Since the 1 January 2006 food business operators throughout the EC have been required to implement into their business a documented food safety management system based on HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) to provide a clearly understood Food Safety Management System. This involves the proprietor identifying the food safety hazards in their food operations and putting systems in place to control them.
This legal requirement to provide a Food Safety Management System is flexible allowing procedures to be proportionate to the size and nature of the business. Many small businesses will be able to have fairly simple records to keep with straightforward procedures to follow relevant to what they already do in practice.
In Scotland two packs have been produced to help businesses implement food hygiene legislation successfully. There is one pack for caterers and another for retailers.
The CookSafe food safety assurance system was developed by The Food Standards Agency, in association with local authorities. This document provides the food business operator with a step-by-step guide to create a food safety management system for their business to adopt, helping the food business proprietor and the staff manage food safety.
Officers from the Council's Food and Safety Section can assist food business operators with the process of adapting CookSafe or RetailSafe to their business.
Hard copies of all versions of CookSafe (ISBN 978 011 702140 2) and RetailSafe (ISBN 978 011 702145 7) can be purchased from The Stationery Office via the The Stationery Office website or their sales hotline on 0870 600 5522.
CookSafe is also available in Chinese, Punjabi, Bengali and Urdu.
Additionally, e-CookSafe is available as an additional support to the hard copy manual and as a learning tool.