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Links in this section:: Aflatoxin Controls; Composite products for human consumption not subject to veterinary checks; Food labelling and composition; Food production - hygiene; Food safety - illness and contamination; Food safety - inspections; Food safety - regulations; Imported food; Licence - butchers' shop; Licence - game dealing; Licence - street cafe; LPHA Food Safety Guidance Notes; Official feed and food control regulations; Organic products regulations; Registration - food businesses; Sudan dyes detected in spices; TRACES; Veterinary checks of products of animal origin
See also:: Food safety - risk assessment

Food

The primary aim of the Food Team is to ensure that food prepared, consumed or stored in the City is safe and free from risks to health, and that the responsibility for ensuring this is both understood and acted upon by food businesses within the Square Mile.

Food Service Plan

The Food Service Plan shows the work for the Food Team over the various areas of food law enforcement and advice - this has been extracted from the overall Environmental Health Service Plan.

Download a copy of the Food service plan 2004-5 here (173kb)

Law enforcement

The general food law enforced in the City can be accessed through the Food Standards Agency's webpages, which contain further links to detailed areas.

A database of City food businesses, some 1970 premises at present, is maintained and regularly updated. More than 2000 visits to food businesses are carried out each year according to the nationally-agreed priority rating systems for Food Hygiene and Food Standards.

The registration of establishments used for a food business (including market stalls, delivery vehicles and other moveable structures) is required by law. A new requirement is that offices of food businesses must be registered even if no food is actively handled there. Further guidance is on the second page of the form, download through the link below. Registration allows local authorities to keep an up-to date list of all those premises in their area so they can visit them when they need to. The frequency of the visits will depend on the type of business.

Download a copy of the registration form here (36kb)

Advice on good practice and compliance is provided to ensure businesses meet common basic standards. Guidance on design, changes in legislation, or matters of public health concern is also given and training courses in basic food hygiene are provided for food handlers throughout the year. Please phone our general services number or email DES-Enquiries@cityoflondon.gov.uk to make enquiry. In addition, a range of health promotion activities is undertaken.

The Basic Food Hygiene Course

People who handle and prepare open unwrapped food such as cooks, kitchen assistants and sandwich bar workers need to attend a basic six hour course in food hygiene - The Basic Food Hygiene Course (Level 1). Managers or Supervisors who handle any type of food also need the basic training. It is good practice for staff in these grades to take further training to Level 2 (Intermediate) or Level 3 (Advanced).

The City of London runs the Basic Food Hygiene Course (Level 1) every other month in our offices at :

Walbrook Wharf,
78-83 Upper Thames Street,
London,
EC4R 3TD.

Click here to view a Google map of the area indicating location of office.

Current course dates are:

15 April 2008
24 June 2008
16 September 2008
25 November 2008

The courses start at 9.00 am and finish at 4.30 pm.

The course costs £45 inclusive per person. An invoice will be issued and customers have the option of paying the City of London's invoice online. See Paying your bill online.

We are currently developing an online application system, but until this is available you can reserve a place on a City of London run Basic Course (Level 1) by contacting Mrs Tricia Jones on telephone 020 7332 3001, by sending an email, or alternatively you can complete an application form and fax it to 020 7332 1623 or post it to:

Mrs Tricia Jones
Department of Environmental Services
City of London,
PO Box 270,
Guildhall, London, EC2P 2EJ

Basic Food Hygiene Course (Level 1) application form (40kb)

Other training providers offer Level 1, 2 and 3 courses. Some offer training on-site or in foreign languages. The following document lists some other training providers but please note that we cannot recommend any particular trainer.

List of other training providers (9kb)

Labelling and Composition

Food sampling is carried out, both as part of a regular monitoring programme in conjunction with other London Boroughs, the Central Public Health Laboratory and the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre at Colindale and the Public Analyst and to target specific areas of concern. There is close liaison with many other organisations, both local and national, to ensure advice given and action taken is as effective, consistent and up to date as possible.

The Team is able to respond rapidly to complaints from members of the public, including the hygiene of premises and the condition or labelling of food purchased.

