Local food safety bid gets nod

A new food safety accreditation scheme targeted at small local food producers has received positive support from big retailers and foodservice companies. As a result, it looks set to achieve the critical mass of 500 members a year it needs to ensure its viability.

Salsa, the Safe and Local Supplier Approval scheme, received widespread support from major multiples and foodservice operators at a stakeholders' meeting held last month in London. Brakes, Asda, Waitrose and foodservice company 3663 announced they would actively encourage their suppliers to take up the scheme. Sainsbury is also backing the scheme and other retailers, such as Morrison and the Co-op, are likely to follow.

And Tesco has offered its support, if not full endorsement yet. "It's got to be simple, but there has to be rigour," it said. "We need confidence in (its) consistency before we will use it."

In contrast, Waitrose said: "Salsa will play a major part in the local and regional sourcing policy."

And Asda's technical services manager Susan Wright said Salsa was likely to replace the retailer's own short audit procedures for new local suppliers as it increases by one-third the amount of locally supplied food it handles through its regional hubs. "This is our preferred option," said Wright. "We are actively promoting Salsa through all suppliers and it is part of our local sourcing policy."

Salsa was launched in March last year to encourage small producers to raise their food safety standards, offering them an accreditation scheme less onerous and expensive than full British Retail Consortium (BRC) accreditation. But buy-in and promotion by major multiples is crucial to its success. "It must meet the due diligence needs of food buyers," said Salsa scheme director Chris Grimes.

The scheme is backed by the National Farmers' Union, British Hospitality Association, Food and Drink Federation and BRC. It also has the active support of the Food Standards Agency, which believes it will help in averting potential food safety incidents.

Take-up has been slow, with 65 of its 163 registered members being approved. Salsa has so far received 645 online registrations (http://www.salsafood.co.uk).