Quality, Food Safety and Labelling
We are a distributor. We do not manufacture, cook, process or repack food. Our responsibility is to buy from manufacturers operating documented food safety systems, keep goods safe and traceable while in our control, and pass complete product information to our customers.
Registration
VAP General Trade Limited is registered as a food business with its local authority under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013. Our premises are subject to inspection by the local authority’s environmental health service.
Supplier Approval
Before listing a product we obtain company and factory registration details, the product specification covering ingredients, allergens, shelf life and storage, evidence of a HACCP-based food safety management system, halal certification from a named body where the product is presented as halal, and certificates of analysis where the specification requires them. Products without this documentation are not listed. Supplier files are reviewed annually.
Traceability
Every consignment is recorded on receipt against supplier, purchase order, batch code and best-before date. Every despatch records customer, product, batch and quantity. This gives one-step-back, one-step-forward traceability as required under Regulation (EC) 178/2002 as retained in UK law. In a withdrawal or recall we can identify all affected stock and all customers who received it, and would notify affected customers and the local authority without delay.
Storage & Handling
Goods are held under ambient conditions, off the floor, away from direct sunlight and heat, in a dry pest-controlled environment, rotated first-expired first-out. We handle no chilled or frozen products and store no food alongside chemicals or hazardous goods.
Allergens
Products in our range contain, among others, cereals containing gluten, milk, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, soya and sulphur dioxide. Allergen information is taken from the manufacturer’s specification and supplied with every quotation and delivery. Many products are made in facilities that also handle nuts and sesame and carry a precautionary allergen statement. Retail and foodservice customers are responsible for making allergen information available to their own customers as required by law.
What We Do Not Claim
We do not currently hold BRCGS, IFS or SALSA certification, and we do not perform laboratory testing in-house. Where certified analysis is required, we obtain it from the manufacturer or from an accredited laboratory at the customer’s cost.