Date PostedNovember 18, 2013

NSW Register of Offence updated

NSW Food businesses who aren’t taking food safety as seriously as they should, may soon find themselves on that state’s Name and Shame Register.

Restaurant customers should also make an effort to visit the register so that they can become aware of those restaurants in their state that aren’t living up to the state’s food safety laws.

All of the businesses named on the register were found guilty for breaching laws by a court as part of the Register of offences prosecutions.

Visit the register here

http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/news/offences/prosecutions/#.Uji4OcZYick

Owners of food businesses should not look at the Register as something to fear but rather as an opportunity to review their hygiene and adherence to food laws to avoid being named on the list.

Adopt a systematic approach to this assessment. Go through the entire business from where the production starts to where it ends. For example in a fast food restaurant review where you obtain your raw ingredients from, ensure that your supplier is up to standard – you wouldn’t want bad food from a supplier making your customers ill.

Then review the storage process, how is your food being stored? Is it being stored at the correct temperatures, in the right place, away from pests such as cockroaches and rats? Also how long is it being stored?

Then review the way the food is prepared. Consider whether cooking utensils are being properly cleaned and whether staff are practicing good personal hygiene. Consider the entire cooking process from the fridge to the plate.

A recent article on www.thefoodsafetysystem.com made the following suggestions for companies to ensure food safety,

An ideal scenario would be to set up control systems prior to a business going live, in reality however, existing business that don’t have suitable systems need to be able to address food safety problems and establish new and improved standards going forwards.

There are many ways to do this, indeed the owner of a business could attempt to create their own unique system, conduct their own research into what may be needed and implement their own controls. This can take a long time, cost a lot of money and require a great deal of new knowledge but a truly committed businesses owner could theoretically do this. This is a high-risk strategy especially if they do not have access to food safety experts to advise them as a totally unsuitable system could be created.

Alternatively, as seems to be the case at the moment, owners of low rated businesses could opt to do nothing about improving standards and hope they don’t get caught or hope that they don’t have any incidents where a consumer falls ill as a result of something they have purchased. This is an even higher risk strategy as no attempt is being made to improve standards.

– See more at: http://www.thefoodsafetysystem.com/News/prosecutions_for_food_safety_offences#sthash.gtIkV3KX.dpuf

When reviewing food safety law adherence in your establishment do not forget the importance of ensuring staff are aware of the laws and abiding by them. This can be accomplished by ensuring that all employees are training of Food handling and Food Safety.

 

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