Food Safety Services

Significant experience food manufacturing & catering sectors including the development, training, implementation and monitoring of food safety management programs..

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Food Safety & Haccp Training

The food safety training is certificated by the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health. We specialise in providing training on the clients premises or nominated training facility. Training can be completed in most countries around the world and courses and can be adapted for your company.

Fundamentals of Food Hygiene (One day including a multiple choice exam)
Fundamentals of Haccp (One day including a multiple choice exam)
Supervising Food Safety in Catering / Manufacturing (3 Days including a review session & written exam on day 3)
Practical Food Safety Audit Training (Half - one day including a practical session)

We now have approval from the RSPH to run the following courses:

Level 2 (Basic) Award in Food Safety in Catering
Level 2 (Basic) Award in Food Safety for Manufacturing
Level 2 (Basic) Award in Food Safety for Retail

Level 3 (intermediate) Award in Food Safety Supervision for Retail
Level 4 (Advanced) Award in Managing Food Safety in Catering
Level 4 (Advanced) Award in Food Safety Management for Manufacturing

Level 3 (Intermediate) Award in HACCP for Food Manufacturing
(Also applicable to Catering)
Level 4 (Advanced) Award in HACCP Management for Food Manufacturing (Also applicable to Catering)

See Food Safety & Haccp Training now for more information

BRC Global Standard for Food Safety - Consultancy

We work with both large and small food manufacturers providing consultancy and technical support for the development of food safety systems to the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety (Issue 5) (often referred to as BRC accreditation), EFSIS Standards (now the same as the BRC standard).

Once certificated to the standard, ongoing support can be provided  to maintain the system, review and upgrade the system to version 5 of the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety or for example undertake the internal audits which are an essential part of the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety.

Independent of the organisations auditing to this standard allowing technical support to assist companies to obtain and maintain the BRC standard with no potential conflicts of interest.

2 main support services are available:

• A review where a company is against the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety (Issue 5) with some practical advice. The company then takes this information and works on their own towards the standard or with minimal external support. This is relevant for a company taking their first steps towards the BRC standard or requires technical support to upgrade their quality system to meet the requirements of Issue 5.

• Full support for a company making their first steps to meet the requirements of the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety (Issue 5) right through to providing help on the day of the audit.

See BRC Global Food Safety Standard Consultancy for more information

BRC Global Standard - Sorage & Distribution Consultancy

We work with both large and small companies on the development of food safety systems to the BRC Global Standard - Storage & Distribution.  We can help companies to select the most appropriate inspection / certification company, assess where you are against the standard, develop the systems and documentation to meet the standard, and provide support up to the day of the audit. Once approved we can provide ongoing support to maintain the system, or for example, undertake the internal audits which are an essential part of these standards.

We are independent of the organisations auditing to this standard which allows us to assist companies to obtain and maintain this standard without having to concern ourselves with potential conflicts of interest.
 
We have 2 main support services:

  • A review of where a company is against the BRC Global Standard - Storage & Distribution with some practical advice. The company then takes this   information and works on their own towards the standard or with minimal external support.
  • Full support for a company making their first steps to meet the requirements of one of the BRC Global Standard - Storage & Distribution right through to providing help on the day of the audit.
 
We also provide ongoing technical support after certification – we can provide more details of this.

See BRC Storage & Distribution for more information

General Technical Support & Consultancy

A full package of technical support services is available to food manufacturers, wholesalers and other non-manufacturing companies, particularly those who market a range of products under their own label.  For larger companies, we are often required to supplement existing resources.  A technical function which includes support for the following is availble:

Ongoing support with BRC certification
 HACCP consultancy
• Technical support to help you devise and document a haccp plan
• Technical support to help you devise a HACCP implementation plan
  Follow up assessment of a HACCP implementation plan
• Development of haccp documentation
Verification and validation of existing HACCP plans
• Investigation of processing / quality / micro  / GMP problems                                                                                  
Preparation for audits by customers
• Audits of suppliers / supplier questionnaires and screening
• Product specifications
• Technical liaison with customers & suppliers
Dealing with EHO (food safety) issues.
• Systems for the control of suppliers 
• Supplier 'Due Diligence' questionnaires
Internal audits of quality system

See General Technical Support for more information

Food Safety Audits

Whilst BRC accreditation is becoming increasingly common in the food manufacturing / retailer areas, there are many specialised areas in the food industry where a client feels that the BRC standard is not appropriate for their business needs.

