Do Edinburgh restaurants use SFBB or CookSafe?

CookSafe is the usual HACCP pack for catering businesses in Scotland. SFBB is the FSA pack for England and Wales. The City of Edinburgh Council provides CookSafe guidance. Do not run an England diary as if it were CookSafe.

What does a Pass mean in Edinburgh?

A Food Hygiene Information Scheme Pass means the business met required hygiene standards at the last inspection. It is not a 0–5 score. Improvement Required means work is needed. Check the FSA Edinburgh (City of) list for the current status.

How do Festival pop-ups in Edinburgh keep records?

Temporary trading still needs a food safety management system and records that match how you cook and hold food. Extra staff in August are exactly when named, dated checks during the shift matter. A folder left in a year-round site does not cover a pop-up kitchen.

Can restaurants in Edinburgh keep digital food safety records?

Yes, if they are complete, dated, and accessible on site. CookSafe is still the system — digital is the format. We do not claim City of Edinburgh Council or Food Standards Scotland endorsement. See will an EHO accept digital food safety records.

How much is System Hub Food Safety?

14-day trial, no card. Then £5/week per location via Stripe. Cancel anytime. Works in the browser. No app to install.

CookSafe records · Edinburgh

Food safety records for restaurants in Edinburgh (CookSafe, not SFBB)

Food safety software for restaurants in Edinburgh should fit CookSafe records, not an English SFBB download. The City of Edinburgh Council’s Food Health and Safety team inspects and issues Food Hygiene Information Scheme outcomes: Pass, Improvement Required, or Awaiting Inspection. 5,132 food businesses were on the FSA Edinburgh register on 13 September 2026.

Last reviewed: 21 September 2026. Written by Oriel Technology Ltd, Milton Keynes. City of Edinburgh Council inspects food businesses in Edinburgh — we do not.

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What food safety software means for restaurants in Edinburgh

5,132 food businesses on the FSA Edinburgh (City of) register (13 September 2026). Source: FSA Food Hygiene Rating Scheme open data. That count is every premises on the register — restaurants, takeaways, pubs, shops — not restaurants only.

Who inspects food businesses in Edinburgh

The City of Edinburgh Council — Food Health and Safety is the food authority. Officers are local. The pack is national. Search current ratings on the FSA Edinburgh list. Official guidance: Food Hygiene Information scheme.

Edinburgh explains FHIS on its Food Hygiene Information scheme page: Pass, awaiting inspection, or improvement required, based on conditions at the last inspection. They also note that some lower-risk businesses wait longer between visits because higher-risk premises come first. Open the records on site. We do not claim Food Standards Scotland or council endorsement.

Scotland uses the Food Hygiene Information Scheme (Pass / Improvement Required), not a 0–5 sticker. Do not tell a Glasgow or Edinburgh guest to look for a five.

What kitchens in Edinburgh actually look like

Old Town tourist kitchens, New Town dining, Leith independents, Stockbridge cafés, and student rooms in Marchmont share one council team. August festivals and Hogmanay are the Edinburgh-specific load: pop-ups, extra services, and temporary staff. That is when house-rule records slip — not because CookSafe changes in August, but because the people who know the folder are not on the rota.

Neighbourhoods this page is written against: Old Town, New Town, Leith, Marchmont, Stockbridge.

Why the paper pack fails on this city’s pattern

The council’s food service planning notes they give CookSafe guidance free of charge because a substantial number of businesses change hands each year. New operators inherit a folder and a walk-in, not a habit of recording during service. A digital diary does not write the house rules for you. It does stop the catch-up from memory after a Festival sitting.

Paper is legal. It collapses when the pack is filled in late, left off site, or cannot be read. That habit is national. The trigger in Edinburgh is local — the service pattern above, not a city-name swap.

What the officer still asks to see

Format is not the test. Records still have to be complete, dated, and accessible. For CookSafe that usually means:

House rules that match how this kitchen actually cooks and holds food
HACCP charts for the steps you take
Recording forms — fridge, cooking, hot-holding — at the frequency you set
Monitoring during service, not copied at close

CookSafe is the pack. Timestamped checks are the evidence. One does not replace the other. Food Standards Scotland CookSafe guide.

Read will an EHO accept digital food safety records for the hand-over. We do not claim regulator endorsement.

Paper pack vs digital records in Edinburgh

	Paper CookSafe pack	Digital records during the shift
Who inspects	City of Edinburgh Council — same officer either way
Rating scheme	Food Hygiene Information Scheme (Pass or Improvement Required)
Legal?	Yes, if complete, dated, on site	Yes, if complete, dated, on site
Where it fails here	The local service pattern above	A dead tablet is the same as a pack in the office
Name on the line	Easy to tick later	Timestamp and who did it

How System Hub fits a CookSafe kitchen

Food Safety is timestamped opening, temperature, and delivery checks during the shift, with alerts when skipped. It is not CookSafe, and it is not Food Standards Scotland approved. Scottish kitchens still need house rules and HACCP charts. Dated records are what the officer reads when they ask what happened on Thursday.

14-day trial, no card, then £5/week per location via Stripe. Cancel anytime. Browser on a kitchen tablet or phone. No app to install.

Other UK city pages

Each page names a different food authority and a different kitchen pattern. If two pages would read the same after you swap the city, we do not publish the second one.

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