Safer Food, Better Business in the Tourism Industry

North Norfolk District Council next week launches a series of 16 seminars aimed at small food businesses like hotels, takeaways, pubs, restaurants and cafés to help them increase standards and do better business.

The Safer Food, Better Business project sees four Norfolk councils - North Norfolk District Council, Norwich City Council, Broadland District Council and the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk - targeting 1260 small tourism-related food businesses with free training and coaching to improve their skills and the quality of the food they serve, thanks to a Food Standards Agency grant of nearly £300,000.

The scheme starts in North Norfolk on Wednesday, 15 November, when the first seminar takes place at the Council's Holt Road office in Cromer for invited food businesses. These businesses have a high profile locally and a commitment to high standards of hygiene, and they will then serve as champions for the scheme.

The media are welcome to attend some, or all, of this seminar, which starts at 9am, and speak to people taking part. Please call Nick Manthorpe on 01263 516059 to arrange your attendance.

About 400 North Norfolk businesses are eligible for the scheme, and they will be invited and encouraged to join later seminars over the coming months.

Businesses that take advantage of the scheme will learn about food regulations, hygiene and the proper handling of food - the so-called "four Cs": cross-contamination, cleaning, chilling and cooking. They will receive one-to-one coaching after the seminar to help apply what they have learned to their business, and will then join a cycle of evaluation, inspection and certification to prove they are upholding high standards for their customers' sakes.

The Safer Food, Better Business project is a way of introducing food businesses to changes in the laws governing how they operate and are monitored. The new regulations, which came into effect in January this year, simplify the existing legislation but mean businesses must now keep written records of what they do to keep food safe.

• For more information about food regulations, or to request or download a Safer Food, Better Business information pack, visit http://www.food.gov.uk/
• For information about how the scheme will work in North Norfolk, or to sign up for a forthcoming seminar, contact Alan Dixon, Commercial Team Leader at NNDC, on 01263 516292 or email alandixon@north-norfolk.gov.uk.
  A schedule of North Norfolk seminars can be found here.

ENDS