Food business advice
If you are starting a new business we can provide a pre-opening advice visit by a Food and Safety or Environmental Health Officer. The officer will then visit and give you advice on various aspects of hygiene, structure and management requirements.
To book your visit, we will need to know:
- the name of your business
- when you are going to start trading
- what you would like advice about
- your payment information
The visit will take a minimum of two hours and costs £178.
What happens next
We will contact you within five working days to confirm your visit.
Free advice
We offer free basic advice by phone or email. You can contact our admin team by phoning 01622 602460 or 01622 602450, or email ehadmin@midkent.gov.uk.
Register your premises
You need to register your premises as a food business if it is used to:
- handle or store food
- make or manufacture food
- deliver food
You need to register your business 28 days before you open it. If you have more than one food outlet you need to register all of them. You need to re-register if the business has a new partner or someone else has taken it over.
If you are taking over a new business you need to register the premises again in your name. You must also tell us of any changes including if the owner of the business changes, the address changes or the nature of the business changes.
Food hygiene ratings
Visit our food hygiene ratings page to find out how:
- we work out ratings
- to appeal or reply to your rating
- to report a premises
Food allergy information
All food businesses that sell loose and pre-packed food, will need to provide clear labelling and information about food allergens to their customers. For more information about allergens visit the Food Standards Agency's website.