Cape Town: City welcomed significant increase in applications from food premises. The City Health has recorded 33% increase in applications for Certificates of Acceptability, over the past two years, which is a document required by food handling premises.
Certificate of Acceptability (COA) is a legal document which confirms that a food business meets basic hygiene and food safety standards. These standards are outlined in the Regulations, governing the general hygiene requirements for food premises, the transport of food and related matters, such as R638 of June 22, 2018.
The Environmental Health Practitioners (Health Inspectors) of the City of Cape Town have recorded a notable increase in premises applying for COAs in the past two years; such as:
- In 2023, they issued 2711 COAs to food-handling premises.
- In 2024, 2860 COAs were issued.
- In 2025, the figure increased to 3613.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Services and Health – Councillor Francine Higham said that it is very encouraging to see more businesses taking food safety seriously and doing the right thing for their customers. This increase means safer food and greater peace of mind for residents. She added that, the increased application rate is linked to the national drive to register food handling premises in the wake of a number of alleged food contamination incidents reported in parts of the country in 2024.
Seeing this, City Health has also made available an online application platform, for ease of access. They thanked those food handling premises who have boosted public safety efforts by obtaining certification; those who are found to be non-compliant run the risk of being fined or having their businesses closed in cases where serious health risk is found.
The team urged all food handlers, business owners, and managers involved in preparing, storing, distributing, selling, serving, or transporting food for public consumption to apply for a COA. Applying for a certificate is free and easy, and the teams are available to help businesses comply.