Running a food business from home

[Venisonpie]

This has been all the rage during the pandemic. How do you turn a domestic kitchen into something that complies?

My limited research seems to extend to food storage, washing facilities and rodent/insect prevention.

[abzmike]

I seem to recall that local council food standards inspectors are now turning attention to folk that are cooking up meals from home and selling them online. Good idea too if you ask me - I’m sure the Lamb Madras that Mrs Jones at no 23 is lovely, but there need to be some standards applied.

[21TonyK]

It's not particularly difficult. Hand wash facilities, temperature control for cooking and storage which is predominantly about record keeping and basics to prevent cross contamination. Pets can be an issue and simple things like not having the back door open to prevent pests.

You don't have to have a perfect kitchen to operate, just meet the minimum standards which are actually pretty low.

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/setting-...

Edited by 21TonyK on Saturday 3rd July 10:18

[Riley Blue]

it's no different from WI members making jam or people cooking for Country Markets at home and with Covid having closed the markets it's probably the same people doing the cooking. I've noticed that since things have been opening up, the Facebook delights have all but stopped; wax melts seem to be the FB thing now.

A one-day course in food hygiene used to be all that was necessary and I don't remember any kitchens being inspected when my O/H and several of her friends sold their cooking at a market.

[21TonyK]

Riley Blue said:

it's no different from WI members making jam or people cooking for Country Markets at home and with Covid having closed the markets it's probably the same people doing the cooking. I've noticed that since things have been opening up, the Facebook delights have all but stopped; wax melts seem to be the FB thing now.

A one-day course in food hygiene used to be all that was necessary and I don't remember any kitchens being inspected when my O/H and several of her friends sold their cooking at a market.

£20 for an online course is enough to keep environmental health happy but they are supposed to inspect newly registered premises within 30 days, not that thats been happening. I registered a new site over a year ago and its not been inspected yet.

[Monkeylegend]

Just make sure you don't poison anybody.

[Venisonpie]

Monkeylegend said:

Just make sure you don't poison anybody.

Bugger, that's what I was going to do.

[Venisonpie]

21TonyK said:

It's not particularly difficult. Hand wash facilities, temperature control for cooking and storage which is predominantly about record keeping and basics to prevent cross contamination. Pets can be an issue and simple things like not having the back door open to prevent pests.

You don't have to have a perfect kitchen to operate, just meet the minimum standards which are actually pretty low.

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/setting-...

Edited by 21TonyK on Saturday 3rd July 10:18

That's useful, thanks v much.

[21TonyK]

Venisonpie said:

That's useful, thanks v much.

You're welcome. Have a look through this lot, this is the basic system they like to see in place. If you can follow and evidence this you will have very few issues. Happy to help if I can.

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/safer-fo...

[Riley Blue]

Two 10" pies please.

[Venisonpie]

21TonyK said:

Venisonpie said:

That's useful, thanks v much.

You're welcome. Have a look through this lot, this is the basic system they like to see in place. If you can follow and evidence this you will have very few issues. Happy to help if I can.

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/safer-fo...

Again, thanks and super helpful.

I can see from your links that process is key - in addition are there any physical attributes a kitchen needs to have?

For example, does there need to be more than one sink/washing station and does the kitchen need to be fully enclosed? My kitchen (ground floor flat in a Victorian townhouse) is an early 2000's design with a single sink (dual basin) but doesn't have a door between it and the living room. Also it's located next to the bathroom as part of the 70's conversion. I've read that having a mesh to cover opening windows is required?
It currently only has one fridge but I see this isn't a stopper although I can easily add another one albeit not in the kitchen.

It's the premises layout that I'm wrestling with most as there doesn't appear to be a set requirement unless I've overlooked it. Apologies for the somewhat incoherent nature of the post!

[21TonyK]

Venisonpie said:

21TonyK said:

Venisonpie said:

That's useful, thanks v much.

You're welcome. Have a look through this lot, this is the basic system they like to see in place. If you can follow and evidence this you will have very few issues. Happy to help if I can.

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/safer-fo...

Again, thanks and super helpful.

I can see from your links that process is key - in addition are there any physical attributes a kitchen needs to have?

For example, does there need to be more than one sink/washing station and does the kitchen need to be fully enclosed? My kitchen (ground floor flat in a Victorian townhouse) is an early 2000's design with a single sink (dual basin) but doesn't have a door between it and the living room. Also it's located next to the bathroom as part of the 70's conversion. I've read that having a mesh to cover opening windows is required?
It currently only has one fridge but I see this isn't a stopper although I can easily add another one albeit not in the kitchen.

It's the premises layout that I'm wrestling with most as there doesn't appear to be a set requirement unless I've overlooked it. Apologies for the somewhat incoherent nature of the post!

A domestic kitchen is never going to work in the same way a commercial one does in terms of facilities. The main criteria for sinks is that you have hand wash facilities with adequate hot water in the food prep area. Most domestic kitchens don't have this. But if you have a double bowl sink and is labelled "hand wash only" and the other "veg prep & wash up" you could argue you have facilities. You then need to document how these are used, ie. all necessary veg wash and prep is done before the sink changes use for washing up. As for the bathroom... that needs to be lobbied and not open directly onto the kitchen (or lounge).

The fridge is the easy bit. Just needs a thermometer and log the temp start and end of day.

Fly screens on windows and doors are a good thing but you could write a procedure that states all windows and doors are kept shut when the kitchen is in use (difficult when its open to the lounge though).

What you are making will also influence how strict things are. You will always need to meet the minimum standards but if you were producing something like a pate there would be a lot more hoops to jump through compared to something like fudge.

[Venisonpie]

21TonyK said:

A domestic kitchen is never going to work in the same way a commercial one does in terms of facilities. The main criteria for sinks is that you have hand wash facilities with adequate hot water in the food prep area. Most domestic kitchens don't have this. But if you have a double bowl sink and is labelled "hand wash only" and the other "veg prep & wash up" you could argue you have facilities. You then need to document how these are used, ie. all necessary veg wash and prep is done before the sink changes use for washing up. As for the bathroom... that needs to be lobbied and not open directly onto the kitchen (or lounge).

The fridge is the easy bit. Just needs a thermometer and log the temp start and end of day.

Fly screens on windows and doors are a good thing but you could write a procedure that states all windows and doors are kept shut when the kitchen is in use (difficult when its open to the lounge though).

What you are making will also influence how strict things are. You will always need to meet the minimum standards but if you were producing something like a pate there would be a lot more hoops to jump through compared to something like fudge.

Thanks again. If I posted up a v short video of the kitchen would you be kind enough to critique?

[21TonyK]

Venisonpie said:

Thanks again. If I posted up a v short video of the kitchen would you be kind enough to critique?

Not a problem. Email me a link.

[Venisonpie]

21TonyK said:

Not a problem. Email me a link.

Thanks, will do. It'll be a bit later in the week as not home for a few days.

Very much appreciated.