Renfrewshire Council

These are usually premises that process raw food to produce ready to eat foods.

Examples of these would be manufacturers who produce:

• Meat products e.g. ham, salami
• Dairy products e.g. pasteurised milk, cheese
• Egg products e.g. egg powder
• Fish products e.g. smoked fish

Approval would also be required for businesses that make or process the following:

• Minced meat
• Meat preparations
• Mechanically separated meat
• Meat products
• Harvesting and processing live bivalve molluscs
• Fishery products
• Dairy products
• Eggs and egg products
• Frogs legs and snails
• Rendered animal fats and greaves
• Treated stomachs, bladders and intestines
• Gelatine and collagen
• Certain cold stores
• Certain wholesale markets

If your food business requires approval there are a number of requirements which need to be followed. You cannot operate until your food operation has been approved by this authority.

It is an offence to operate a premises, which requires approval without having received notification from the local authority that the application for approval has been granted.

Exceptions

If you are a retailer, or have a genuine retail element to your business (e.g. farm gate sales) and intend to supply other retailers or caterers, you could be exempt from approval if the supply of the food of animal origin is "marginal, localised and restricted".

• Marginal - a small part of the establishments business - meaning up to a quarter of the business in terms of food or less than 2 tonnes in terms of meat.
• Localised - sales within the supplying establishments own authority plus the greater of either the neighbouring authorities or 30 miles from the boundary of the supplying establishment's authority.
• Restricted - only certain types of products being made or establishments being supplied.

If you think your business may be eligible for an exemption contact us.

Applying for approval

If you think your proposed food business may need approval please contact us. You will need to complete an application form (see 'related media' section of this page). You are also required to provide a detailed scale plan of the premises and a description of the proposed arrangements of your business. This will include the arrangements for:

• Waste collection and disposal arrangements
• Arrangements for monitoring staff health and staff hygiene training
• Record keeping
• Water supply quality testing arrangements
• Arrangements for product testing (shelf life/microbiological/water)
• Pest control arrangements
• Applying the identification mark to product packaging or wrapping

Once we have received your completed application we will arrange a visit to your proposed premises. At the visit there may need to be a planned programme of works in order to achieve approval and you and/or your employees may need to gain further training proportionate to the size and nature of your business.

Once your business is approved we will issue your establishment with a unique approval number. This makes up part of the identification mark which must be applied to your products and documentation. This is in the form of an oval mark containing the unique 3 digit approval number which ensures that the products are traceable back to your company.

If you have any complaints or queries about products which you believe have been made in an approved premises in Renfrewshire please contact us.