6.2 Cooksafe
CookSafe is a food safety assurance system produced by the Food Standards Agency to meet regulations and implement a HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) based system.
HACCP is a widely accepted food safety management system, which can easily be adapted to meet all sizes and types of catering requirements.
The CookSafe Manual is in place to ensure steps are being taken to guarantee better food safety. It indicates what will be checked during environmental health inspections.
You can access the manual by visiting; ​CookSafe Manual | Food Standards Scotland
The CookSafe manual is split into five sections:
- Introduction – contains guidance on the HACCP terms in this manual
- Flow Diagram – provides guidance and a sample template to help you draw your own Flow Diagrams
- HACCP Charts – shows you what could go wrong at each process step and what you need to do about it. Guidance and examples are provided for you to consider in relation to your business
- House Rules – contains guidance and sample templates to help you develop your own House Rules building on your day-today safe working practices
- Records – contains guidance and sample techniques for you to use to link in with all the other sections.
The CookSafe manual contains essential information on HACCP principles as well as guidance on a range of other food safety issues. There is also an Action Plan for you to record the progress you have made, as you work through the five sections.
Please refer to the CookSafe manual for detailed information on the following:
- Hazards when dealing with food
- Control measures required to control the hazards
- How to monitor and record the steps taken to control food safety.
- Corrective action if the control measure has failed to meet its Critical Limit
- Verification of the HACCP based system to ensure it is working
- Documentation to demonstrate that the HACCP based system is working effectively.