Replies

• Good afternoon all, just to let you know that I've contacted Lee Gibbs at Civica requesting another meeting of our Scottish Saffron Users Group. I also copied in Scott Brown but his email was returned undelivered so can only assume he no longer works there. I'll keep you posted regards suggested meeting dates/times. Gerry
  19th January 2024

• Good afternoon all, further to my email posted via Christine Boyle on Tuesday 9th May where I advised a new ‘products by recipe, catalogue and supplier’ report we had requested to be created. I've since discovered that this report isn't available to anyone else except us as we paid for it to be developed. We are more than happy for the report to be shared to other LA's so thought it might be useful to request another Scottish user group meting where we can put a bit of pressure on Civica to share this report and any other reports that anyone else has developed. It would also be a good opportunity to discuss any other issues we're having with Saffron; one I'm currently dealing with is the issue of the auto-update process between Brakes and Saffron where any allergen changes made by Brakes should automatically update Saffron. A recent case where this doesn't appear to have happened was Flora Original where the 'may contain' milk was removed by Brakes but didn't automatically update on Saffron. I'm not sure if this is a Brakes or Civica issue but have asked Brakes to look at it which they are currently doing. You can let me know if you see any merit in this and if so, I'm happy to contact Scott Brown to get something in the diary.
  10th May 2023

• Hi Linda, sorry just noticed your post. I have a few PPT presentations that you might find useful, will give you enough material to put together your own presentation. I'll send these to you by email as I don't see a way of attaching these to this forum. Also, specifically regarding anaphylaxis, our staff do anaphylaxis awareness refresher at the start of each new term, this is a NHS Ayrshire & Arran video on YouTube that you might also find useful.
  9th March 2023

• Thanks Elspeth/Brid for your comments and looks like we’re all in the same position with this. Having just launched this new procedure and formalising the process for the first time has resulted in a flurry of applications so has brought into sharp focus the challenge in accommodating requests. Trying to strike the balance between feeding children what they can eat whilst trying to avoid over-burdening the kitchen with adapted recipes/menus is a challenge but from all replies received seems there is no easy answer to this. One suggestion I found interesting when dealing with a particularly challenging dietary issue e.g. multiple allergies/intolerances and nothing suitable on the menu on a particular day was to make a payment to the parent to cover the cost of providing a packed lunch and not sure if anyone is doing this currently. With the rollout of UFSM and parents quite rightly expecting their child to be fed, this is a possible solution. Hopefully once we catch up with all outstanding applications and those still to come in, things will settle down a bit and this will become more manageable.  
  11th February 2022

• You may already know this but Cosmos will be updating the pizzini wrappers they supply so as to be compliant with PPDS labelling meaning we don't need to create our own labels. These will filter through in time for 1st October.
  10th September 2021

• Food Standards Scotland guidance on PPDS now published Guidance_on_the_Labelling_of_Food_Sold_Prepacked_for_Direct_Sale.pdf (foodstandards.gov.scot)
  30th August 2021

• New sector-specific guidance on PPDS has been produced by FSA - link to guidance as affects schools, colleges and nurseries available here.
  20th July 2021

• Hi Craig, this is one of those issues that we tend not to address in our personal hygiene rules unless we have to and sounds like that is you! You're right, the regulation is a bit vague on this: "Every person working in a food-handling area is to maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness and is to wear suitable, clean and, where necessary, protective clothing". When you see terms such as “where necessary”, “where appropriate”, “adequate” or “sufficient”, it is up to the food business operator to decide what is appropriate having regard to the circumstances. In this case, you have sufficient concern to be asking the question so think you've answered your own question and would recommend you review your procedures and require the use of a beard snood where the beard is long as you describe. Gerry
  17th June 2021

• Elspeth, we recently discussed the possibility of creating an area on the website where we could share compliant recipes - not sure if there been any development with this, I know Jayne said she would discuss it further?
  13th May 2021

