Food safety in dark kitchen
Research type
Research Study
Full title
‘Going dark’ or under the radar? Challenges and opportunities for local authorities and dark kitchens in ensuring food safety for the public
IRAS ID
336939
Contact name
Jan Soon Sinclair
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Central Lancashire
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
The use of food delivery apps is becoming more commonplace in people's everyday lives. COVID-19 had further accelerated the emergence of a new trend in the food industry: dark kitchens. Dark kitchen is a food preparation space that do not have a customer-facing store front, no spaces for dining-in and sells exclusively on food delivery online platform. However, the increasing number of new food businesses and ad-hoc food vendors operating in dark kitchens have made monitoring and oversight challenging. Our main research questions are: (i) How do Local Authorities identify dark kitchens? (ii) What are the challenges and opportunities for food safety inspections in dark kitchens? In this study, we will use publicly available online data such as online food platforms, food hygiene rating scheme and Google® Street View to identify, cross-check and classify possible dark kitchens. We will then conduct an online survey with more than 150 local authority officials follow by two focus group discussions to understand how LA officials in England identify their local dark kitchens and if they faced any problems during food safety inspections. We will also interview up to 15 dark kitchen owners and tenants to determine what opportunities or challenges are in place to implement food safety standards in their businesses. Our results could be used by local authorities and dark kitchen owners and tenants to address food safety issues in dark kitchens.
REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/PR/0280
Date of REC Opinion
15 Mar 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion