Do I need a Food Licence?

Certain lower risk food businesses don’t need a food business licence.

You do not need a licence for:

• selling pre-packaged food only
• selling whole fruit and vegetables only
• production of primary produce such as milk or meat at a butcher, with accreditation. Refer to the Food Production (Safety) Act 2000 for more information
• selling drinks such as tea, coffee and soft drinks
• selling alcohol. A liquor licence may be required to sell alcohol
• selling pre-packaged fruit or vegetable juice.
• selling snack foods that are not potentially hazardous,
• • carob
  • chocolates
  • churros
  • confectionary
  • corn chips and potato chips
  • crackers
  • croissants
  • doughnuts
  • dried vegetable chips
  • friands
  • meat jerky (pre-packaged)
  • muesli bars
  • muffins (without fresh cream or custard in the filling or icing)
  • nuts
  • popcorn
  • pretzels
  • puffed rice
  • soy chips
  • toasted corn
• selling seeds, spices and dried herbs
• selling tea leaves
• selling coffee beans and ground coffee
• grinding coffee beans
• selling ice and flavoured ice
• selling the following foods when they are not potentially hazardous:
• • cereals
  • cocoa
  • coconut
  • uncooked couscous
  • crushed, puffed or toasted nuts, grains and seeds
  • edible oil, for example, olive oil, vegetable oil and macadamia oil
  • flour
  • legumes
  • lentils
  • noodles
  • oats
  • uncooked pasta
  • preparations for spreading on bread, for example, honey, peanut butter, hazelnut spread, Vegemite, jam and marmalade
  • quinoa
  • sugar
  • syrups, for example, golden syrup, maple syrup, rice syrup, malt syrup, glucose syrup and coconut syrup.

Non-profit food businesses

Non-profit organisations only need a licence when meals are served 12 or more times in a financial year. A meal is food that is meant to be eaten at a table with cutlery. Examples of a meal are:

• casserole
• roast meat and vegetables
• curries and stir-fry
• salad.

Exemption criteria for non-profit organisations

Non-profit organisations have a number of exemptions under the Food Act 2006. You do not need a food business licence for:

• the sale of meals by a non-profit organisation if:
• • the meal consists only of fruit, cereal, toast, or similar food; or
  • the consumer of the meal helps to prepare it.
• the sale of meals by a non-profit organisation that:
• • are pre-prepared by an entity other than the organisation, and
  • are stored and heated—or otherwise prepared—by the organisation in accordance with directions of the meal’s manufacturer.
• the sale of meals by a non-profit organisation that:
• • are prepared as part of an educational or training activity conducted by the organisation involving food preparation, hospitality or catering.
• the sale of meals by a surf lifesaving club that is a non-profit organisation, when a member is involved in the preparation of the meal and the meal is sold to a member of the club for a nominal fee.

You can find more information in Queensland Health's Food safety in non-profit organisations(PDF, 398KB).

If you run a business, hobby, or other work from your home, it may be classed as a home‑based activity or home occupation in Springfield, or a home‑based business in the Ripley Valley Urban Development Area.

Rules and requirements can vary depending on your location. To check whether your activity is self‑assessable and what conditions apply, please see the fact sheet and self‑assessable activity checklist.

Operating a Home-based Business, Hobby or Occupation Fact Sheet ^{(PDF, 2.10MB)}

Operating a food business from home will require a food business licence. 

There are two licencing options for a home-based food business – using your own domestic kitchen and using a separate kitchen.

Shared domestic kitchens may only be approved you are going to make non-potentially hazardous food.

These can include:

• Manufacturing plain biscuits
• Manufacturing cakes, cupcakes and cake pops without cream or ganache
• Decorating cakes without cream or ganache
• Manufacturing jam or marmalade
• Manufacturing chutney
• Manufacturing sauces
• Decanting honey into containers
• Roasting, salting or flavouring nuts
• Grinding and/or repackaging spices
• Roasting and packaging coffee beans
• Manufacturing and packaging fairy floss and/or popcorn
• Manufacturing fudges, chocolates and other confectionery
• Freezing ice into blocks for use in snow cones at a stall

If you wish to make potentially hazardous food products (where the finished product requires hot holding or refrigeration for food safety), a separate kitchen will be required.

A separate kitchen can be located in:

• A spare room in the house
• A garage
• A shed or demountable on the residential property
• A commercial property

The process for applying for a home‑based food business licence is the same as for any other fixed food premises.

For further information, including application requirements, please refer to the New Business and Renovations webpage.

Any packaged food that is manufactured from home must meet certain labelling requirements.

Food labelling is administered by Queensland Health. You can contact them on 13 Health (13 43 25 84) for further information or visit the Food Pantry website for more information.