Before you begin to fill in your safer food Better Business Pack, you can watch a series of short videos HERE where the FSA (YouTube channel) demonstrate how to keep food safe
Food Safety legislation requires you to write down in simple terms what you do and what records you will keep to make sure that your food is safe to eat.
Under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme if you do not have a documented food safety management system then you may not score any higher than a rating of 1 Star i.e. Major Improvement Necessary.
The Food Standards Agency has developed a FREE pack called Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) to help small catering or retail business to set up a documented food safety management system. It is made up of safe method sheets and a diary.
You can download the Safer Food Better Business Packs HERE, determining which is best for the size of your business.
There are a number of SFBB packs available that are designed to meet the needs of specific food businesses such as caterers, retailers, childminders and specialist cuisine (for B&B see below information). These are available in other languages.
In all SFBB packs, the safe method sheets highlight things that are important to make sure food is prepared and cooked safely and asks you to write down how you do things. They also provide advice on what to do when things go wrong.
The diary is signed every day to say that the safe methods have been followed. There is space to note anything different that happens or goes wrong such as food deliveries being rejected, equipment failure, incorrect fridge or freezer temperatures detected etc.
You can print out the new print-friendly version of the diary refill separately if you only need that part of the pack from the above link also.
Bed and Breakfast Businesses
(Download pack from above right PDF)
We have also produced a simplified SFBB pack for ‘Bed and Breakfast Businesses and for Low Risk Production on Domestic Premises’. This pack is relevant to the size of your business if you operate a B&B from a domestic property, or produce food from home on a small scale, for example cake making from home.
A small scale would be considered to be:
10 or fewer at any single meal or
Less than 20 meals per day for high risk foods, or
The production of low risk food on an infrequent basis.
If you are already using SFBB for caterers you can continue to do so, but you may want to use the new style diary sheets from this new pack
Larger Businesses
For some larger businesses, your documented food safety management system may need more detail than is provided for in SFBB. HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (Opens in a new window) is a mandatory system that helps food business operators look at how they handle food and introduce procedures to make sure the food produced is safe to eat.
If you have any questions you can contact us at environmentalhealth@scilly.gov.uk