UK Takes Steps to Regulate Online Food Sales, Delivery Services
Recognizing the existing regulatory gaps regarding online food sales, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has developed a new Food Safety Charter with three of the nation’s largest online food delivery platforms. The charter commits Just Eat, Uber Eats, and Deliveroo to ensuring that the approximate 170,000 businesses selling food through their services are registered with their local authorities and meet a minimum standard under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.
Based on an assessment of the potential risks involved in purchasing food online, FSA concluded that food sold online is not a completely unregulated space; however, online sales can decrease consumers’ visibility of businesses providing food, particularly when not buying directly, and food aggregator platforms are likely to be less focused on food safety. Therefore, FSA is focused on supporting local authorities that ensure food businesses are registered and traceable, and educating consumers about possible risks.