Food safety management system

By law, all food business must have a food safety management system to make sure food is safe to eat for customers.

What is a food safety management system?

A food safety management system helps you to manage and document food safety procedures to comply with food hygiene law.

This system should be based on food safety practices that you are familiar with and follow the Food Standard Agency's (FSA) - Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)

The level of documentation required will depend on the nature and size of your business.

What food safety management system should I use?

If you are a small to medium sized business, we recommend managing your food safety using the Food Standard Agency's - Safer Food Better Business food safety management system.

Safer Food Better Business (SFBB)

The SFBB Food Safety Management System is:

• Aimed at smaller food businesses who may find it more difficult to implement a full HACCP system
• A straightforward way to help you put in place a food safety management system based on HACCP, as required by the law
• Based upon 4 Cs (cooking, cleaning, chilling and cross contamination). 
• Two versions - one for caterers and one for retailers
• Caterers pack has been adapted for small catering businesses such as restaurants and takeaways that serve either Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan cuisines

Please note: when carrying out a food hygiene inspection, we need to see that you are documenting your food safety to comply with food hygiene law. Please make sure you are using it, maintaining records and have it available on the premises to show during an inspection.

Benefits of using SFBB

SFBB food safety management system will help you to:

• comply with food hygiene law
• show what you do to make food safely
• train staff
• protect your business's reputation
• improve your business
• improve your food hygiene rating scheme score

SFBB food safety management packs

The following SFBB food safety management packs on the Food Standards Agency website will help you meet the specific food safety requirements for your particular food business:

• SFBB - small catering businesses (cafe's, restaurants, takeaway's etc..)
• SFBB - small retail businesses (newsagents, grocer's etc..)
• SFBB - childminding businesses
• SFBB - care homes (to be used with the pack for caterers)
• SFBB - Indian cuisine