BRC Food - Background

The BRC Standard - Food is designed to form a robust basis for assuring that the safety of food products manufactured at a particular site are 'safe, legally-compliant and of good quality'. The Standard is owned by the BRC (British Retail Consortium). Compliance with its requirements is independently audited throughout the world by Certification Bodies, who are themselves overseen and licensed by national accreditation organisations, such as UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) in the UK.

BRC Packaging - Background

The BRC Standards are revised and re-issued every three years: Issue 4 of the Packaging Standard (published February 2011) is the mandatory basis for audits from 1st August 2011. See 'download' for more background information.

BRC Storage & Distribution

Issue 2 of the Standard was published in September 2010 and is applicable to the storage and distribution of:

• food (excluding live animals [except crustacean for human consumption], pre-farm-gate bulk agricultural products and unprocessed bulk agricultural products),
• packaging
• consumer products (excluding fuels sold in bulk or refillable containers and motor vehicles)

SALSA - Background

SALSA is a non-profit making joint venture between four main trade associations: The National Farmers Union (NFU), The Food & Drink Federation (FDF), The British Hospitality Association (BHA) and the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The scheme is actively supported by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and DEFRA (Department of Environment, Farming & Rural Affairs), as it supports their objectives of improving food safety standards and the sustainability of small and local producers.