Registration and Inspection of Food
Premises
Registration of premises used for a food business (including
market stalls, delivery vehicles and other moveable structures) is
required by law. It allows local authorities to keep an up-to-date
list of all premises in their area.
The Food and Safety Group carry out regular checks on all food
premises registered in the South Lakeland area to ensure that the
public is protected and that high standards are maintained.
Visits to premises are carried out, as far as possible,
without any prior notification and are priority programmed
according to the degree of potential risk. This ensures that higher
risk premises are visited more frequently than lower risk
categories. Certain lower category inspections are now covered by
an alternative
strategy
The Environmental Health Officer inspecting the premise will
check that all potential food safety risks have been identified and
that there are adequate controls in place to prevent any problems.
They will also look at the training of all employees involved in
food preparation to ensure that they meet minimum legal
requirements. A check on the condition of the premises and
equipment is also carried out.
If practices and/or conditions are not satisfactory then every
attempt will be made to resolve the situation by informal means,
but where poor conditions persist, or where there is a risk to
public health then it may be necessary to resort to formal action
by the service of a legal notice, prosecution or even closure of
the business.