What can SALSA accreditation bring to your food business?

Progress Safety Ltd have a vast range of food industry experience and have supported a wide range of clients through food standard accreditations including British Retail Consortium Global Standard (BRCGS) and Safe and Local Supplier Approval (SALSA).

SALSA appeals to our smaller to medium sized clients who are looking for an accreditation which demonstrates best practice compliance to potential customers including local and national retailers and food service buyers. Clients who sell products directly to the public find that the accreditation and use of the SALSA logo on their promotional material, gives customers greater confidence in their products and brand.

Not only does SALSA accreditation pave the way for entry into lots of potential markets but it is one of the best way Food Business Operators can ensure legal and industry requirements are met. The SALSA standard provides the perfect framework for a food business to work to. It offers a practical and sensible approach for smaller and micro food businesses who want to produce high quality, safe products.

What is SALSA?

SALSA approval is granted to food businesses who are able to demonstrate to an approved auditor that they are able to produce safe and legal food and are committed to meeting the requirements of the SALSA standard ongoing.

The great thing about gaining SALSA accreditation is that food businesses can demonstrate that they operate to standards that are recognised and accepted across the industry. These requirements exceed the minimum standards expected by local enforcement authorities such as the Environmental Health.

More information about the SALSA standard, including frequently asked questions can be found here.

How can Progress Safety help?

Progress Safety can provide a highly experienced food safety consultant to help you develop and implement your quality systems in line with the SALSA standard. We do not provide an “off the shelf” Quality Manual, we work with our clients to develop a bespoke system that satisfies the requirements of the standards as well as their business needs.

Many of our clients want to create an innovative, creative and positive ethos which makes their business a great place to work. We work with them to develop a food safety focussed culture that is compliant with the SALSA standard, whilst still retaining their core values.

Our clients find that by using one of our food safety consultants, they save a great deal of time in preparing for a SALSA audit. Our knowledge and experience enables us to work quickly and efficiently and on a completely flexible basis. We provide consultancy across all shift patterns including evening work and weekends. Clients may require a large amount of support initially and then find that ongoing support is only needed once a month (or even less) to make sure they stay on track. Using our services gives businesses flexibility in accordance with budget needs, without having to employ someone full time.

To give you an idea, we offer the following services as part of our SALSA consultancy provision:

Ongoing support in order to retain SALSA accreditation status or the next accreditation challenge such as the BRCGS. Further information about the BRCGS standard can be found here.

Gap analysis of current systems verses those required to meet the requirements of the standard.

Experienced food safety trainers, qualified to deliver Level 1 – 4 accredited training including Food Safety, Allergen Awareness, HACCP, Auditing and Inspection Skills and Nutrition. We deliver training to all levels of personnel from production operatives to the senior management team.

Expert interpretation of the SALSA standard and legal requirements.

Development and implementation of systems and procedures to meet the requirements of the SALSA standard and business requirements.

Conduct an independent food safety systems review to meet the requirements of the SALSA standard.

Management of projects, action plans and remedial actions to ensure deadlines are met.

Working with the HACCP team to produce a verified process flow and robust risk assessment of relevant food safety hazards.

Assistance with the actual SALSA audit. We can be present on the day and provide any support you may need during what can be a quite daunting time (especially the first one).