Expert consultancy and coaching
Our consultants support education setting with expertise backed by 30+ years in Food Safety and Health & Safety.
Food hygiene for schools, universities and colleges, made simple. We’ve helped institutions with UK school food standards for 30+ years.
- Hands-on support from your dedicated consultant
- Alert65 – your all-in-one compliance software
- 24/7 access to expert advice via phone
Trusted by leading education partners
Meet your school food hygiene requirements
Children and young people are more susceptible to foodborne illness than adults, so maintaining high hygiene standards matters every day.
From daily checks to staff training, having the right processes and routines in place helps you keep students safe and gives you confidence that everything in your kitchen is being done properly
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Keep your school kitchen inspection-ready
Every UK school must comply with food safety law, and your kitchen will come under the spotlight during both Ofsted visits and Environmental Health Officer (EHO) inspections.
That’s where Food Alert comes in. We give schools, colleges, and universities the expert support, smart software, and practical tools to stay compliant, ace inspections, and serve meals that pupils and parents can feel confident about.
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Food hygiene and safety support for schools, universities and colleges
Our Compliance Membership gives your school everything it needs to manage Food Safety and Health & Safety with confidence and clarity.
Alert65 compliance software
Reduce your exposure to risk with our food safety compliance software, built for busy teams.
24/7 food safety advice line
Access round-the-clock specialist advice, so if the unexpected happens, you’re never dealing with it alone.
How Food Alert can help your school
Create and update your allergen matrix in minutes. This module helps schools stay compliant, safeguard pupils with allergies, and give both EHO and Ofsted inspectors confidence during every inspection.
Explore our comprehensive food hygiene training, carefully designed to fit around your school’s schedule. Your kitchen team gains the qualifications and confidence they need, while keeping your school fully compliant. All delivered conveniently via online webinar.
Manage everything in one place with Alert65. Store documentation, complete digital checklists, monitor compliance across multiple sites, and stay prepared for every inspection—all while gaining clear visibility, greater control, and ultimate peace of mind.
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24/7 telephone support
In a school kitchen, something can always crop up – from an early breakfast club to an after-school event. Our 24/7 expert advice line means you always have a qualified specialist on hand, day or night.
Annual on-site food safety audits
Our qualified Environmental Health Practitioners conduct thorough on-site audits, delivering a detailed report and clear action points to keep your school compliant, protected, and inspection-ready.
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Ofsted food hygiene requirements
When Ofsted visits, your kitchen is part of the inspection, not an afterthought. Inspectors assess whether your school is meeting its food safety obligations, and getting it wrong puts both pupils and your rating at risk.
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Here’s what they’ll be looking for
- Food hygiene practices: handwashing routines, temperature control, and whether staff hold the right food hygiene qualifications.
- Nutritional standards: meals must comply with the School Food Standards, with inspectors checking that what’s on pupils’ plates is genuinely balanced and nutritious, not just compliant on paper.
- Cross-contamination management: clear, documented procedures to keep raw and ready-to-eat foods separated and allergens properly controlled.
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Why choose Food Alert for food safety support in care settings
A dedicated consultant
From day one, you’ll have a single point of contact who knows your schools, your team, and your compliance history. They will stay and grow with you as your business evolves.
Support for CQC and EHO inspections
Ofsted and EHO inspections can happen without warning, so we help you maintain robust, well-documented compliance that means you’re ready for anything.
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Compliance software built for busy teams
Alert65 brings all your food safety and Health & Safety compliance together in one place, giving you real-time visibility, digital records, and the confidence that everything is in order.
Over 30 years of industry experience
Since 1990, we’ve helped thousands of businesses navigate complex Food Safety and Health & Safety legislation, and we bring that depth of expertise to every school we work with.
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Getting started with Food Alert
From day one, your dedicated onboarding manager will schedule your setup meeting, agree key dates, and tailor everything to your care setting, so you know exactly what’s happening and when.
We configure Alert65 and Check65 around your operation, digitising your Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), policies, risk assessments, and activating all the modules your care home needs.
No one is left to figure things out alone. We provide hands-on training for senior managers so they can get the most out of Alert65 from day one — and your appointed consultant stays closely involved throughout.
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Fuller's
Fuller's
Food Alert’s consultants make it make sense – they’re friendly, professional and extremely knowledgeable
Heavenly Desserts
Heavenly Desserts
Following the success with Audit65, we efficiently integrated all our 52 sites onto the Alert65 platform, consolidating all compliance and audit processes under one digital roof with remarkable success. The setup process was straightforward and stress-free, with the Food Alert team providing support at every stage.
Wasabi
Wasabi
For me Alert65 ticks all the boxes, I can access live dashboards and data and download reports in an instant. All our documentation, from training to accident reporting and complaint handling, are centralised, making the process of managing them so much easier.
Trusted by over 3,000 food businesses
95%
of clients believe they’re less likely to suffer a safety incident as a result of using Food Alert.
1 million
safety checklists completed using Alert65 each month.
85%
of clients are confident that they’ll receive a FHR of 5 as a result of using Food Alert.
Complete checklists and simplify daily due diligence
Say goodbye to paper trails. Check65 keeps your team on schedule with digital checklists, instant issue flagging and smart reporting dashboards.
FAQS
Save valuable time and money
Why is strong food hygiene and safety important in educational settings?
Children are more vulnerable to foodborne illness than adults, which makes high hygiene standards in school kitchens absolutely non-negotiable. Beyond keeping pupils safe, getting food hygiene right protects your school from legal liability, helps you shine during Ofsted visits, and maintains the trust of parents and the wider community. The risks of getting it wrong are huge — illness outbreaks, enforcement action, and serious reputational damage. The good news is, with the right support in place, it doesn’t have to be complicated.
Are school kitchens inspected?
Yes — and they can be inspected without warning. Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) inspect school kitchens under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, typically every six months to two years depending on your risk profile. Ofsted may also look at catering as part of a wider review of pupil welfare. The rating you receive is publicly visible, so it pays to always be ready.
Are school food safety regulations the same as colleges and universities?
The core legislation — Food Safety Act 1990, Food Standards Act 1999, Food Information Regulations 2014 — applies to all educational settings. But schools in England have an extra layer: the School Food Regulations 2014, which set specific nutritional standards that don’t apply to further or higher education. Schools also fall under Ofsted scrutiny in a way that colleges and universities don’t. We work with the full range of educational institutions and can tailor our support to exactly where you sit.
What is Natasha's Law and does it apply to schools?
Natasha’s Law came into force in October 2021 and requires full ingredient and allergen labelling on any pre-packaged food prepared and sold on the same premises. If your school pre-packages meals, it applies to you. You also need to provide clear allergen information for all food served on site. We can help you get this right and keep it that way.
Can Food Alert support multi-site academy trusts?
Absolutely. Alert65 is built to scale, which makes it a great fit for multi-academy trusts (MATs) managing compliance across multiple schools. We can configure the platform to give you centralised oversight across the whole trust, while each school still has the tools to manage its own day-to-day compliance. One platform, complete visibility, every site covered.
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