Starting a food business

Selling food for delivery

This page contains information for businesses who sell food for delivery, either without face-to-face contact with the consumer, or from a takeaway premises. Please read all the pages in this guide to ensure you have the information you need to run your food business.

Last updated: 9 February 2023

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Last updated: 9 February 2023

See all updates

View as PDF

Selling food without face to face contact with the consumer

When you sell food without face to face contact with the consumer, the food you sell is subject to UK law. The main law on this type of selling is the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

This law applies to all goods sold without face to face contact with the consumer, not just food.

Methods of selling include:

online via your own website or an external site like Deliveroo
text messaging
phone calls
interactive TV
mail order
via social media, for example Facebook Marketplace

As with any food business, you need to register your food business 28 days before opening. The environmental health department can also provide advice on compliance with food safety and food hygiene laws.

Selling food online

The below guidance provides information for businesses selling food online, which outlines legal requirements and safety considerations.

We have also produced a guide for local authorities when dealing with businesses selling food over the internet.

The law covers:

information the seller needs to provide customers before making the sale
rights to cancel the contract
recovery of sums paid on cancellation
restoration of goods by the consumer after cancellation
delivery of food and drink to a consumer’s residence or workplace

If you are selling via the internet the UK Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002 will also apply to your business.

More information about online and selling without face-to-face consumer contact can be found on the GOV.UK website.

EU references in FSA guidance documents

The FSA is updating all EU references, to accurately reflect the law now in force, in all new or amended guidance published since the 'Transition Period' ended at the end of 2020. In some circumstances it may not always be practicable for us to have all EU references updated at the point we publish new or amended guidance.

Other than in Northern Ireland, any references to EU Regulations in this guidance should be read as meaning retained EU law. You can access retained EU law via HM Government EU Exit Web Archive.

This should be read alongside any EU Exit legislation that was made to ensure retained EU law operates correctly in a UK context. EU Exit legislation is on legislation.gov.uk. In Northern Ireland, EU law will continue to apply in respect to the majority of food and feed hygiene and safety law, as listed in the Northern Ireland Protocol, and retained EU law will not apply to Northern Ireland in these circumstances.

Allergen information for food deliveries

Food businesses need to tell customers if food they provide contains any of the specified allergens as an ingredient. These 14 allergens have been chosen because they are the most common and dangerous.

Consumers may be allergic or intolerant to other ingredients, but you are only legally required to provide information for these 14 allergens.

The 14 allergens are: celery, cereals containing gluten (such as barley and oats), crustaceans (such as prawns, crabs and lobsters), eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs (such as mussels and oysters), mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites (if they are at a concentration of more than ten parts per million) and tree nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts).

If food is sold online or by phone through distance selling, allergen information must be provided at two stages in the order process.

You must provide allergen information:

before the purchase of the food is completed - this can be in writing (on a website, catalogue or menu) or orally (by phone)
when the food is delivered - this can be in writing (allergen stickers on food or an enclosed copy of a menu) or orally (by delivery driver)

It is important for food businesses to take steps to avoid cross-contamination in food preparation. This protects customers with a food allergy.

There are a number of actions you can take to prevent cross-contamination with allergens in your food business. These include:

cleaning utensils before each usage
regularly washing hands thoroughly
storing ingredients and prepared foods separately
keeping ingredients that contain allergens separate from other ingredients
takeaway meals should be labelled clearly so customers know which dishes are suitable for those with an allergy

Food delivery protocol

If you are delivering food orders, all food must be delivered to consumers in a way that ensures that it does not become unsafe or unfit to eat.

If you use a domestic vehicle (or a non-food industry business vehicle) to transport your food orders, there are particular hygiene requirements and vehicle specifications that should be met.

Food-grade packaging

If you deliver food orders, it is important to select appropriate food-grade packaging.

For example, packaging materials may be required to be liquid or fat repellent to prevent leaks, or to stop paper becoming soaked through.

Without this type of packaging, chemical contaminants or germs could transfer onto the food. Well-fitting lids or closures will also minimise any hygiene or spillage risks.

Temperature

Foods that need refrigerating must be kept cool while they are being transported. The food may need to be packed in an insulated box with a coolant gel or in a cool bag.

Food sent by post needs to be sent to consumers in packaging that is strong enough to remain intact. Once sent, the food should be delivered as quickly as possible, ideally overnight.

When the order is made, the consumer must be told when they can expect delivery.