Please phone our general services number or email DES-Enquiries@cityoflondon.gov.ukto register any complaint on matters of Food Safety within the City of London.

More information can be found on our Food Labelling and Composition page.

Partnerships

In addition they also act as Home Authority and Lead Authority to one of the country’s leading supermarket chains, Sainsbury's Supermarkets providing centralised advice on food standards and food hygiene to this company and on their policies and organisation to other enforcing authorities.

Food poisoning

Notifications of potential cases of food poisoning are investigated in close liaison with the NE London Sector of the Health Protection Agency and allied agencies as necessary, and action taken to limit or prevent the further spread of disease. Information about food alerts issued by the Department of Health and Food Standards Agency are disseminated to food businesses.

Cases of infectious disease occurring in the City are investigated, contacts traced and advice and guidance given on the prevention of spread and recurrence. There is close collaboration with the Consultant in Communicable Disease Control of the NE London Sector of the Health Protection Agency in all cases. Please phone our general services number or email to contact the Department about Food Poisoning or similar diseases.

National Food Safety Week

National Food Safety Week 2006 is 12 -18 June and is the point in the calendar for highlighting food safety and the basic principles of food hygiene. With nearly 80,000 reported cases of food poisoning in the UK in 2005 the National Food Safety Week aims to raise awareness of the importance of food hygiene to everyone preparing, cooking and storing food.

The theme for this year’s National Food Safety Week is on raising awareness of the 4 Cs for Food Safety: Cleanliness, Cooking, Chilling and Cross-contamination.

Cleanliness: Keep your kitchen, equipment and work surfaces clean
Cooking: Make sure food is properly cooked before eating
Chilling: Keep perishable foods cold until you cook or eat them
Cross-contamination: Don’t let harmful germs spread around your kitchen

Newsletters from previous years are also available.

A leaflet providing advice to caterers on severe food allergies has also been published and is available to download below.

Download the food allergies leaflet here (883kb)
Download the 2006 City Food Newsletter here (2.72mb)
Download the 2005 City Food Newsletter here (1kb)
Download the 2004 City Food newsletter here (1.2mb)
Download the 2003 Food for Thought guidelines here (241kb)

Food labelling and composition: A local authority trading standards department will provide information on general labelling of pre-packed food. They will ensure that any legislation on food labelling is complied with by manufacturers and suppliers.

Food production - hygiene: Ensuring standards are maintained in all aspect of food production and distribution, animal health and agriculture. This may involve inspections, investigation of complaints and enforcement.

Food safety - illness and contamination: This service investigates food poisoning and certain other food borne illnesses to prevent the spread of illness within the community and to try and establish possible causes.

Food safety - inspections: The local authority carries out regular checks on all food premises to ensure the public is protected and that high standards are maintained. Inspections take place on a frequency determined by the perceived risk in each premises and ensure that risks have been identified, staff are adequately trained and the condition and cleanliness of the premises meets required standards.

Food safety - regulations: Food legislation places an obligation on food business operators to ensure that all their activities are carried out in a hygienic way and makes it an offence to supply food which is unsafe or harmful to human health. Local Authorities are responsible for ensuring that businesses comply with these requirements. Environmental health teams deal with hygiene except at primary production (farms), where Trading Standards and other bodies have responsibility.

Licence - butchers' shop: Butchers' shop licensing is being withdrawn across the UK from the end of 2005. From 1 January 2006, all retail butchers will be subject to the new EC hygiene regulations that apply to all other retail and catering businesses. These regulations are very similar to the existing hygiene rules, but include a new requirement to operate HACCP-based food safety management procedures.

Licence - game dealing: The council processes applications for Game Dealer's licences under section 18 of the Game Act, 1831; and section 14 of the Gaming Licences Act, 1860

Licence - street cafe: Under the Highways Act 1980 or Roads Scotland Act 1984 (section 59) permission is required from the local authority to place furniture on pavements - other legislation may apply depending on the premises.

Registration - food businesses: Food businesses must be registered with the local authority 28 days prior to commencement of business. Failure to register is an automatic offence under The Food Premises (Registration) Regulations 1991. Butcher shops and premises selling raw and cooked meats are subject to separate legislation..