Health and Social Care >> Food Hygiene and Safety

Safer Food, Better Business

Managing Food Safety - Free Help For Small Businesses

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Introduction

New food hygiene laws came into effect in the UK in January 2006, affecting all food businesses, including caterers and retailers.

The main change under the new legislation is that all food businesses now need to have a written Food Safety Management System.

Managing Food Safety - Help for Small Businesses

A food safety management pack called Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) has been developed to help small businesses comply with the new hygiene regulations.

There are two different versions of the SFBB pack.  One is for small catering businesses such as restaurants, cafés and takeaways.

The other pack is for small retail businesses such as small convenience stores, corner shops and confectioners, tobacconists and newsagents.

The packs cover:

• Cross-contamination
• Cleaning
• Chilling
• Cooking
• Management
• Diary

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Safer Food, Better Business for Caterers

This free food safety management pack has been developed to help small catering businesses comply with new hygiene regulations.

Using this pack will help you to:

• comply with the new regulations
• show what you do to make food safely
• train your staff
• protect the reputation of your business
• improve your business, for example by wasting less food

You can download or order the pack from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website.

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Safer Food, Better Business for Retailers

This free food safety management pack has been developed to help retail businesses comply with new hygiene regulations.

This pack is for small retail businesses that sell food, including any food that needs to be kept cold to keep it safe, such as milk.

These include small convenience stores, corner shops and confectioners, tobacconists and newsagents.

You can download or order the pack from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website.

Cooking or Preparing Food

The safe methods in the Cooking and Preparation section of the SFBB pack are designed for retail businesses that do certain types of cooking and preparation.

This section is relevant if you:

• prepare ready-to-eat foods, for example sandwiches
• 'bake off' bought-in products for example sausage rolls and pasties
• reheat food, or keep it hot, for example reheating bought-in cooked pies
• cook bacon, sausages or eggs
• cook rotisserie chicken or ham

If you do any cooking or preparation of food that is not listed above, contact the council's food safety staff in Environmental Health, if your business is in Hastings, or contact your local council.

This pack is not suitable for specialist retailers including butchers, fishmongers and bakers.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What Do I Do Next?

You can download the complete pack online from the FSA website, or order a copy by telephone on 0845 606 0667 or e-mail foodstandards@ecgroup.uk.com

Work through the pack one section at a time and complete all the safe methods that are relevant to your business.

When you have worked through all the sections, make sure that you and your staff:

• follow the safe methods all the time
• fill in the diary every day

How will I benefit from using the Pack?

Using the pack in your business will help you to:

• comply with the law
• show what you do to sell food that is safe to eat
• train staff
• protect the reputation of your business
• improve your business, for example by wasting less food

Do I Need to Keep Lots of Daily Records?

No, you do not need lots of daily records.  Once you have worked through the pack and completed all the relevant safe methods, you only need to fill in the diary each day.

This should take just one minute, unless you have something special to write down.

Remember that you also need to keep all the invoices and receipts for any food products you buy.

Who Should Take Charge of the Pack?

The person who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the business is the best person to work through this pack.

It is a good idea to involve other staff to help the pack work in your business.

How Do the Packs Work?

The pack contains sheets for you to work through and complete.  These are called 'Safe Methods'.

It also contains a diary for you to fill in every day and write down anything different that happens, including anything that goes wrong.

How to Use the Safe Methods

• The 'Safety Point' column highlights things that are important to make food safely
• The 'Why?' column tells you why the safety point is important
• The 'How do you do this?' column is for you to write down what you do
• In some places you only need to tick a box and in other places write a small amount
• Pictures help to illustrate the safety points
• The 'What to do if things go wrong' column gives practical tips on how to tackle problems
• The 'How to stop this happening again' column tells you how you can prevent problems
• If things go wrong, write down what happened and what you did in your diary.  Each Safe Method reminds you to do this.

The use of colour photographs and graphics to illustrate each Safe Method can assist managers who have staff who do not speak English as their first language.

How to Use the Diary

The diary should be filled in every day by the person responsible for running the business.

There is also a 4-weekly review so you can look back at previous weeks and identify any persistent problems.

• Fill in the date at the start of the week
• If anything different happens or something goes wrong, make a note of it under the appropriate day
• Each day, write your name and sign to say that all the safe methods have been followed
• Each day, complete your Opening and Closing checks - see the Management section of the pack for more information on these
• If you do any Extra checks, make a note next to the appropriate day - see the Management section of the pack for more information

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