Service
Annual reviews and updates
A program written two years ago describes a business that no longer exists. Menus change, equipment changes, suppliers change, and the Code changes. The review brings the document back in line with what you actually do.
Who it's for
- Businesses with an accredited program due for review
- Anyone whose menu, process or equipment has changed since the program was written
- Businesses that have had findings at a council inspection or audit
- Anyone who has changed sites, added a site, or changed what they supply
What's included
- Read-through of the existing program against your current operation
- Hazard analysis revisited where the process has changed
- Critical limits checked against current requirements and your validation
- New products and processes added
- Support programs and records updated
- Changes to the Food Standards Code since the last version applied
- A written summary of what changed and why
- Updated version issued with proper document control
What drifts over a year
Programs do not usually fail all at once. A new product gets added and never makes it into the hazard analysis. A supplier changes and the approved supplier list does not. Someone buys a different piece of equipment with a different temperature profile. A staff member leaves and takes the only knowledge of why a step was done that way.
None of those is a crisis on its own. Together they are the gap between the document and the kitchen, and that gap is exactly what an assessor reads for.
Why the review is not just a date change
Reissuing the same document with a new review date is common and worthless. The point of a review is to find the differences, and a review that finds nothing usually means nobody looked.
What you get back
An updated program, and a written summary of what changed and why. The summary matters: it is the evidence that the review actually happened, and it is what you show when someone asks when the program was last reviewed.
What it costs
A fixed fee, quoted before any work starts, with travel included in the number you are given. Never an hourly rate that grows.
The scoping call is free and takes fifteen minutes. If it turns out you need something smaller than you thought, I'll tell you.
Questions
How often should a program be reviewed?
At least annually, and whenever something material changes — a new product, a new process, new equipment, a new site, or a change to the requirements that apply to you. Your accreditation conditions may set a specific frequency.
I did not write the original program. Can you still review it?
Yes. That is common, and it is often the more useful review, because I am reading it the way an assessor would rather than the way its author remembers it.
What if the review finds a lot wrong?
Then you will get told, with the gaps listed and prioritised. Whether you fix them yourself or ask me to is up to you.
Is a review cheaper than a rebuild?
Usually, yes — which is why I read the document before quoting rather than guessing. Occasionally a program is far enough from the business that rebuilding is both better and cheaper, and I will say so.