Food safety gets £4m boost
Thursday 7 September 2006
The Food Standards Agency has awarded grants worth more than £4m to help food businesses implement Safer food, better business, the food safety management pack that offers simple, practical guidance for small catering and retail businesses.
The cash will go to 33 projects involving 99 local authorities in England. This is the second year that the FSA has made the awards as part of its ongoing commitment to help food businesses comply with EU food hygiene regulations introduced in January 2006.
The grants will be used by the local authorities to help some 23,000 small food businesses implement SFBB. There are two versions of the pack, one for caterers and one for retailers. Both were produced in partnership with industry and local authorities. The catering pack was launched in 2005 and the retail pack early in 2006.
The local authority grant applications were considered by an external appraisal panel in August, consisting of representatives from LACORS, the British Hospitality Association and King' College London.
Other food safety management packs are available in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
‘The Agency is delighted at the number and calibre of the applications submitted.’
David Statham, the Agency's Director of Enforcement, made the announcement at the annual conference of the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health.
He said: 'This is the second tranche of grants made to local authorities to assist them in implementing SFBB, and the Agency is delighted at the number and calibre of the applications submitted.
'The FSA is committed to working with local authorities to help them to provide information that food businesses need to comply with EU hygiene regulations and to make sure food sold to people when they eat out is as safe as possible.
'I�m particularly pleased to see other organisations, including trade associations and training bodies, joining forces with their local authorities to offer their expertise in delivering real benefits to their local community.'
To find out more about the grants scheme and case studies of the successful projects, read the press release at the link below.
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