lost its previous significance.
The requirements relating to the labelling of food in England and Wales are contained in Regulations that implement EC Directives.
It is difficult to provide a simple summary of the requirements because the legislation is very detailed and can vary according to the type of food. The Food Standards Agency have published guidance notes [external link] to assist manufacturers, producers and retailers of prepacked food provide information to consumers that complies with the legislation.
“use by” and “best before” dates
Most prepacked foodstuffs are required to be labelled with a date of minimum durability. This will normally be a “best before” date, which is the date up to and including which the foodstuff will retain its optimum condition (for example: it will not be stale).
Prepacked foods which, from the microbiological point of view, are highly perishable and are therefore likely after a short period to constitute an immediate danger to human health' are required to have a “use by” rather than a “best before” date. The use by date is the date up to and including which the food may be used safely (for example: cooked or processed or consumed) if it has been stored correctly. Further details on this subject is provided by the Food Standards Agency [external link].
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Catering at an outdoor event, or from mobile facilities, is a high risk activity and will always carry with it the possibility of causing food poisoning to a large number of people
The food business operator should:
- Make sure food is supplied or sold in a hygienic way. The self assessment food safety checklist (form F10) [word document] should assist you in this
- Have in place a documented food safety management system such as “Safer Food Better Business”, which identifies food safety hazards, which steps are critical for food safety and ensures that safety controls are in place, maintained and reviewed. (Copies of this document are available free of charge.)
- Your food business must be registered with the local authority where your unit is based
- Selling alcohol may need a licence – check with the licensing officer at your local council
- If someone asks about an allergy – be honest and do not guess about ingredients
- Buy from reputable suppliers and keep a record
- Food and drink must be described fairly and labelled accurately
- Complete a F5 Fire Risk Assessment - Outdoor Catering form [Word Document] and take with you a suitable fire extinguisher and fire blanket
- Be prepared for variable weather – check the forecast for weather warnings
Design and structure
- All stalls/vehicles should be designed and constructed to protect food from risk of contamination
- Fittings and equipment for mobile units should be of good quality materials capable of being readily cleaned. Bare wood is not acceptable
- Floors in mobile units should be of smooth, impervious and non-slip material and preferably coved to the wall fixtures
- Stalls should be screened at the sides and back to prevent risk of contamination and pests
- Tent/marquees should be of cleanable materials or the kitchen/preparation areas should be provided with washable wall linings
- Frequently used walkways should be effectively weatherproofed
- Interior lighting levels must be adequate
Layout
- Ideally catering exhibitors should be sited close to essential services (for example: water/power)
- Allow adequate space for preparation, cooking, storage and wash-up
- Ensure that refrigerated storage vehicles and trailers are easily accessible
- Dirty crockery and dirty laundry should not be carried through food handling areas
- The event organiser should arrange collection and removal of refuse and recycling from the site
- Check for any tripping and safety hazards
Services
Outdoor events take place in a wide variety of sites and locations. At some sites it may be possible to provide essential services such as water, drainage and electricity, others may not. You need to find out the service arrangements before arriving on site.
Water supply
- It is a legal requirement for food premises to have an adequate supply of clean and wholesome water provided ( ideally from the mains)
- If water containers are used they must be cleaned and sanitised on a regular basis
Drainage
Waste water from sinks and wash hand basins should be discharged into foul water system or into suitable containers and not directly onto the ground
Equipment
- All equipment should be readily cleanable
- Preparation surfaces and tables must have smooth, impervious surfaces, stainless steel or laminate surfaces are suitable
Washing facilities
- Suitable and sufficient wash hand basins must be provided and be accessible for use by food handlers. Supplies of soap and means of hygienic hand drying must be available at each basin
- Suitable sinks must be provided for food preparation and for equipment washing
- A constant supply of hot water should be provided at the sink(s) and wash hand basin
- The use of plastic bowls as sinks or wash hand basins is not recommended
Staff toilets
- Separate toilets for the exclusive use of food handlers should be provided on site where possible
- All sanitary accommodation must be maintained in a clean condition
- Suitable and sufficient wash hand basins with hot and cold water, soap, towels must be provided at the sanitary accommodation
Temperature control
Effective temperature control and storage is one of the most important safeguards for controlling the growth of food poisoning organisms. You should consider the following points:
- High-risk products such as cooked meat and dairy products, must be kept at or below 8°C or above 63°C
- Ideally food should be prepared immediately before service, if this is not possible then the food should be prepared in small batches and kept at the correct temperature
- sufficient fridge space for the storage of high-risk foods or the use of commercial cool boxes with eutectic freezer blocks. Keep a check of the temperatures in your food management system
- Cooked food should reach core temperature 75°C. Take particular care when barbequing as cooking temperatures can be less predictable.
• Hot food displayed for sale/service should be kept above 63°C
- Thermometers with probes should be used to check temperatures (all probes should be disinfected after use)
- Keep food covered when stored in the fridge
- Vehicles used for transporting high-risk food should be refrigerated
- Protect stored food from public access and contact
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