Opening a café Information for one and two man companies Opening a café If you are starting, taking over or running a simple, small café, you will be able to find information that is important for you and your business in this brochure. The information primarily applies to cafés where food is not cooked, but can be applied to many types of café businesses. If you are also going to cook food in your café, greater demands are made of your business and you may then need further information about this. There is no clear definition of what a café is in the food legislation. What you serve must be safe Everyone serving or selling food to the general public has a responsibility that the food is safe to eat. Even if 2 you have a business that does not need to be registered at a municipal control authority, it is your responsibility that the food you sell is safe. Whether the business needs to be registered or not depends on it’s size and what continuity. Selling on an occasional basis, such as at a market, may be a business that does not need to be registered. Other examples of businesses that do not need to be registered are when a hairdresser serves coffee and biscuits and when parents bake buns for children to sell under the school’s auspices. You should contact your local authority to find out whether your business needs to be registered or not. N.B. Not all the rules are included here. The contents of this brochure are intended to give an overview of the legislation that affects you. There are also references to further rules that you may be obliged to know about. Starting your business Contact your local authority When you want to start a food business, for example a café with regular sales, you must register this at your control authority, which in this case is the environmental health service at your local municipal authority. The premises or space for your business do not need to be inspected before the business is started. The business may be started 14 days after the local authority has received your registration. Some time after you have started your business, the local authority will visit you. The authority charges a fee for processing registration applications and an annual inspection fee. This is what you need to include in your registration application for your business: • Name and address of the food business operator • Corporate identity number, personal identity number or coordination number • Premises, space or place where the business is to be run • A description of the nature and scope of the business • Any other information that the control authority requests • Remember that a special permit is required if you want have an outdoor café. You apply for a permit for this at your local authority as well. Other permits and registrations It is not only the food legislation that makes demands of you when you are going to start or run a company. The Swedish Tax Agency and the Swedish Companies Registration Office have a joint service for the registration of companies. Your local control authority can advise you about permits for: • serving and selling alcohol and beer • street trading and outdoor cafés • inflammable goods, cooling media • building permission, water and drainage facilities • grease separation, ventilation control, chimney sweeping • garbage collection, recycling, hazardous waste • returnable packaging 3 Find out what rules apply The rules exist to protect the consumer The food legislation has two main purposes: • to protect the consumer from food that is injurious to health and • to ensure that labelling gives the consumer sufficient information so that he or she will be able to make independent and safe choices. Food information and labelling of food must not mislead the consumer. This applies to all food businesses Responsibility As a food business operator, you are responsible for the food that you manufacture, transport, store or sell. For example, you must follow the rules concerning safety and labelling. Traceability A supplier and a batch must be able to be identified rapidly. Openness You must immediately inform the relevant authorities and consumers if there is reason to suspect that food is not safe. “CAN I RUN A CAFÉ BUSINESS IN MY OWN HOME?” – Yes, if you meet the requirements for safe handling of food, there are no obstacles to running your business at home! 4 Preventive You must regularly review critical points in your business and ensure that they are checked. Control You must ensure that the business meets the objectives of the legislation. Controlling your own business What is it that should be controlled? Your own control procedures are your system to ensure that your business meets the legislation’s requirements and that the food you serve is safe. You should have fixed procedures for what needs to be done and how it is to be done. It is preferable that the procedures are written down, but there is no requirement to do so for a small café. This brochure is meant for people who have a simple business, for example making sandwiches, heating ready-made pies and baking buns and biscuits. There are a number of things to think about regarding the safe handling of food even for this type of business. READ MORE At the end of the brochure you will find references to legislation and other information that may be important for you. Requirements for your business Knowledge As a food business operator it is very important to have a knowledge of infectious substances, routes of infection, personal hygiene and allergens, substances that may give rise to allergic reactions. A common cause of food poisoning is insufficient knowledge of food hygiene. It is