Starting a New Food Business
As part of the Food Standards Agency's Food Hygiene Campaign, a booklet entitled Starting up: Your First Steps to Running a Catering Business has been developed in co-operation with the Inland Revenue, and Customs and Excise. It aims to give an outline of all the main things someone starting up a food business needs to know about.
The booklet is available in several languages and covers a variety of topics including:
- Charging VAT
- Fire safety
- Food hygiene
- Food law inspections
- Food safety management
- Health and safety
- Labelling food
- Personal hygiene and staff illness
- Record keeping
- Registration of premises
- Requirements relating to the design and construction of premises
- Training staff
- Storage
- VAT registration
You can get a copy of the booklet by:
- Calling the FSA campaign line on 0845 600 1321
- Contacting the council using the details provided on the right.
- Downloading it from the Food Standards Agency website
Further hygiene advice for caterers is available on the Food Standards Agency's Safer Food, Better Business website.
Useful Publications
The Food Standards Agency produces a wide range of publications for the public and the food industry. Many of these are available free of charge.
Useful guides available online:
- Food Hygiene: A Guide for Businesses (PDF 489KB)
- Starting up: Your first steps to running a catering business
To order copies contact:
Food Standards Agency Publications
Tel: 0845 606 0667
Minicom: 0845 606 0678
Fax: 020 8867 3225
Email: foodstandards@eclogistics.co.uk
Web: http://www.food.gov.uk/
![]() |
Listen | ![]() |
Feedback |












