Food safety advice

If you have a food business in Trafford, we're now offering you the chance to have an optional advisory visit ahead of an unannounced food hygiene inspection.

We have experienced Environmental Health Officers available to provide hygiene advice to:

  • New businesses before they start trading, to ensure that things are right first time.
  • Existing businesses who have experienced difficulties between routine inspections or would like to request a visit before the routine inspection is due.
  • Existing businesses who have more technical questions and require complex food safety advice, or are maybe thinking of introducing a different manufacturing process or wish us to review specific documentation.

Types of advice

Simple advice

If you have a single question that will be quick to respond to, we will answer this free of charge.

Advice for new businesses

Before you open a food business in Trafford you can obtain advice from a food safety officer who will be able to make you aware of all the food hygiene requirements that you need to consider before you start trading.

There is a charge for this service of £154 (including VAT) which includes the following:

  • A food safety officer will arrange to meet you at a convenient time to discuss food safety requirements, at your proposed premises.
  • Undertake a pre-inspection of the proposed premises and issue you with a report, highlighting all the issues that require your attention before the full registration inspection takes place.

Advice for existing businesses

Existing businesses can also request an advisory visit, if you want to improve your food hygiene rating or you a looking at carry out a new process and would like advice. This visit is likely to take up to two hours of officer time (including travelling) and is charged at £154 and would include:

  • A full review of your premises and food safety documentation i.e. Safer Food Better Business (SFBB) before the routine inspection due date.
  • The officer will discuss with you the legal requirements and advisory matters that require your attention and issue a report, listing all the requirements that need to be addressed to improve your rating.
  • Other requests for advice can be tailored to your business requirements.

Once payment has been made online, a food safety officer will contact you to discuss your exact needs. If you have taken steps to improve hygiene standards since the last routine inspection you can request a revisit for a food safety officer to re-assess the hygiene rating awarded. This can be done by completing the revisit request form and paying the £189 fee.

Complex food safety advice

If you require specialist food safety advice of a more technical nature, for instance detailed food labelling advice or the assessment of HACCP records and procedures or the implementation of a specific food process, it may be more appropriate to seek advice on an hourly rate basis.

Currently we offer this service at £95 an hour (including VAT). Email us, to speak to an officer who can explore your specific requirements in more detail with you.

Payments

First you need to make a payment online. Once payment has been made an officer will contact you to discuss your requirements and arrange a suitable time to visit the premises. You can also request a food hygiene rating revisit

An advisory visit does not guarantee a higher rating on the National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme but it should help you comply with regulations and may identify areas you need to improve on. If you’d like to discuss your specific needs with an officer, contact us. 

Make a payment online

Refunds

If no visit or work has been undertaken by the officer a full refund will be made, less a £10 administration fee. If an officer has visited the premises on the arranged date and the applicant fails to attend, no refund will be available.

Primary authority

A primary authority partnership is a legal partnership between a business and a local authority or fire service. Our Regulatory Services Teams form part of the Greater Manchester Regulatory Centre of Excellence (GMRCE) with the nine other local authorities in Greater Manchester. In engaging the services of GMRCE, you will have access to experts in environmental health, trading standards, licensing and fire safety from all ten GM local authorities as well as the Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service (GMFRS).

Any business regardless of size can access primary authority services. Through a primary authority partnership, you will receive specialist scrutiny of your policies, practices and products in a safe environment by those that enforce the law. You can access robust and reliable advice that other councils must take into account when inspecting your premises or product or dealing with a non-compliance issue. This will help to avoid duplication by enforcement bodies and could help reduce the risk of enforcement action that can be reputationally and financially damaging.

Some further benefits of primary authority include the following:

  • Access to experts from ten local authorities and GMFRS through a single point of contact
  • Expert help so you can get regulation right first time and reduce the risk of costly mistakes
  • Best practice guidance to meet your legal requirements
  • Single point of contact for dealing with complaints from other local councils or fire authorities
  • Primary authority partner logo in recognition of your robust and compliant procedures
  • Greater consistency, increased efficiency, compliance with legal requirements and ultimately savings in time and money

Primary authority services are charged at a cost-recovery rate of £95 per hour (VAT exempt). We will discuss during an initial meeting how many hours advice you will initially need for your business.

Check out our FAQs for more details, and the testimonials for more details on how it has benefitted businesses in Greater Manchester and beyond. Further guidance is also available on the GOV.UK.