Do I Have to Register as a Food Business?
The Food Standards Agency, following discussions with the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills and the National Childminding Association, has provided the following advice to help identify whether childcarers, such as childminders, should be considered as a food business operators.
If you provide no more than the following levels of food service as part of your normal business, you should not be required to register as a food business operator:
- Provision of mains drinking water
- Provision of crockery and cutlery for use by children to eat their own packed lunches
- Provision of chilled storage for packed lunches that belong to the children
- Occasional assistance to children with cutting up their own food in response to individual need rather than as an established service
- Occasional provision of food that is not part of the normal service - for example, a cake to celebrate a child’s birthday or provision of food where a parent/guardian has been delayed
- Operating in the child's own home and serving food that belongs to the child's parent/guardian - for example nannies and home childcarers
The regular provision of snacks or soft drinks as part of the normal service would require registration as a food business.
Please note that the advice in the leaflet is aimed at registered childcarers on domestic premises, including childminders, and is not intended for nannies and home childcarers or care operating from non-domestic premises such as nurseries, care homes and schools.
Food Hygiene Regulations
Since 2006, many childcarers, such as childminders, have been covered by food hygiene regulations. These regulations do not apply to all childcarers - it depends on whether they regularly provide snacks or meals for the children in their care (see above).
Last Updated on Wednesday, May 8, 2024