Butchers Shops

Fact sheet

We have produced this advice note to:

Answer common questions that people ask about butchers' shop licensing; and
Give advice on how butchers can meet the legal requirements

What are the requirements?

The Government created a law in 2000 that made it a criminal offence to run a butcher's shop without a licence. You must renew your licence every year.

Is my shop a butcher's shop?

If you handle unwrapped raw meat and ready-to-eat foods in the same shop, your shop is a butcher's shop. Raw meat means fresh, frozen or chilled meat, including red meat, poultry, rabbit and game.

What are 'ready-to-eat foods'?

A ready-to-eat food is any food, either open or pre-wrapped, that could be eaten either hot or cold without any more major cooking or processing. Foods that are lightly washed or cut into portions before eating are still considered ready to eat.

Examples are:

Sliced cooked meats
Pies
Sausage rolls
Black pudding
Cooked and roast chickens
Sandwiches and filled rolls
Dairy products such as milk and cheese
Fruit
Pre-washed or topped and tailed vegetables
Prepared vegetable salads
Whole salad items such as tomatoes or cucumbers
Quiches
Scotch eggs
Savoury pies
Open or tinned ready-to-eat fish
Jams
Condiments, for example salt and pepper
Bread
Chocolate
Sweets
Biscuits

What isn't a 'ready-to-eat food'?

Anything that would normally be cooked or treated before you eat it is not a ready-to-eat food. For example, uncooked potato, raw eggs, wet or frozen fish, rice, flour, raw minced meat, sausages, and burgers.

When I do sell raw meat, I put it in a bag before I put it on display. Does this mean that I don't have to be licensed?

No, you will still need a licence. If you operate without a licence, meat must be pre-packed when it arrives at your shop and stay in the packing until it is sold.

Also, the wrapping must be sealed to stop blood or meat juice escaping from the meat or the packaging (for example, vacuum-packed, cans, jars and tins). If it is in cardboard packaging, a plastic bag or cling film, it is classed as being unwrapped and you will need a licence.

How do I get a licence?

You need the form 'Application for a Butchers' Shop Licence.' You can get one by ringing 020 8227 5640. You must then fill in the form and return it to us with the yearly fee of £100.

What do I need to have to show I can renew the licence?

You must do the following before a local authority can renew a licence.

Meet existing food-safety regulations
Meet the requirements for training staff
Follow Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point procedures
Keep records for staff training and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point procedures

1. Meeting existing legislation

You must meet the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995 and the Food Safety (Temperature Control) Regulations 1995, where appropriate. We suggest that you find the letters we have sent you following previous visits and make sure you are still following the requirements.

You can get more advice in the 'Retail Industry Guide to Good Hygiene Practice' and in the industry guide supplement for the retail butchery sector. Both are available from Chadwick House Group Limited (phone 020 7827 5882) and cost about £3.60.

2. Meeting the requirements for training staff

Everyone who works in a butcher's shop and handles food must receive hygiene training. At least one member of staff at supervisory level must receive training to a level that allows him or her to supervise the food activities in the business and the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system.

The licensing regulations do not set out specific training levels that need to be achieved in both cases. However, basic or level-1 food-hygiene courses from the main awarding bodies, such as Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene, Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, are likely to fulfil this requirement in relation to food handlers.

Intermediate or level-2 food-hygiene training courses are likely to fulfil the training requirement for staff at supervisory level, as would the Meat and Livestock Commission's Meat Manager's Hygiene and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point course (which you should have already passed if you are part of the Meat and Livestock Commission's recent Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point initiative).

Any new employees must receive formal training within 3 months of starting work. Until that time, they should be closely instructed and supervised.

3. Following Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point procedures

Premises must follow Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point food-safety management procedures.

Food hazards in the shop must be correctly identified and effective arrangements must be put in place to control the steps and activities that are critical for food safety.

The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plan should describe the checks or monitoring arrangements that are in place for any controls that are critical for final food safety, including the action that needs to be taken if critical limits are broken. You should review the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plan at least once a year to make sure it is still relevant.

You may want to group together food items that have similar characteristics, process steps and critical control points within the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plan.

4. Keeping records

You must keep records for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point procedures and staff hygiene training.

You must keep the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plan, the staff hygiene training records, and records which show how the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plan has been put into practice (for example, temperature records and cleaning schedules and records) at the premises for at least 1 year from the date they are created. The records must be easy to read and you must keep them in the shop.