you as food business operator that is responsible for you and any staff having the right knowledge. There are no special training requirements. Personal hygiene There should be procedures for personal hygiene, so that the food is not infected by those handling it. It may be a question of bacteria, viruses and/or allergens. If you have an illness or symptoms that result in nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, coughing, a sore throat, a cold or sores, there is a risk that you will transmit the infection to food. Bear in mind that you can spread infections without displaying symptoms yourself. If you have sores, you should cover them with a plaster. Sores on your hands should have water-resistant plasters and you should use protective gloves. Washing your hands is one of the most fundamental things with regard to hygiene. By washing your hands thoroughly when necessary, you avoid spreading dangerous bacteria to food. For the same reasons it is important to have clean and functional working clothes. Premises and equipment come into contact with food should be designed so that they can be cleaned. You must also be able to clean and store equipment in your premises. The premises should also be safe from the point of view of pests. Flow Remember to design the premises so that you avoid “crossflows”. What is clean should not come into contact with what is dirty. Customers should not pass through areas where foodstuffs are prepared. There should be a staff toilet with a wash basin and it should not be immediately adjacent to the area where foodstuffs are prepared. Storage Remember that there should be sufficient storage space for food and equipment. Storage directly on the floor makes cleaning more difficult and is therefore not appropriate. Food, for example raw food products and prepared food, often need to be kept separate in order to avoid contamination. You should also remember that there may be substances that can give rise to allergy. Cleaning equipment also needs a separate space in order to avoid contamination. Obviously rubbish needs to have a container or space of its own. Washing up and cleaning Dirt and food leftovers allow bacteria to grow. Thorough cleaning prevents the growth of bacteria and thus reduces the risk of customers falling sick due to the food. Your café’s premises, furnishing and equipment must be designed so that it is possible to keep everything clean. It is important to keep clean and dirty items apart. For example, dirty dishes should have an area of their own where they can be placed, so as not to make clean utensils dirty. The legislation does not give detailed information about how premises and equipment should be designed. You yourself are responsible for designing the premises so that they are suitable and so that they work. Pests should be kept out Rodents, insects and birds are regarded as pests. They may be carriers of disease and destroy food and Some advice for premises: Easy to clean It should be easy to clean the premises. The premises and the equipment should be designed so that dirt and food leftovers do not collect. You should be able to get at all areas so that they can be cleaned. Materials that MAKE SURE YOU WASH YOUR HANDS: • before you touch food • after you have touched food • after a break • after you have been to the toilet • after cleaning the premises 5 “CAN A CUSTOMER BRING A DOG OR ANOTHER PET INTO THE CAFÉ?” It is up to the café owner whether you can bring an animal into the part of the café where customers are served. The legislation says that pets are not allowed in areas where food is stored, prepared or cooked. equipment. Therefore, you must have thought through how to prevent and combat pests. The premises should be designed so that pests are kept out. Other good ways of preventing pests are to have good waste management. Temperature It is your responsibility that food is stored at the right temperature. It is important to maintain the “cold chain”, that is to say that refrigerated goods are kept at refrigeration temperatures until they are used. The safest way of thawing frozen food is to thaw it in the refrigerator. Prepared food that is to be refrigerated should be refrigerated as quickly as possible. Milk that is out to be taken by guests may be placed on a cold plate, for example. Perishable foods Some foods are more perishable than others. Prawns, eggs and ham are examples of perishable foods that bacteria may grow on and cause diseases if the foodstuffs are not stored cold. Sandwiches, for example, or a salad therefore must be kept cool until served. Drinking water If you do not use municipal drinking water, but take water from your own or another private water source, you must inform the local control authority of this when you register your business. N.B. Remember that ice must also meet the requirements for drinking water! Food information and labelling Labelling is important so that people know what they are buying. The main rule is that all pre-packaged foods must be labelled. Prepacked food does not cover foods REFRIGERATED GOODS • Put into a refrigerator immediately upon delivery • Do not let them stand at room temperature • Check the temperature of the refrigerator regularly 6 packed on the sales premises at the consumers request or prepacked for direct sale. For these types of foods, mandatory information may be provided either written or orally. N.B. Remember that food informatio comprises both the text, pictures and other decoration in conjunction with sales, for example signs and shelf labels. READ MORE Information about non-prepacked food (Pdf in swedish only) Traceability and recall