Food prepared or sold from markets or outdoor events must comply with food safety regulations and generally require a food business licence.
Temporary food stalls are temporary structures that are:
- Used to prepare and sell food at occasional events such as markets, shows and fairs
- Dismantled after the event.
Temporary food stalls can pose a higher risk to consumers than restaurants due to their temporary nature. Therefore, it is important to ensure your stall is setup and operations are compliant with the Food Act 2006, Food Standards Code and Temporary Food Stall Guide.
Licence requirements
You will generally require a temporary food stall licence to prepare or handle unpackaged food for retail sale from a temporary structure. If you prepare ingredients and handle food from another location (such as a kitchen) to sell from the temporary food stall, you will also require a separate food licence for that location.
Licence required – examples
- Unpackaged food or handled food including:
- Cutting or juicing fresh fruit or vegetables at the place of sale
- Sausage sizzle or barbecue of food
- Cakes or biscuits with dairy fillings or icings
- Unpackaged takeaway foods such as hamburgers, hot dogs, pizzas, hot chips or
- Unpackaged pasta, lasagne or curry
- Unpackaged yoghurt
- Unpackaged food for taste testing
- Any other unpackaged food, unless included in the exemptions
Food preparation at another location including preparing ingredients for use at the stall, eg:
- Cutting vegetables and meat
- Making dough or batter
Preparing food for sale at the stall, eg:
- Baking cakes
- Making fudge
- Making jam or chutney
Repackaging food for sale at the stall, eg:
- Packing bulk coffee, herbs, spices or nuts into packages for sale.
Licence not required – examples
Note: even though a licence may not be required, these types of businesses must ensure the sale of safe and suitable food, and comply with the Food Standards Code.
- Only packaged food is handled
- Only whole fruit or vegetables are sold
- Only unpackaged snack food is sold, including:
- Croissants, friands, doughnuts, muffins, churros, biscuits or cakes without dairy fillings or dairy icings
- carob, chocolates, chocolate bars, confectionery or muesli bars
- dried vegetable chips, corn chips, potato chips, popcorn, crackers or nuts
- Pretzels, puffed rice, soy chips or toasted corn
- meat jerky, dried or glazed fruit
The sale of the following takes place, unless it forms a potentially hazardous food:
- Whole, crushed, puffed or toasted nuts, grains and seeds
- Quinoa, spices, dried herbs, tea leaves, coffee beans, cereals or cocoa
- Coconut, couscous, edible oil, flour, legumes, lentils, noodles, oats or pasta
- Preparations for spreading on bread such as honey, peanut butter, hazelnut spread, vegemite, marmalade and jam
- Sugar and syrups such as golden syrup, maple syrup, rice syrup, malt syrup glucose syrup and coconut syrup
The only preparation carried out involves the grinding of coffee beans
Only drinks are sold (other than fruit or vegetable juice processed at the place of sale), including:
- Tea or coffee
- Soft drinks
- Alcoholic drinks
Only ice or flavoured ice is sold, for example:
- Shaved ice or snow cones
- Slurpees
Primary produce such as seafood not sold by retail; meat and dairy is produced under an accreditation granted under the Food Production (Safety) Act 2000, part 5.
How do I apply for a temporary food stall licence?
To apply for a temporary food stall licence, you will need to complete the Temporary Food Stall Application Kit(DOCX, 163KB). A full and complete application must be received by Council with fees paid within 30 days prior to the event. If applications are submitted after this timeframe, additional fees may apply.
Council offers several ways to lodge your food stall application forms.
The most convenient way is by email - all emails and attached documents are to be sent to mail@noosa.qld.gov.au
You can also lodge the application in person or by post
- In person – by visiting Tewantin Office located at 9 Pelican St, Tewantin QLD 4565
- By post – you can post your application and relevant documents to: Noosa Council, PO Box 141 Tewantin QLD 4565.
How to pay
After your application form is received, Council will email a payment link to the applicant after all of the required information has been submitted. Your application will be assessed by an Environmental Health Officer after full and correct payment has been received. The application must include a site plan with details of the stall set up.
Other approvals
It is important to note that applying for a food stall licence does not automatically provide approval to run the business. Operating a business of any nature from a residential location may require additional approvals. You should contact Council to enquire about what approvals you may need before lodging your food stall licence application with Council.
Stall design and construction requirements
Your temporary food stall must be suitable for preparing, storing, handling and selling food. The Food Standards Code set out the minimum standards for stall design and construction.
Stall design
To see an example of the equipment required for a temporary food stall, view the artists impression(PDF, 775KB) of a food stall.
The Temporary Food Stall equipment checklist(DOCX, 163KB) can also help check that you have all the equipment required to set up a food stall. All equipment must be supplied in good condition and working efficiently.
Your stall must be provided with:
- 3 sides / walls that extend full length between floor and roof that is easy to clean, impervious, rain proof material
- Roof / ceiling – easy to clean, impervious, rain proof material
- Impervious flooring that is clean, smooth, impervious and durable
- Food preparation areas such as tables and benches must have good support and consists of an impervious material that is easy to clean.
Washing facilities
Your stall must have:
- Separate hand washing and utensil washing facilities. At minimum, two 20 litres containers should be set up fitted with taps. Label each container, one ‘Hand Washing Only’ and the other ‘Utensil Washing Only’
- Hot water available for utensil cleaning
- Warm running water, liquid soap and paper towels are to be provided for hand washing; and
- Process for removing all cooking utensils from the site at the end of the day to thoroughly clean and sanitise these in dishwashing facilities connected to hot water, or by using the double bowl sink method.
- You can print off and use labels to mark your waste water, hand washing and utensil containers.
Cooking
- All cooking and hot food storage equipment is to be located under cover;
- Locate cooking equipment and heated surfaces well away from the public (at the back of the stall) for safety, but allow for adequate ventilation; and
- A dry chemical fire extinguisher of suitable capacity must be placed in the stall if cooking is conducted within the stall.
Waste
- Provide a refuse container with a fitted lid and bin liner to dispose of waste. Label this container ‘refuse only’. Clean and empty it daily or when full;
- All waste oil must be placed into a suitable container and removed at the end of the event. Do not tip waste oil, fats or grease down any sinks, drains or toilets; this can cause expensive blockages and pollution.
- Waste water must be stored in a container and labelled ‘Waste water only’. Dispose of waste water into a sewer under a trade waste approval.
Equipment
- You must have suitable refrigeration;
- Insulated containers such as eskies packed with ice can be used for storing small amounts of food waiting to be cooked;
- A probe thermometer must be kept on site. Use it regularly to check the temperature of your hot and cold foods. Electricity supplies at temporary events can be unstable and cut out without the knowledge of operators. Checking the thermometer regularly and recording temperatures will alert you to any potential problems.