CORONAVIRUS UPDATE 20TH AUGUST 2021

Prepacked for Direct Sale Labelling Guidance (Natasha's Law)

New legislation, which will require food businesses in Scotland to include the product name and full ingredient information on food sold prepacked for direct sale (PPDS), comes into force on 1 October 2021 in Scotland and the rest of the UK. The new legislation will improve information about allergens and other ingredients in food packed in advance, mainly at the same place where it's sold, before being offered to consumers.

Scottish Craft Butchers were asked to comment on the guidance that Food Standards Scotland were working on, that would focus on the amendments to the food labelling rules, relating to allergen labelling of prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food.

FSS are now able to share the finalised version of the PPDS guidance with you, it can be found at their website here; Prepacked for direct sale allergen labelling | Food Standards Scotland | Food Standards Scotland and also attached to this e-mail.

Food Standards Scotland would like to thank all our stakeholders for their input and help with the creation of this document.

Please contact Bruce or Gordon if you have any further questions on this subject.

Members Meeting Wednesday 8th Sept 2021 @ 7pm on Zoom

We are delighted to announce that MasterChef winner, Gary MacLean will be presenting at our next members zoom meeting on Wednesday 8th September at 7pm.

Gary will present some Autumn dishes and share cooking tips and knowledge with you your staff and apprentices. An e-mail will be sent out to all members and apprentices that we have on our database.

If any members of your staff would like to join in, please let us know by sending us an e-mail contact for the individual. We will send out the meeting link details nearer the time.
Book your place [email protected] or [email protected]

Meat Managers Hygiene and HACCP Course

6-8th September 2021 (FULL)
27-29 September 2021 (Only One space left)
Please get in touch if suitable for you or a staff member!
It is a legal requirement to make sure that our businesses have an operational and auditable food safety management system in place.
We have traditionally held our Meat Managers Hygiene and HACCP courses in one location on one day. These have been held throughout the country and have proven very popular and useful in the development of individuals within the business who are required to take responsibility for the implementation of the HACCP system.
The courses have been delivered by Verner Wheelock.
Paul Bache has presented these courses for many years on behalf of Scottish Craft Butchers and the certificates issued are recognised by the local authority environmental health officers.

Due to the current restrictions, we cannot hold face to face courses.
Therefore, we have decided to offer the course online during video meetings in September.
The format will be 3 x afternoons (3 hours each session) on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with a maximum of 7 places. Each candidate will have to attend all 3 sessions!

Cost is £250 per candidate.
The course content is available on request.

OUR PREVIOUS 3 SESSIONS IN APRIL AND MAY ACHIEVED A 95% PASS RATE!

If you would like to find out more or register yourself or someone in your business on the course, please e-mail Claire Simpson [email protected]

Food Standards Scotland Food Business Covid update

The Food Standards Scotland COVID-19 webpage has now been updated in light of the published Scottish Government central safer workplaces guidance, which has replaced all individual sectoral guidance documents. This guidance came into effect 9th Aug 2021 and aims to support business and workplaces to reduce the risk of COVID-19.

FSS food specific sector guidance has been removed from the webpage, however their risk assessment tool and IMT outbreak guidance has been updated to assist FBOs to reduce risk and support staff and customers: COVID-19 Guidance for Food Business Operators and Their Employees | Food Standards Scotland. the food businesses guidance has now been archived.

In addition to the Scottish Government safer workplaces guidance, Scottish Government have produced central guidance on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
REMEMBER YOU WILL STILL NEED TO HAVE A COVID RISK ASSESSMENT THAT REFLECTS THE PROTOCOLS IN YOUR BUSINESS!
We have been advised that each business will have to decide what protocols to keep and which ones to remove safely. Each business is different regarding size and numbers of staff working.
If you decide to allow more customers into the premises, then your covid risk assessment must reflect this and ensure that facemasks are worn by those who are not exempt.
If you are removing screens between customers and staff, then you will have to ensure that face coverings are worn instead.
Ultimately, the relaxing of the covid regulations will mean that business owners still must show they have taken all reasonable precautions to protect staff and customers so it may be that the protocols you have in place currently will be the best option going forward for the time being.

If you need to discuss any of this, please contact Gordon or Bruce.

Update to e-mail contact details

As we have now completed the process of changing the name of the organisation to “Scottish Craft Butchers” we have also taken to opportunity to change our e-mail addresses to reflect this.
Please note the new e-mail contact details for Gordon and Bruce below.
Our mobile numbers remain the same.

Gordon King: [email protected] 07917524313
Bruce McCall: [email protected] 07834490922

The Scottish Craft Butchers office in Perth is staffed every weekday.

We will be available to our members to answer any queries via email or by mobile phone
and will be available out of office hours for any members wanting to contact us.