The Food Standards Agency (FSA), the agency responsible for regulating food in the United Kingdom, announced Monday that it awarded more than 5,000 grants to food-related businesses to improve food safety. According to the FSA, this is the fourth year the agency has awarded such grants to help businesses comply with EU hygiene regulations. The grant program is an integral part of the agency’s Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) program, which is dedicated to “helping businesses put in place systems to manage food safety risks.” The agency awarded projects that specifically addressed three of its main priorities: preparing for the 2012 Olympics, moving to a new health score program, and sustaining SFBB implementation. Sarah Appleby, Head of Food Safety: Implementation and Delivery Division at the FSA, said “This fourth group of awards follows the success of the previous SFBB grants and I’m really pleased that we’re able to continue supporting local authorities to improve food safety standards through the SFBB program. The Agency is committed to making sure that eating out is as safe as possible for consumers and to raise the standards in catering establishments both now and for the future,” on the agency’s website.