• Brakes > Saffron live data link update: Further to posted last week, see update from Chris Boyle below. Chris' frustration is palpable and understandable and not quite sure yet how this API service will work. I've told Chris we will put this on to the agenda for discussion at our next users group meeting with them: Been off a few days this week but managed to catch up with our digital product lead Justin whom I have cc’d in on this. Justin has had the call with Saffron, It seems they have led us a merry dance with it just becoming apparent that they no longer require the file output we’ve built, and will instead be using the existing basic API. We spent months of time, resource and investment building this as you have seen for the regular updates I have been sending you. The upshot is we won’t be progressing the file output solution any further, and in the next month or 2 as Saffron establish their API capabilities, they’ll be simply connecting to the existing API service. The confusion and resulting delay sits squarely with Saffron, and any pressure you guys could apply to get them to connect Brakes product information would be appreciated. We also have had several councils asking us to connect with Nutmeg as well which again will be more time, resource and investment. You can still use Saffron but its just means it’s a very basic and manual service.
  13th April 2021

• Afternoon all, I'm looking for compliant home bakery recipes for break time in primary and secondary and wondered if anyone has anything they could share? I had a look on this site but couldn't find anything, would be useful if we could create an area where we could share compliant recipes?
  9th April 2021

• Disappointing turn of events between Brakes and Saffron regards the live data link - see email received from Chris Boyle this morning below. I've asked him if there is any pressure we can apply from our end and also advised him of this forum and the regular meetings we've been having with Saffron and would be happy to raise at our next meting on 18th May if need be. Will update further following feedback after Brakes and Saffron meeting this afternoon. Hi Gerry, Unfortunately we’ve hit a major roadbump with Saffron, with the issue being their end. The contact we were working with went radio silent on us so we found an alternative person who is the Head of Service Delivery. He quickly poured cold water on the original solution we’d been working on at the request of the original Saffron contact, and it looks like we might need to start again… Extremely frustrating after the effort and money invested to date, and given we seemed so close to finishing off the work. Got a call with the new contact 4-5pm Wednesday to establish what’s going on their end, see if we can salvage anything from what we’ve done so far, and agree the best way forward Will update further after Wednesday Kind Regards Chris
  7th April 2021

• Irn Bru Sugar Free drinks - further to the initial view of HNI's, just to say that I've updated the compliant drinks spreadsheet with these drinks now deemed compliant (though discouraged) as discussed in Q9 of the NAM.
  12th March 2021

• Nicky, we can expect guidance from FSS at some point but as discussed, what foods will require to be labelled the new regulation depends on how it is sold. The key thing is the ‘direct’ part of ‘prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) – for the sale to be ‘direct’ it is necessary for the sale to occur in the presence of catering staff and the pupil so basically anything put into a closed package and displayed prior to sale (not at the request of the purchaser) is deemed PPDS and therefore would require labelling e.g. a wrapped burger or sandwich wedge on display for sale. Whereas anything put into packaging after being purchased is not deemed PPDS e.g. a loose sandwich/burger put into a bag for the customer at the point of sale. Just to confuse things, PPDS food sold via ‘distance selling’ e.g. over the phone for a takeaway or via the internet including pre-order would not require labelling. I think the first thing we all need to do is look closely at what we currently package before sale and see if we can do it differently to avoid the need for labelling though there will be a need for some foods to be prepacked.
  23rd February 2021

• Hi Linsay, it all depends on the artificial sweetener you're thinking of using and in what product - food additives legislation is a nightmare! There is an excellent EU food additive database: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/foods_system/main/?sector=FAD&auth=SANCAS which is searchable for either the specific E number or product category. For baked products, these are referred to as 'fine bakery wares' - see https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/foods_system/main/?event=category.view&identifier=90 for the list of permitted additives. Having checked it regarding the use of stevia that I enquired about recently see that it's not allowed!
  17th February 2021