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Food safety documentation

All operators of food businesses are now required to maintain a written food-safety management system.

As a small low-risk food business 'Safer Food Better Business' for caterers (SFBB) may not be appropriate for you as it could be considered too in depth and onerous for your needs, however you will still need to have a documented food-safety management system in place.

To help you with this process, with thanks to colleagues in Braintree District Council, we have made available a pack called Safer Food Better Baking which is based on SFBB and is simplified to meet the needs of cake makers. 

If you decide on this as your documented system you will need to print the safe methods and diary sheets from the pack.

  • you should read the section called 'How to use this pack' and 'How does this diary work' which explains how the pack is to be used
  • you should then work through the pack and fill in all the safe methods relevant to you
  • once you have worked through the pack you need to ensure you are following safe methods every day you produce cakes

Every time you produce cakes for your business you will need to complete the diary section of the pack.

This includes marking opening checks in the diary and keeping records of refrigerator temperatures prior to baking and closing checks.

At the end of each day you must make a note of anything that went wrong and then carry out your closing checks before certifying the records are accurate and true.

After 15 production days there is a review section included in the diary which gives you an opportunity to review safety methods and audit your systems. This section should be completed as a legal requirement.

Alternatively you can write your own simple procedures.

To do this you will need to write a short paragraph under each of the headings below (if they are relevant), outlining how each aspect is controlled within your operation.

Get in touch about environmental health

The quickest way to contact us is by using our online forms which are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you need to speak to us give us a call during office hours and talk to our Customer Services team who will be happy to help.