Quick answer
Selling through a website, social media or a marketplace can still be a food business. Resolve registration, suitable premises and food-safety procedures before trading, and control preparation, storage and fulfilment. Provide the required food and allergen information through the sales process. Using a platform or preparing food at home does not replace these responsibilities.
The sales channel changes how controls reach customers
An online customer may choose and pay before speaking to anyone or seeing the package. Information and safe delivery therefore need to be built into the order process.
FSA starting guidance includes online and home businesses. Scotland has its own registration guidance.
Resolve the food operation before opening orders
| Area | What to establish |
|---|---|
| Registration | Relevant authority, premises and activities; apply at least 28 days before starting where required. |
| Premises | Suitable preparation/storage facilities, including a home kitchen if used. |
| Food-safety system | Methods for the actual products and production scale. |
| Information | Correct ingredients, allergens, applicable labelling and instructions. |
| Fulfilment | Suitable packing, transport, collection and delays. |
| Records | Supplier/batch identity, orders and incident response. |
Keep information accurate before purchase
Delivery guidance requires allergen information before purchase and at delivery. Arrange this for direct messages, telephone orders and every online menu or listing used.
Check the actual ingredients and substitutions. Use official food-information guidance for the applicable format and required labelling. Prepacked, non-prepacked and distance-selling arrangements need the correct requirements; a photograph or a generic “ask us” statement does not automatically fulfil every duty.
Control production and fulfilment together
Set order volumes and lead times around safe preparation, cooling, storage and dispatch capacity. Choose packaging and transport suitable for the product and its required conditions.
Keep the right food, information and instructions connected to the right order. Agree collection and delay procedures rather than rely on a courier’s estimated arrival time as proof of temperature control.
Worked example: a social-media seller changes the product
Hypothetical example: a seller who previously supplied low-risk cakes adds chilled filled desserts for delivery.
Before accepting orders, the seller reviews registration/activity information with the authority as needed, checks chilled capacity, ingredients/labels and the full delivery method. Copying the existing cake listing would leave the changed safety requirements unresolved.
Review changes as the business grows
Keep supplier and product identity accessible, and have a way to identify affected orders if something goes wrong. Review new products, higher volumes and new platforms.
Food-safety registration, any necessary approval and other business or consumer-law obligations are separate matters. Check the relevant requirements for the actual operation instead of assuming an online account constitutes permission to trade.
Next steps
Walk one order from the customer’s first view to final handover. Check recipe changes and the allergen handover across each sales channel.
Read official starting-a-food-business guidance — Resolve the operation and relevant national registration before accepting orders.