Safer Food Better Business

Current food safety legislation requires all food businesses to have a ‘documented food safety management system’ based on the principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points.

What does this requirement mean?

This means that you now have to put into writing all the systems and procedures you use to ensure the food you prepare or sell is safe.

The level of documentation that is required depends upon the size of your business and what type of food your business is concerned with.

Whatever type of food business you run; your system will need to show that you have considered all of the potential hazards to the food you handle. These are usually physical contaminants, chemical contaminants and biological contaminants. The contaminants need to be considered and written down at every stage of food production or retail to show that they have been considered and that controls have been put in place at the critical stages in your business to ensure safe food.

What help is available?

It is often not easy to write a food safety management system from scratch, especially if you are a small business. Advice is available from the food team at Bromsgrove District Council (contact details below) and from the Food Standards Agency website. In addition a comprehensive aid called Safer Food Better Business is available.

The Safer Food Better Business Pack

The Food Standards Agency has developed a pack called ‘Safer Food Better Business’ to help small to medium sized businesses comply with the requirement for a documented food safety management system. The pack sets out how the hazards present in your food business can be controlled. It is based on the 4 C's (cross-contamination, cleaning, chilling and cooking).

The packs are designed for use by restaurants, takeaways, pubs and cafes (caterers) as well as small convenience stores, confectioners and newsagents, health food shops and delicatessens (retailers) who sell food which needs to be kept cold to keep it safe. The pack aims to ensure that all food businesses produce safe food and suggests how to achieve this and how business proprietors can demonstrate they are taking responsibility for producing safe food and complying with the law.

There are a number of different packs available e.g. for caterers, retailers, child minders and also a number specifically tailored to the needs of Indian and Chinese restaurants and takeaways.

To accompany the Safer Food Better Business pack there is also a DVD guide available in 16 different languages which has been produced to help you use your Safer Food, Better Businesses pack and to help to train your staff to use it.

What is in the pack?

There are 2 parts: Safe Methods and the Diary.

Safe Methods

Safe methods are split into 5 sections; Cross contamination, Cleaning, Chilling, Cooking and Management. Each section focuses on:

• the important food safety points (the checks you make and the controls you put in place)
• why they are carried out (what hazards are present and the likelihood that they will occur)
• what to do when things go wrong (your corrective actions)
• how to stop this happening again (your preventative actions)

The Diary

The Diary allows you to record the opening and closing checks of your business and to record anything unusual that has happened during the day. This might include things that may have gone wrong and the actions taken to remedy it.

The diary also has pages to record:

• Staff lists
• Training records
• Supplier lists
• A cleaning schedule

How long will it take to complete?

It is important that the safe methods part of the pack is worked through in detail. Consequently it is expected that the initial set up time will take approximately 3 hours. However once done it should take only a few minutes each day to complete the diary.

How much does the pack cost?

The pack is FREE and can be obtained from the food team using the contact details below or alternatively it can be downloaded from the Food Standards Agency website here.

If you require any help either in obtaining a pack or in completing it please do not hesitate to contact us.

To contact the food team at Worcestershire Regulatory Services:

Telephone 01905 822799

E-mail us at wrsenquiries@worcsregservices.gov.uk

Our address is Planning and Environment Services, The Council House, Burcot Lane, Bromsgrove, B60 1AA