HygieneFix vs Free SFBB Pack: What's the Difference?
The SFBB Pack Is Excellent — But Generic
The Safer Food Better Business (SFBB) pack, published by the Food Standards Agency, is one of the best free food safety resources available to UK businesses. It covers all the key food safety procedures in plain English, provides a diary for ongoing record-keeping, and is the standard that Environmental Health Officers expect to see during inspections.
We recommend every food business download and complete it. HygieneFix is not a replacement for SFBB — it is a complement to it.
The limitation of SFBB is that it is generic. The same pack is used by a high-street café in Bristol and a late-night takeaway in Leeds. It covers all the food safety procedures but does not tell you which ones are most important for your specific situation. If you scored 20 out of 30 on management but only 5 out of 25 on hygiene, your priorities are very different from a business with the opposite scores.
What HygieneFix Does Differently
HygieneFix starts with your actual inspection data. When you enter your postcode or business name, we pull your real scores from the FSA register: your hygiene score, structural score, and management score. We then generate a personalised action plan calibrated to your specific weaknesses.
A business scoring poorly on food handling hygiene receives detailed temperature control, cross-contamination, and cooking temperature guidance — with specific advice for their business type (a Chinese takeaway receives different guidance from a sandwich shop). A business scoring poorly on management receives SFBB implementation steps, documentation checklists, and training requirements — prioritised by impact on their specific score.
The SFBB pack tells you what good practice looks like. HygieneFix tells you what to fix first, second, and third based on where you actually lost marks.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Coverage: SFBB covers all food safety procedures. HygieneFix covers only the improvements needed for your specific situation — making it focused rather than comprehensive. Both are needed: SFBB for the full system, HygieneFix for the prioritised action list.
Specificity: SFBB is one-size-fits-all. HygieneFix is calibrated to your exact scores, business type, and local authority. A rating-2 restaurant and a rating-2 takeaway receive different action plans because their inspection patterns differ.
Priority ordering: SFBB presents procedures without priority ranking. HygieneFix orders improvements by impact — critical items first, then high, medium, and low priority. This helps businesses with limited time and budget focus on the changes that will most improve their rating.
Reinspection guidance: SFBB does not cover how to request a reinspection, what fees to expect, or how to prepare for the specific assessment process. HygieneFix includes reinspection advice tailored to your local authority, including typical timelines and preparation checklists.
Allergen compliance: The original SFBB pack predates Natasha's Law. While updated versions exist, many businesses still have older packs. HygieneFix always includes current allergen management requirements, including PPDS labelling obligations.
Cost: SFBB is free. HygieneFix is £49 for a one-off personalised action plan. For a business facing delivery platform removal, enforcement action, or customer loss, the return on a £49 investment is typically measured in days of recovered revenue.
When to Use Each
Use SFBB as your ongoing food safety management system. Complete the pack, maintain the diary, and review it every four weeks. This is the foundation that inspectors expect.
Use HygieneFix when you have received a low rating (0, 1, or 2) and need to know what to fix first. The personalised plan identifies your specific weaknesses and creates a prioritised roadmap to improve your rating before your next inspection or reinspection request.
The combination of both — a completed SFBB system plus a HygieneFix action plan for your specific gaps — gives you the strongest possible position for achieving a rating of 4 or 5.
Check Your Rating
Enter your postcode or business name at hygienefix.co.uk to see your score breakdown instantly. If your rating is 2 or below, you will see a personalised overview of your weaknesses and the option to get a detailed action plan for £49.