Events - Catering & Food Guidelines

Modified on Mon, 14 Apr at 4:02 PM

Food & Catering guidelines

Student groups are not permitted to prepare and serve food to large amounts of people due to health and safety regulations. For events being held in a Union or College space there are catering services or self-catering options available. Please refer to the guidelines in this training article for more information about what services are available and what is permitted in Union and College spaces.  

Union Spaces 

Food Provision: Only food prepared and provided by the Union venue supplier is permitted unless special permission is obtained from Activities and Venues teams. For enquiries about Union Venues catering supplier and services, please contact Beit.events@imperial.ac.uk   
Pre-Packaged Food: Snacks such as biscuits, crisps or other snacks are allowed in other Union spaces (CSP bookable spaces). Only food that doesn’t need temperature control is permitted. Ensure that allergens are clearly displayed.  
No Student Food Preparation: Students cannot prepare any food on site.  
External Catering: Not permitted. The only exception is pizza with a risk assessment and supplier’s food hygiene certificate.

College Spaces 

College Catering Only: Only College Catering food allowed. 
Pre-Packaged Food: Snacks such as biscuits, crisps or other snacks are allowed. Only food that doesn’t need temperature control is permitted. Ensure that allergens are clearly displayed. 
No Student Food Preparation: Students cannot prepare any food. 
External Catering: Not permitted. For exceptions, contact roomsandcatering@imperial.ac.uk and submit an External Caterer Notification Form 21 days before the event. 
Hot Drinks: Permitted if covered in your risk assessment and prepared with hot water urns available through eActivities.
Stalls: Can sell non-temperature-controlled foods (e.g., baked goods, sweets) with displayed allergens and attached supplier’s food hygiene certificate. See below further advice for bake sales.

Allergens

For any activity involving food, as an event organiser you should be considering allergies in your risk assessment and have relevant control measures to mitigate the risk. The most common and regulated allergens include:

celery 
cereals containing gluten (such as wheat, rye, barley and oats) 
crustaceans (such as prawns, crabs and lobsters) 
eggs 
fish 
lupin 
milk 
molluscs (such as mussels and oysters) 
mustard 
peanuts 
sesame 
soybeans 
sulphur dioxide and sulphites (at a concentration of more than ten parts per million) 
tree nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts)

You could use an allergen chart to display information: Allergen Icon Matrix PDF_0.pdf

When planning events and trips, it is a good idea to collect attendees dietary and allergen information prior to the activity so you can plan accordingly with the food supplier. Also consider in your control measures how to avoid cross contamination, and emergency response procedures should there be any reactions.

Bake Sales at Stalls

Selling baking at stalls is permitted, however you must ensure that people who make them observe good food hygiene, and they are appropriately stored and transported.

Tips for preparing and selling baked goods:

Ensure preparation of food is cooked in a sanitary environment:
1. Washing hands before preparing food
2. Use clean bowls, utensils, and surfaces
Store and transport baked goods in clean sealable containers. Ensure they are stored away from raw foods, especially raw meat.
When handling foods, use individual tongs for each item to prevent cross-contamination. Where possible pre-package individual portions. 
Allergens must be displayed clearly next to baked items.

External Caterers

External caterers are not permitted to supply food in College and Union buildings. For information about working with external caterers for off-campus events and trips, please refer to our Working with Suppliers training article.

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