Direct Selling
FOOD PRODUCTION—GUIDELINES FOR DIRECT SELLING
Environmental Health
There are three main actions required, relating to environmental health, if you wish to sell your own produce.
1) You must register your premises (in this case, your house) with the Environmental Health Office (EHO) in the area that you live, (eg North Somerset, Sedgemoor etc). This involves completing a simple form.
2) You are required to set up a food safety system to show that your product has traceability and that you are following acceptable levels of food and kitchen hygiene.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) will supply a folder called Safer Food Better Business which contains advice, tick box compliance sheets and production sheets to fill in. At a later date you may wish to modify these sheets but they are an excellent starting point.
3) Anyone producing food for sale is required to have received food and personal hygiene training to a minimum of level 2. This involves six hours of training in various aspects of food hygiene. There are various bodies that are able to supply this training.
Trading Standards
The other body which has to be complied with is Trading Standards, the main areas involving smallholders are labelling and weights and measures. Weights and Measures are not dealt with in this article. Items which are prepacked for direct sale have simpler labels than those for sale to a third party retailer.
The following notes are for direct sales only.
The Food Labelling Regulations are laid down by the FSA, although every local authority interprets them in their own way. It is recommended that you discuss your labels with the trading standards officer in your area.
The following are general guidelines to the rules:
Fresh vegetables and fruit
These are sold by weight, which must be in metric. You can put an imperial weight but it must be less prominent.
The label should clearly show the name of the product (eg runner beans), the weight and the price. Potatoes and melons must have the variety on the label (e.g. Pentland Javelin)
Jams, Jellies and Chutneys
Jams and Jellies must only be sold in specific weights ie 57g, 113g, 227g, 340g, 454g, 680g, and multiples of 454g. The minimum fruit content is also specified in the rules but this is not a problem with traditionally made jams and jellies. Marmalade can only be made from citrus fruits.
The label must show the name of the product eg Strawberry jam, the name and address of the producer, the net weight and any additives and allergens.
Cakes and Pastries
Cakes do not have to be named but if they are, it must be an accurate description eg coffee and walnut cake must contain coffee and walnuts. If cakes and pastries are sold in a transparent packaging they only need a price label. However it is good practice to put the producers name and address and a list of ingredients, especially if allergens eg milk etc are present.
The producer is required to have a clearly visible sign on their stall giving their name and address and the fact that allergens may be present.
Eggs
If you have less than 50 birds and are selling ungraded eggs, the following labelling requirements apply:
a) A best before date must be given. This should be no more than 28 days from date of lay
b) Storage advice eg keep in refrigerator
c) Method of production
i) Free range eggs
ii) Barn eggs
iii) Eggs from caged birds
d) Clear pricing.
General
All stands for direct sales must have a clear sign showing the producers full name and address.
To comply with the labelling rules for direct selling, only the producer can sell from the stand ie not a third party otherwise more stringent labelling rules apply.
Useful Websites :
www.foodstandards.gov.uk/foodindustry/guidancenotes
Lesley Stimson kindly sent in this article following the postponement of her scheduled talk at Ruishton