Safer food, better business (SFBB)

Safer food, better business (SFBB) is an alternative and practical approach to the requirements of HACCP and a food safety management for a range of smaller business. Before Safer food, better business HACCP was required by all businesses  handling food. As a result of working with industry the Food Standards agency (FSA) Safer Food, Better Business has been developed to help and enable small businesses comply with food hygiene regulations and to put into place food safety management procedures.
The Food Safety Act 1990 focuses on the preparation, storage and service of food. In particular the Care Quality Commission (CQC) requires care homes ensure that the food and drink they provide is handled, stored, prepared and delivered in a way that meets the requirements of the Act.

Intrinsic Training Advice and Support Consultation Visits:

Intrinsic Training provide HACCP – Safer Food, Better Business advice, support consultations and provide required training in HACCP and food safety to use the required documentation correctly to be confident this is in place to meet the requirements for the visit of the Food Safety Officer’s inspection of the business.

Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations:

All food businesses are required to be able to show what they do to make sure the food  made to sell is safe to eat and have this written down.
This pack is based on the principles of HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control point), but you will not find words such as ‘HACCP’ or ‘hazard’ in the SFBB pack this has been  cutout. All the jargon has been removed as well. Just simple easy to understand everyday language.

It is designed to help small food businesses comply with food safety law.

To help food businesses produce a food safety management plan based on the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles and keep appropriate records.

As a food business you know that your customers will not only judge your operation by the quality of the food they consume, but also by your hygiene standards and the Food Hygiene Rating you receive.
It is important to ensure that your staff understand the principles of good hygiene in all aspects of food handling in order to comply with the law.

How Do I use Safer Food Better Business?

Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) is a practical approach to food safety management. This food safety management system, introduced by the Food Standards Agency, has been developed to help small catering and retail businesses such as restaurants, cafés, takeaways and shops comply with food safety regulations introduced in January 2006.

Food regulations require all businesses to document their food safety controls and carry out monitoring to ensure they are being correctly implemented. The amount of documentation you need will depend on the type of food you prepare and the risks presented by your business.

SFBB is an easy to use fact sheet that concentrates on controlling the four main potential hazards in any catering business. These are :

Intrinsic Training Advice and Support Consultation Visits:

Intrinsic Training provide HACCP – Safer Food, Better Business advice, support consultations to use the required documentation correctly to be confident this is in place to meet the requirements for the visit of the Food Safety Officer’s inspection of the business.

Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB)  Includes Information On The 4 Cs :

  1. Cross-contamination

  2. Cleaning

  3. Chilling

  4. Cooking

  5. management
  6. using the diary

Safer Food, Better Business Diary and Information Pack:

Each SFBB pack is split into five sections containing a number of fact sheets called ‘Safe Methods’. These safe methods include instructions on “Cooking Food Safely” and “Reheating” for example. As a business you will need to look at the pack and decide which of these 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.

In the management section a simple diary is provided for easy 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.

The practical and easy-to-use system will help you to:

  • comply with food hygiene regulations
  • show what you do to make food safely
  • train staff
  • protect your business’s reputation
  • improve your business
  • improve your food hygiene rating score
  • the management of food safety that details how the system should be monitored and recorded. It is designed to fit any catering business.

Visits from a Food Safety Officer

Your Food Safety Officer will want to see your written procedures and will check that all your staff are following them.

Any business that does not have Safer Food Better Business or an equivalent system will be required to produce one and may be prosecuted if they fail to comply with this part of the law.

For childminders, residential care homes and training resources for college – each individual SFBB pack has specific information for the different requirements that you will need to know.

Information packs

Different information packsare available for different sectors of small businesses in the food industry including

Each individual pack,  can be downloaded. Alternatively separate sections can be downloaded as these are required.

This will then enable you to:

  • comply with food hygiene regulations
  • show what you do to make food safely
  • train staff
  • protect your business’s reputation
  • improve your business
  • improve your food hygiene rating score.

What’s in it for me?

Safety Food Better Business provides you with a documented food safety management system in an easy to follow, ready made pack.

  • If followed and maintained, SFBB will ensure you comply with the requirements of food safety legislation.
  • It is designed to cut out jargon, and can be easily tailored to your business.
  • It will be recognised and used in food businesses throughout the UK.
  • It will help ensure that you produce safe food and may result in fewer visits by your Environmental Health Officer.

Above all, IT’S FREE. All that’s needed will be your time to complete each section.

How do I get a SFBB pack?

You can download a pack from the SFBB pages of the Food Safety Standards Agency website.

Intrinsic Training Advice and Support Consultation Visits:

Intrinsic Training provide HACCP – Safer Food, Better Business advice, support consultations to use the required documentation correctly to be confident this is in place to meet the requirements for the visit of the Food Safety Officer’s inspection of the business.

How long will it take me to implement the system?

It is suggested that food businesses should complete one of the five sections per week and that each of the five sections should take one hour to work through.

What happens once I have implemented the system?

Once you have implemented the system, you need to ensure that it is adhered to by you and your employees. You should also review your diary every 4 weeks and when operations change, such as style of cooking or use of new equipment.

Will this take up a lot of time, and require me to keep lots of records?

With SFBB, filling in the diary is the only daily record you will need to complete. This should only take a couple of minutes each day. You don’t need to keep lots of records. Once you have worked through the safe methods, you will have a record of what your business does to make sure the food is safe to eat. This will only need to be reviewed and amended if you change the way your food business operates.

Currently I write down the temperatures of fridges every day, do I need to keep doing this?

Keeping a written record of fridge temperature is good practice, and helps to highlight when a problem arises. SFBB still requires you to monitor fridge temperatures, but you would only need to make a record when problems have arisen and what you have done to correct them. If you are already recording the fridge temperatures and cooking temperatures daily then we would recommend that you continue to do so.

Will the Council provide me with the help to implement the new changes?

Yes, we will be available to help you to implement the pack and will continue to provide advice and guidance on all other aspects of food safety.

I already have a system in place, do I have to change to SFBB?

No. Some premises may already have a satisfactory documented food safety system in place which has been provided by their parent company or has been developed in-house. If you already have one of these systems then it may mean that you already comply with the food safety requirements. You are however advised to speak to your company or contact us for further advice.

What happens if I don’t implement SFBB?

The food safety regulations require you to implement a documented food safety system. SFBB has been developed to assist food businesses in complying with this new requirement. If you choose not to use SFBB and do not implement and maintain any other suitable system the Council may take legal action in line with its enforcement policy. In view of the free pack and guidance that is being offered we hope that such legal action will not be necessary.

Useful Website: East Riding Council for East Yorkshire – Safer Food, Better Business

Intrinsic Training Advice and Support Consultation Visits:

Intrinsic Training provide HACCP – Safer Food, Better Business advice, support consultations to use the required documentation correctly to be confident this is in place to meet the requirements for the visit of the Food Safety Officer’s inspection of the business.