Safer Food, Better Business

What is the SFBB 4-weekly review?

The 4-weekly review is the Safer Food, Better Business manager check of the previous weeks. You look back at the diary, the 4 Cs, and persistent problems, then sign it off. Skipping it is a common gap in both paper and digital packs.

Last reviewed: 21 September 2026. Reviewed by Nitin Patel. Drafts are prepared with AI assistance and checked by him before publication.

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What the 4-weekly review is for

The diary shows what happened each day. The 4-weekly review is how a manager looks back: did opening checks actually happen, did a fridge keep failing, did a new cook skip the probe. FSA SFBB guidance says officers may want to look at diary pages as well as the pack. The review is the pack’s memory, not a separate audit product.

What to walk through

Work through the 4 Cs plus management — the same headings as the paper pack.

Cross-contamination — separation, cloths, raw and ready-to-eat
Cleaning — chemicals, cloths, scheduled cleans
Chilling — fridge readings, deliveries, cooling
Cooking — probe use, hot-holding, reheating
Management — training, suppliers, the diary itself

Note persistent problems. Sign it. If the same walk-in has been at 10°C for three weeks and nobody wrote an action, the review has failed even if every box is ticked.

Why paper reviews stall between shifts

The pack lives in the office. The GM is on the floor. Progress is a folded page. Digital review with saved progress is the same job without losing the pack between shifts. It is not a new management system.

What an EHO asks to see usually includes this sign-off for the dates they care about.

How System Hub runs the review

Food Safety includes a 4-weekly SFBB Review across Cross-contamination, Cleaning, Chilling, Cooking, and Management. Progress saves as you go. Same login as daily checks. 14-day trial, no card, then £5/week per location incl VAT via Stripe.

Store all your completed diary pages safely until your next visit from a local authority food safety officer. This can be done electronically or with printed copies.
Safer food, better business (SFBB), Food Standards Agency / GOV.UK, 5 June 2025. England and Wales.

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What does a manager actually sign every four weeks?

The safe methods in the pack, the gaps since the last review, and the date. The 4-weekly review is the look back. It is not a second copy of today’s opening checks. If the diary shows three skipped probe checks and the review says “all fine”, the review is the document that fails.

A usable review names the method (cross-contamination, cleaning, chilling, cooking, management), what was found, and what changed. “Reviewed” with a scribble is not a finding. If nothing failed, write that you looked and the dates you looked at. The officer asks for the review that covers the weeks they picked, not the one you meant to do.

Edge: a head chef on holiday does not pause the four weeks. Someone else signs, with their name. A group with six sites does six reviews. One PDF for the group hides which kitchen skipped chilling.

Rows the 4-weekly review is supposed to look at. — The four-week review reads these rows. It cannot say the gaps were not there.

Cover the 4 Cs and management, not only the page that was already tidy.
Match the review to the diary. Do not contradict a 12°C reading with “no problems”.
Date it. An undated review cannot be tied to the four weeks.
One site, one review. Six sites means six.

GOV.UK: SFBB pack, electronic or printed. FSA: Safer food, better business.

Who signs the 4-weekly review when the manager is away?

Someone signs when the usual manager is away. The four weeks do not pause for a holiday. The review has to agree with the diary. If the diary shows skipped probes, the review cannot say there were no gaps. Six sites are six reviews.