Australian Convenience Store News & C-Store Exhibitions | Forecourt

Each day, 11,500 Australians become ill with some form of food borne illness. These are people who are so ill that they require medical attention. Food poisoning can kill and the directors of at least one company were jailed as a result of their negligence.

The law states that food must be safe to eat. The obligation is on everyone who handles food at any point of the food chain to ensure that the food remains safe whilst in their control.

Some of the people who buy food at your business are classified as sensitive consumers. These are people for whom only small amounts of bacteria will cause illness. They do not have a healthy immune system and so become ill from very little exposure to contaminated food. Some of these sensitive consumers include the young, elderly, pregnant/nursing mothers, and people with an already weakened immune system.

Food must be safe enough for the most sensitive in the population. It is the responsibility of every food handler to ensure this.

Four new Food Safety Standards intended to bring uniformity to the food laws in Australia have been compiled by ANZFA (Australian & New Zealand Food Authority). Not all of the States, however, have adopted all of the new standards. So there is still no uniformity, although all the States agree that all food should be safe to eat. The standards can be downloaded from the ANZFA website at: www.anzfa.gov.au

These Standards impose heavy penalties for negligence, not only for the business but also for owners, directors and even employees.

In NSW, some of the standards were made law in February 2001 with the requirement for notification of the food business coming into effect in February 2002. As yet, there is no requirement for a written system. In South Australia, documented food safety systems for the new standards are not yet required. However, tougher penalties have been implemented if a health threat does occur.

Western Australia has implemented the majority of the standards but places the legal obligation on all food businesses to produce safe and suitable food. The requirement to wear suitable hair covering in all Class 1 and 2 food preparation areas (restaurants, kitchen, take-aways, delis, etc.) has also been made mandatory. In Queensland too, the majority have been accepted. Way ahead are Victoria and Tasmania where food safety and written food safety systems are being widely enforced.

To protect yourself and your business, there are procedures you can adopt. Some of these are discussed below. You can also get help through your local council health inspectors or through the Health Department in your state as well as Food Safety Consulting Companies.

The four new Food Safety Standards compiled by ANZFA are summarised as follows:

The New food safety standards cover all aspects of food safety and hygiene. The following are the main points

Cleaning: You need to provide for appropriate cleaning of all surfaces that may come into contact with the food. Testing swabs can also be used if you wish to test how well the cleaning is being done.

Personnel: All personnel who handle food need to be trained. This training needs to be commensurate with their role in the business and the tasks they need to do.

Hygiene: All personnel should have training in hygiene. It is usually assumed that people have a reasonable standard of personal hygiene, but this cannot just be assumed when dealing with food for the public.

Premises: To ensure food safety, premises must be appropriate: They should be vermin proof, have no broken tiles, floors and walls should be impervious, and there should be screens on windows.

Food Handling & Storage: At receipt you need to make sure that chilled or hot products are at safe temperatures. You will need an accurate thermometer to do this as well as to implement many of the other temperature requirements of the food business.

If temperature sensitive products are received at temperatures other than those listed below they should be rejected. If you don't know how long the food has been incorrectly stored, you cannot reasonably assume that it is safe and if it is not safe, you shouldn't sell it. In fact it is against the law to sell unsafe food. Packs of products also need to be checked to make sure that there is no damage.

Storage needs to be controlled - especially chilled and hot storage. This must be at safe temperatures. Displays need to be checked to ensure that products are being kept at safe temperatures. Displays also need to be segregated so that no raw product comes into contact with any cooked products.

Keeping records, particularly of things like storage temperatures, is not required in all states. So check with local health inspectors to see what is necessary. Even if it is not mandatory in your state, don't forget that such records can provide due diligence evidence for you, so it may make good sense.

In the next issue of ACSN we will provide more information on implementing some of the food safety procedures.

LWTQ Food Safety Consultants are registered Food Safety System Facilitators with the Quality Society of Australasia. For further information ring: 1800 500 160, Fax: (02) 4572 8703.