Do I need to register to sell cakes from home?

Yes. Register as a food business with your local council at least 28 days before you start trading. Registration is free and cannot be refused. Expect an inspection visit that gives you a food hygiene rating.

Do I need a food hygiene certificate to sell cakes from home?

A certificate is not a legal requirement — the law requires that you are adequately trained for what you do. In practice, a Level 2 Food Hygiene certificate (online, from around £15) is the standard way to show this, and inspectors expect to see it.

Does Natasha's Law apply to home bakers?

If you pack food before the customer orders it and sell it directly — boxed brownies at a market stall, wrapped bakes on a counter — that is PPDS food and needs a full ingredient label with the 14 allergens emphasised. Made-to-order celebration cakes are not PPDS, but you must still tell customers about allergens.

Guide · Home food businesses

Selling food from home in the UK: the rules in plain English

Cakes, bakes, jams, meal prep, market stalls — home food businesses are completely legal in the UK, but four things must be in place before your first sale. Here they are, without the jargon.

1. Register with your local council (free, required)

Register as a food business with your local authority at least 28 days before trading. It's free, it's a short form on your council's website, and they cannot refuse you. Not registering is an offence — and it's the first thing that surfaces if anyone ever complains about your food.

After registering you'll get an inspection visit (usually within weeks) and a food hygiene rating (0–5) that you'll want to be a 5 — customers check.

2. Get trained (a certificate is expected, if not literally required)

The law says food handlers must be adequately trained; it doesn't name a certificate. In practice, a Level 2 Food Hygiene certificate — an online course costing roughly £15–£30 — is how everyone demonstrates it, and inspectors expect to see one. Free allergen training is also available from the Food Standards Agency.

3. Know your allergen duties (this is where most home bakers slip)

You must be able to tell every customer which of the 14 regulated allergens are in anything you sell. How you must do it depends on how you sell:

Made to order (celebration cakes, custom bakes): no label required, but you must provide allergen information — keep an allergen matrix and share it when customers ask. Put allergen info in your listings and order forms too.
Packed before sale, sold in person (boxed brownies at a market, wrapped flapjacks at a fair): this is PPDS food under Natasha's Law — every pack needs a full ingredient label with allergens in bold. A "may contain nuts" sticker is not enough.
Ordered online/by message and delivered: distance-selling rules — allergen information must be available before purchase (in the listing) and at delivery (a label or enclosed note does this job well).

Cross-contamination counts too: a domestic kitchen that handles nuts, flour and sesame needs honest "may contain" judgements. Our free cross-contact poster is a good checklist to work from.

4. Sort your paperwork

Safer Food, Better Business for caterers — the FSA's free food safety management pack; inspectors will ask for it.
A dated allergen matrix for everything you sell (redo it when a recipe or supplier changes).
Ingredient labels kept from everything you buy — they're your allergen source of truth.
If any of your food is PPDS: compliant labels. The AllergenKit label maker turns your recipes into correctly formatted labels on standard Avery sheets — £9/month, built exactly for home-scale food businesses.

Quick-start checklist

Register with the council (28+ days before selling)
Level 2 hygiene certificate + FSA allergen training (free)
Build your allergen matrix (free, ten minutes)
Work out which products are PPDS → label them properly
Set up Safer Food, Better Business records
Print an allergen poster for your stall

General information for England, Wales, Scotland and NI, current at publication — not legal advice. Rules differ slightly by nation and product (e.g. alcohol, imports); check the Food Standards Agency and your local council's guidance.