Documenting your Food Safety Management System
From the 1st of January 2006 it is now a requirement that you write down simple details of what you do to make sure that the food produced or sold at your premises is safe to eat. In order to comply with this new requirement you may put in place your own documented procedures or alternatively follow the free guidance issued by the Food Standards Agency called Safer Food Better Business (SFBB) which will guide you through how to comply and provide the necessary documentation. This is available by phoning 0845 606 0667 or email foodstandards@ecgroup.uk.com .
If you have already started to document your food safety system the blank records listed below may be helpful in continuing with this process.
Once your Food Safety Management Procedure is in place it is important for you to review the control measures and take any necessary steps to take account of changes in your operation.
A selection of blank records are available below:
Safer food better business (SFBB)
SFBB is a simple fact sheet system that shows how to ensure that the major potential hazards in catering business can be safely controlled, namely those to do with:
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Cross-contamination
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Cleaning
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Chilling
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Cooking
otherwise known as the "4 Cs"
SFBB is designed to be simple, and can easily be made to fit your catering business. Each SFBB pack is split into five sections containing a number of fact sheets called "Safe Methods". Typical safe methods would include instructions on "Cooking Food Safely" and "Reheating" for example. The idea is that you look at the pack and decide which safe methods apply to your business, and then follow them. There are about twenty methods in total covering aspects of the "4Cs", but not all of them will apply to all businesses.
A simple diary is also provided, for appropriate record keeping. This also includes a four-weekly review to ensure that the document remains up-to-date and to allow common problems to be identified and addressed.
Training in SFBB
The Food Standards Agency have awarded grants to a number of successful local authorities to assist businesses implement "Safer Food Better Businesss" and Surrey Safer Food Partnership, including Guildford Borough Council have been awarded such a grant.
This means that the authority can now offer free training and coaching package to selected food businesses that will help to implement the SFBB catering pack.
For further information contact:
Food Safety Team
Environmental Health
Millmead House
Millmead
Guildford
Surrey
GU2 4BB
Tel: 01483 444371
Email: environmentalhealth@guildford.gov.uk