Under new food hygiene legislation from January 2006, all caterers and retail food businesses need to have a written food safety management system.
Go to Related Pages for free Safer Food, Better Business Packs to help Chinese and Indian catering businesses meet this requirement. There is also an SFBB DVD with voiceovers in 16 languages.
You can also download Photo Guides for Ethnic Businesses, with text in Turkish, Bengali or Chinese, and a booklet Food Hygiene – A Guide for Businesses in Bengali, Chinese, Gujurati, Hindi, Punjabi or Turkish languages.
Free Seminars for Ethnic Businesses
During 2006-07, the council's Environmental Health service worked in partnership with Lewes and Wealden councils, SOMPRITI - the Black and Minority Ethnic support agency - and consultants from CMi to provide free advice seminars on new food hygiene regulations.
These included seminars in minority languages for Bengali, Turkish and Chinese catering businesses.
During May 2006, three Bengali seminars were held in the Lewes, Wealden and Eastbourne area, and two Turkish ones.
Bengali and Turkish Catering
The two in Eastbourne attracted representatives from 29 Sussex Bengali/Indian catering businesses and 13 Turkish ones. Staff from SOMPRITI were invaluable in recruiting businesses to the seminars, and supporting and translating once there.
Interaction was excellent at both seminars and businesses and the CMi coach as well as food safety staff felt a lot had been achieved. Individual coaching was then offered to all these businesses by CMi coaches with support from SOMPRITI as needed.
Food safety staff and coaches also attended Bengali cooking demonstrations to better understand the practices and techniques of "Indian" cuisine.
Chinese Catering Businesses
The Safer Sussex Food Project partners worked similarly with local Chinese catering businesses in September 2006, offering six seminars in all, two of these in Eastbourne, working with the SOMPRITI Chinese Support Worker.
At the seminars all the businesses received a free printed copy of the SFBB pack in a durable loose leaf folder. Further support and monitoring was then offered by food safety officers as they visit the businesses.
