Safer Food Made Easy With New FSA DVD, UK

Caterers and food retailers will have extra help from in achieving the right standards in food hygiene and giving extra confidence to their customers.The Food Standards Agency, the UK's food regulator, has produced a new DVD for food businesses that aims to provide an additional route for accessing up-to-date guidance on safe methods for food preparation, handling and storage.

The DVD complements information packs already being used by thousands of small businesses under the Agency's 'Safer food, better business' programme (SFBB). It is aimed at managers, food handlers, trainers, and local authorities and is free of charge.

In order to be accessible to the widest range of businesses, the DVD has voiceovers available in 16 different languages. It also uses video scenes of realistic situations in small catering and retail businesses to demonstrate SFBB in action.

David Statham, Director of Consumer Protection and Enforcement at the Food Standards Agency, said: 'The DVD will prove to be an invaluable addition to the Safer food, better business material already available to help businesses implement a food safety management system and train their staff. It will build upon the overwhelming success of Safer food, better business in improving food safety and minimising red tape burdens on small catering and retail businesses.'
v SFBB was developed specifically for the UK's smaller food businesses to help them comply with new food safety management procedures, which had originally been developed for large manufacturers. SFBB helps managers adapt good practice to their own business, and keeps record keeping simple by encouraging the use of a simple diary.

An online version of the DVD is currently being developed and will be available through the link below. In addition to the DVD, the Agency will be launching an SFBB supplement for care homes later in the year and a new childminders pack.

Notes

For more information on Safer food, better business see the link below.

Recent FSA evaluation of the success of Safer food, better business shows that:

- 72% of businesses with a food safety management system (FSMS) said that the FSMS had changed at least one area of food safety management within their business
- 81% were using the FSMS for training their staff
- 70% said it improved effectiveness of their business and 45% said that it had increased profitability
- 87% said it helped them manage their business

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