Environmental Health

Food Hygiene

What is Food Hygiene?

Food Hygiene is much more than cleanliness, it involves checking all steps in any food business e.g. the preparation, processing, packaging, handling and storage of food is done safely and is central in protecting the health of the public. Inspections are carried in all types of food premises including manufacturers, caterers, retailers, etc to ensure food reaches the final consumer safely.

Do I need permission to open a food business?

This will depend on the type of food business you wish to open. In general all food premises have to register with Environmental Health 28 days before opening, using the standard registration form.

However if you intend to open premises which manufactures food, you may require to be approved. Also certain types of food businesses require to be licensed, for example, premises selling alcoholic drinks.

How do I get a Licence to sell alcoholic drinks?

Applications should be made to the Licensing Section, Town Hall, New Bridge Street, Ayr, KA7 1JX, Tel: 01292 617649

What is an Approval?

The processing and manufacture of certain foods is covered by specific legislation. These can be premises dealing with fish, meat products, milk products etc.

Premises must apply to the council for approval to trade. Before approval is granted, premises will be checked to ensure compliance with the specific criteria listed in the legislation.

The activities carried out in these premises are more strictly governed, requiring a higher standard of structure and operating procedure.

Once approved, the premises are given a unique number known as a health mark, which is printed on their labels. The approved premises are notified to the Food Standards Agency.

For further information contact the Environmental Health Division.

How do I apply for approval?

A single template application for approval for Meat products, Dairy Products, Fishery Products, Mincemeat and Meat Preparations, and Egg Products is now available.

Applications can be obtained from the Environmental Health Division.

The following application can be downloaded:

Application for approval

What does an inspection involve?

Inspections ensure premises are suitable for the use intended and have the proper facilities to ensure that foodstuffs can be handled safely.

The inspection will also check whether the food handlers within the premises have received enough training for the job they undertake and are being supervised or managed effectively.

A major part of the inspection is to assess how businesses operate to ensure foodstuffs are safe when received by the customer. This is the premises` food safety management system. (Also known as Hazard Analysis or Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (H.A.C.C.P.) The premises should have a food safety management system in place, which can be assessed during the inspection to ensure all hazards have been identified and the necessary controls are in place to provide safe food.

How do you decide when to inspect a food business?

After an inspection the business is assessed using a priority rating scheme which is a risk based assessment set by the Food Standards Agency. The assessment considers the extent of the business and how well it complies with the regulations. This gives a score, which dictates the minimum frequency that the business should be visited.