Such instances may include food safety audits of retailing / industrial catering / foodservice operations or food manufacturing where the systems relating to the manufacture of a specific product requires a more process led approach to ensure that a supplier’s quality system has been applied to a specific product supplied over a period time.

Audits are also initiated by a customer experiencing supplier quality, compositional or food safety problems whereby a specific issue needs to be investigated and resolved. We carry out full technical audits of food manufacturers, ingredient and packaging suppliers.

See Food Safety Audits for more information.

Food Safety Incident Investigations

Food or water can sometimes be implicated where several people become ill at the same time.
Foodborne illness is more likely if a food safety management program is not in place
Can occur even when systems are in place due to lapses in procedures
An investigation to identify the root cause requires an understanding of food manufacturing or catering operations and food safety
This expertise can be brought into the investigation team
Recommendations from the investigation may also require food safety expertise.

See Food Safety Investigations for more information

Commercial Due Diligence

Technical support working on behalf of investment companies / banks in technical, market and commercial assessments in conjunction with financial & commercial experts / local consultants to assess investment projects and enable the investment company to assess the risks and opportunities presented by their proposed investment. Also to identify the areas which require further exploration during the due diligence process.

The food technologist provides the technical knowledge and experience specific to food manufacturing to complement the financial analysis. This stage where a  technologist gets involved is normally when the vendor has been successfully approached / the desktop research has been completed. The areas examined are agreed with the client but investigations could include the following:

See Commercial Due Diligence for more information

Interim Management

What is Interim Management?
Interim Managers work on a self employed basis on a fixed term contract with a client.  Interim management in the food industry is different from consultancy in that real responsibility is taken for the assignment. Interim managers don't just advise, they do the job!.

A client may have a special project that needs managing, or has a management gap that needs filling urgently. e.g. a key manager on leave, a gap that needs filling whilst a permanent replacement is found or a special project. New situations are regularly faced where  a substantial amount of information needs to be understood in a very short space of time - and  the correct decision or recommmade.

Work on longer term projects can also be completed on a subcontract basis.

See Interim Management for more information

Subcontracting Services

Subcontractors to other organisations and individual consultants who need to supplement their own resources to implement or complete a specific food safety or quality contract / project.

Over the last 10 years, a number of other organisations have been helped to deliver a variety of projects including:
 
Development, training, implementation and monitoring of food safety across multiple industrial catering sites and subcontractors.
Advice on the use and practical application of alternative technologies to cook-chill for use in a new in-flight airline catering facility.
Providing technical support for the design and layout  of a high risk chilled foods factory.
Technical support on behalf of investment companies / banks to carry out technical, market and commercial assessments in conjunction with financial experts / local consultants to assess investment projects and enable the investment company to assess the risks and opportunities presented by their proposed investment. Also to identify the areas which needed further exploration during the due diligence  process.
Completing a  survey on behalf of the Food Standards Agency
Undertaking food safety audits of supermarkets, catering operations, food manufacturers, and non food suppliers.
Providing a local / regional resource for companies holding a national auditing contract
Working for a national UK retailer to enable a new supplier specialising in high quality cuisine to comply with the retailers technical requirements

See Subcontracting Services for more information

ISO 22000 Lead Auditor Training

ISO 22000: 2005 Food Safety Management System Lead Auditor Course is organised by our partners, IQ Management Systems. (Registration Number IRCA A17362)
 
ISO 22000:2005 is the internationally recognised standard that defines the parameters for an effective food safety management system based on Haccp. More and more organisations in the food sector are encouraging their suppliers to demonstrate compliance to this standard, and this is creating a demand for trained and competent ISO 22000:2005 auditors.
               
This intensive, challenging and highly interactive ISO 22000:2005 training program organised by our partners IQ Management Systems is for those people who require an in-depth understanding of the International Food Safety Management System Standard ISO 22000:2005, and the range of auditing techniques and protocols associated with the lead auditor role in the food sector.

See ISO 22000 Lead Auditor Training for more information

For more information

IF YOU:

Have responsibility for contracting, managing, designing or monitoring food manufacturing or catering operations

AND:

Need to develop, implement or improve food safety management programs
Need food safety, food manufacturing or catering expertise to investigate food safety or food quality issues
Need to consider food safety in the design of new facilities
Require monitoring of existing suppliers or subcontractors
Need to assess the status off current suppliers or subcontractors
Need a technical evaluation of tenders or potential subcontractors
Need  to organise Food Safety or Haccp training

Call or e-mail now for more information


Contracts can be from a few days to longer periods.