Food safety legislation

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Food safety officer testing food premises

All food premises in Renfrewshire must register with the council.
Anyone starting a new food business must register at least 28 days before opening for business. If you need a registration form you can:

download the form from this page, fill it in, sign it and post it back, or
contact Environmental Services on 0141 840 3106

Food premises registration form (pdf - 251KB)

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Inspections

Environmental health officers and food safety officers inspect all food premises in Renfrewshire in terms of the council's food enforcement policy and other legal powers. Visits are planned and organised using a priority system which is based on the potential risk of the operations carried out within the premises. High risk premises include hospital kitchens, food manufacturers and large catering establishments. Low risk premises include small retailers of packaged foods. Most food premises are of medium risk, such as public houses which serve lunches.

Food enforcement policy (Warning, pdf may take some time to download due to the large file size - 682KB)

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Enforcement

Enforcement officers can use their legal powers to improve hygiene standards in premises, and to prohibit food premises or processes being used. They also carry out routine bacteriological and chemical sampling of foods manufactured, produced or sold in Renfrewshire. Another important aspect of the work of enforcement officers is the checking of food standards such as labelling, decorative ingredients, and other statutory ingredients all of which have to conform to current legislation.

All food businesses require to have a written food safety management system. A simple safe food manual has been developed to help with this. The manual takes you through all the relevant subjects such as