Although you will need to register your food business we do not routinely inspect low risk food businesses. However, you will need to provide us with information about your food business to help us decide if it is a high or low risk business.
Examples of both high and low risk food businesses can be found in the food business decision tree.
On registration, low risk businesses will be contacted by a food safety officer and asked to complete a food business questionnaire.
Please visit our food safety guidance and food business registration pages for more information about the food safety requirements you will need to meet.
Alternative enforcement strategy for low risk food businesses
You may be aware that Bromley’s Food Safety Team carries out food hygiene inspections of premises in the borough that prepare, store or distribute food. If you operate a food business; in your home, in a commercial or retail premises, a mobile catering unit or van, a market stall, or you run a community group or organisation in a church hall or school premises your business may be designated as a low risk food business by the food safety team.
To help fulfil the requirements of our food safety inspection programme and to determine if your business should be include in our inspection programme, we contact our low risk food businesses every three years and ask them to complete a food business questionnaire. The information you provide will help us to decide whether a food hygiene inspection should be carried out. Premises that are considered to be higher-risk and premises for which no questionnaire has been returned will be included in our inspection programme.
Food business decision tree
The information given below is intended as a guide for new food businesses. The final decision about whether your food business is a high or low risk will be made by the food safety team when they have received your completed food business questionnaire.
There are many different types of food businesses the examples below are intended as a guide.
Examples of low risk food business activity
Food prepared and or sold by you, from home, a commercial or retail premises, on a market stall, mobile catering unit or van, church hall or school premises, or supplied direct to the public by home retail or online sales.
- Home baking where the final product can be stored at ambient room temperature with no requirement for refrigeration
- Infused alcohol where fruits are sloed to flavour – however an alcohol license will be required
- Providing cookery classes to people
- Jam and chutney making
- Honey production
- Chocolate production
- Homemade cereals and cereal bars, flapjacks, loose dried fruits and nuts assembled or pre packed by seller
- Health product, vitamins, supplements nuts and dried fruits assembled or pre packed by seller
- Cake decoration items (edible and non-edible)
- Sweets and confectionary assembled or pre packed by seller and loose
- Prepared olives and flavoured oil (olive, truffle)
- Making up and selling hampers of pre-packaged food not requiring temperature control
- Breakfast and after school clubs supplying cereal, toast etc.
- Mobile coffee vans serving pre - packed cakes and pastries
- Greengrocers selling whole fruit and vegetables.
Examples of high risk food business activity
- Food prepared and or sold by you, from home, a commercial or retail premises, on a market stall, mobile catering unit or van, church hall or school premises, or supplied direct to the public by home retail or online sales.
- Home baking where the final product contains fresh cream and lightly cooked shell eggs and that requires refrigeration before it is served.
- Preparation of raw meat and ready to eat foods in the same kitchen
- Baby food production
- Infused oils which have the ability for clostridium botulinum growth
- Sandwich rounds or production of sandwiches or other perishable foods
- Homemade ice cream
- Providing and handling of undercooked or raw foods like sashimi, ceviche or meats cooked rare as well as vacuum packed foods and sous vide processes.