It is welcoming proposals by the European Commission (EC) that the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system should not apply to businesses with fewer than ten staff.

A spokesperson for the FPB said:

"A proper HACCP scheme has a team of people monitoring critical points in the production process and keeping copious records to ensure the checks have been done.

"Such a scheme is impractical for very small businesses."

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has drawn up UK guidelines for HACCP called Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB), which allow flexibility for smaller firms. However, the FPB says that even these minimal record-keeping requirements would not be necessary under the EC plans.