Safer Food, Better Business
As you may be aware there is new food hygiene legislation that affects all food businesses in the UK, including primary producers (e.g. farms), that came into operation on 1 January 2006. The legislation comprises three EC Regulations 852/2004, 853/2004 and 854/2004.
These new regulations apply throughout the food chain to all food businesses, including primary producers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers. They require food business operators (except primary producers) to put in place, implement and maintain and document a permanent procedure or procedures to demonstrate that the food they are producing or selling is safe to eat.
‘Safer Food, Better Business' Pack
The Food Standards Agency has worked with catering businesses to produce a practical and easy to use pack called ‘Safer Food, Better Business’. It has been designed to help you make food safely, show what you do to make food safely and plan and organise your business.
This free pack will help you :
• Reduce the risk of food poisoning among your customers
• Protect your business’s reputation
• Obey the law
• Train your staff
• Improve your business by reducing food wastage
• You might decide to make improvements to your business which may make your business more efficient
There are two parts to the pack
1. Safe methods
2. Diary
The safe methods are one-page fact sheets on Cross-contamination, Cleaning, Chilling, Cooking and Management which highlight things which are important to make food safely and why, ask you to make a note of how you do things and tell you what to do if things go wrong. It also gives suggestions of how you can prevent problems. Each section will take about one hour each to complete. It is suggested that you do one section at a time, perhaps one a week. That way you can have it up and running in 5 weeks, and you only need to do this once, unless the way you do things changes.
The diary is designed to record your opening and closing food safety checks, to say that your safe methods have been followed and to note any problems or changes which may have occurred. The diary is the only daily record and will only take about one minute a day to complete unless there is something special to write down.
There is an adapted pack for retailers which includes retailers who carry out bake off on the premises and also specific packs adapted for Indian and Chinese cuisine.
Is there any help available?
The food safety team ran several SFBB seminars for catering premises. The businesses that attended one of these seminars received a copy of the pack. If you or a representative from your catering business did not attend one of the seminars you can obtain a copy of the pack by contacting the FSA publications line run by EC logistics – telephone number 0845 606 0667, fax 020 8867 3225 or by email at foodstandards@eclogistics.co.uk. You will also be able to request refill copies of the diary section. The pack is available to you free of charge. Alternatively you can download the pack and additional information direct from the FSA website at www.food.gov.uk/catering.
Further help
The FSA made funding available to Councils to provide coaching for catering businesses on the new legislation and SFBB. East Hampshire District Council in conjunction with five other Hampshire Authorities, namely Test Valley District Council, Rushmoor Borough Council, Hart District Council, Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council and Winchester City Council successfully applied for this additional funding and this coaching was undertaken by CMi - a private food hygiene consultancy approved by the FSA. Businesses were invited to a training seminar and then a consultant from CMi visited their premises to provide individual coaching and guidance.
Is there a deadline for implementing SFBB?
The new regulations appied from 1 January 2006. Sufficient time was given to all exisiting businesses to comply. Those who did not attend one of our seminars or were not contacted by CMi received further advice and help when their premises were inspected by one of the food safety team. Any new food businesses will be given help and advice at their first inspection and given 3 months to comply with the requirement.
Please click here to link to the Food Standards Agency website: Safer Food, Better Business