Safer Food Better Business

If you run a food business - you must have to have a documented food safety management system. In other words, you need to say what you do to make food that is safe to eat and have this written down.

The amount of documentation you need is related to the type of food you prepare or handle and the risks presented by your business.

A lot of consideration has been given to help smaller food businesses comply with food regulations without introducing an unnecessary burden. Following extensive consultation with the food industry the Food Standards Agency (FSA) developed Safer Food Better Business (SFBB).

SFBB is designed to be practical and easy to use and will help you to:

• Comply with food regulations
• Show what to do to make food safely
• Train staff
• Protect your business's reputation
• Improve your business (by wasting less food, for example)

SFBB is a simple fact sheet system that shows how to ensure that the major potential hazards in a food business can be safely controlled, namely those to do with:

• Cross-contamination
• Cleaning
• Chilling
• Cooking & preparation

Free SFBB packs and DVD

The FSA has distributed over 400,000 copies of the SFBB pack since it was launched in 2005. A range of SFBB packs for different types of businesses, cuisines and languages is available online:

• SFBB for caterers (new window)
• SFBB for retailers (new window)
• SFBB for Chinese cuisine - English and Cantonese versions (new window)
• SFBB for Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan cuisines (new window)
• SFBB supplement for care homes (new window)

A free SFBB interactive DVD is also available to help you use your pack and train your staff on SFBB. It has voiceovers in 16 languages: Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, English, Kurdish, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese and Welsh.

If you would like to order a paper copy of any of these packs or the DVD, call FSA Publications on 0845 606 0667 or email foodstandards@ecgroup.co.uk.

Follow the links to find out more about the SFBB pack for caterers and the SFBB pack for retailers.

SFBB has been tailored to meet the suit the nature and needs of small caterers and retailers. Manufacturers and other food businesses will find it more appropriate to adopt their own documented food safety systems - contact the Food, Licensing and Safety Team on 01638 719733 for further advice.

Where can I get more information?

You can visit the Food Standards Agency website (new window), contact the Food, Licensing and Safety Team on 01638 719733 of by email: fws@forest-heath.gov.uk