There are traceability requirements for all food businesses. The rules require that you are able to quickly give information about where you have bought or acquired your foodstuffs. You must be able to produce details of the supplier’s name and address. Information such as name and address of the supplier or costumer and what, when and how much has been purchased or sold, should be documented. This means for example that you can save receipts and any delivery notes for the food that you buy. If you suspect that food that you have served is not safe you must inform your supplier and the control authority about this. If a foodstuff must be recalled, any sources and distribution can be found thanks to its traceability. Reduce the risk of allergy Allergens are natural substances that may occur in food. Allergens, often proteins, may cause severe reactions in people who are allergic to the substances. Sometimes very small amounts may be enough for an allergic person to become very ill. Foods that contain known allergens should be appropriately labelled. You are also responsible to give allergen information, either written or orally, about non-prepacked food. Sometimes allergens can occur in food due to contamination or for some other reason. It is important that you as a food business operator eliminate the risk of your products becoming contaminated with allergens in the production chain. READ MORE Read more about allergens on the National Food Agency’s website. Information about non-prepacked food (Pdf in swedish only) Control and fees Production and control go hand in hand When you start your business, you also begin to exercise control of your business. Organize any procedures, documents, recipes and the like which are used in your business. Try to develop and improve your controls if you can. Even if you make a good start and your controls work, you should continue to work to improve your systems. Remember that if the business changes, for example if you introduce new types of products, there are new requirements and new procedures are necessary. Visit from the control authority The control authority, usually the environmental health service at your local authority, makes inspections to ensure that your food business meets the requirements of the food legislation. An inspector from the local authority assesses whether your business meets the requirements of the legislation. In order to do so, the inspector needs to gain access to the company’s premises to make an inspection and possibly take samples. You will need to describe what procedures you have in your business and show any documentation. The inspection may also comprise the following up of work instructions, questions concerning the personnel’s areas of responsibility etc. The inspection is intended to act as support and an opportunity for you as an entrepreneur and in particular for your business. If the inspector has comments to make on your business, take the opportunity to ask questions so that you understand the problem and how your business is affected by the legislation. You are entitled to a written report on any deviations from the requirements of the legislation. Remember that the inspection may be preannounced, but may also be unannounced. If you can show that you have good controls in your business, the need for local authority inspections decreases. The local authority charges a fee The local authority charges a fee for registration and inspections. Your inspection fee depends on how great the need is to inspect your business. The local authority estimates the need and gives you a decision about the inspection time. Every local authority decides on an hourly rate for food business inspections in the municipality. Your annual inspection fee is calculated by multiplying the inspection time by the hourly rate. For example, 2 hours x 1,000 Swedish crowns = an annual inspection fee of 2,000 Swedish crowns. Even if the fee is paid annually, it is not certain that the local authority will visit you each year. The time you have been given in your decision is the time that the local authority needs to inspect your business. The time covers preparation, the actual visit as well as any follow up work at the local authority offices. Travelling time is not included in the inspection time, however. 7 FOOD LEGISLATION Large parts of the food legislation are objectiveoriented. This means that it is the objective of “safe food” that is the important thing. You can meet the requirements of the legislation in many different ways. The rules do not state in detail how you should act, but what has to be achieved. However you act to achieve the objectives, it must be based on knowledge. It is also your responsibility to know about the legislation that is relevant to your business. You can find legislation on the National Food Agency’s website: • Regulation (EC) number 178/2002 laying down general principles, “The EU’s Food Law” • Regulation (EC) number 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs (applies to all kinds of foodstuffs) “The Hygiene Regulation” • Regulation (EU) number 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers • National Food Agency regulation LIVSFS 2014:4 about food information Guidance can also be found on the following: • approval and registration of food establishments • hygiene • labelling • traceability There are also guidelines that the industry has produced for different areas. For example, there are guidelines for bakery businesses and allergy and other intolerances. You can read about all of this on the National Food Agency’s website. © Livsmedelsverket, maj 2015. Layout: Byrå 4, Uppsala.