Professional Documents
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Food Safety Standards
Food Safety Standards
General requirements
Food Handling Skills and Knowledge
Food businesses must make sure that all food handlers, and people who supervise food handlers, have the right
skills and knowledge in food safety and food hygiene for the work they do. Refer to the ‘Food Handlers Food Safety
Training’ fact sheet.
Notification
Requires you to notify Council of details about your business. This is covered by your registration.
Generally the Standards require that potentially hazardous food is kept under temperature control which means
below 5C and above 60C.
Businesses need to limit the amount of time that potentially hazardous foods are kept in the ‘danger zone’ -
temperatures between 5C and 60C.
Food receipt
Food businesses must make sure that all food that they receive is safe and suitable. This means that you must
make sure that:
food is protected from contamination;
food can be identified traced back to its supplier;
food is at the correct temperature. (below 5C and above 60C or frozen)
You can meet these requirements by completing the records and following the section(s) on Purchasing
and Receipt, found in your Food Safety Program.
Food storage
During storage you must make sure that the safety and suitability of the food is kept. This means that:
Food must be protected from contamination
Food must be stored under correct environmental conditions eg lighting and humidity
Potentially hazardous food must be stored under correct temperature. (below 5C and above 60C or frozen).
You can meet these requirements by completing the records and following the section(s) on Storage, found
in your Food Safety Program.
Food processing
Businesses must make sure that when processing food:
Only safe and suitable food is processed
Food must be protected from contamination
There are no organisms present that can cause illness when the food is ready to eat.
That potentially hazardous food is keep out of the ‘danger zone’ - temperatures between 5C and 60C as much as
possible.
Some processing steps have clear requirements for example:
Cooking
Cooling
Thawing
Reheating
Cooking
Food must be cooked correctly and thoroughly to make sure that the food poisoning bacteria is killed and the food is
safe to eat. Food that is cooked must be cooked to a temperature of at least 75C.
Cooling
Any potentially hazardous food that is hot must be cooled to 5C as quickly as possible to ensure that the food is
safe. Cool food within two hours from 60C to 21C and within a further four hours from 21C to 5C.
Thawing
When thawing frozen food make sure that the food does not reach 5C or warmer. The ideal method of thawing
food is in the refrigerator.
Reheating
Reheating of potentially hazardous food must be done quickly. Use a method that rapidly heats the food to 60C or
above.
You can meet these requirements by completing the records and following the section(s) on Preparation,
Cooking, Cooling, Thawing, Heating etc, found in your Food Safety Program.
Food display
Businesses must make sure that when displaying food:
Food must be protected from contamination, for example barriers, covering ready to eat foods such as cakes and
muffins that are on counters and supervision.
That potentially hazardous food is either kept under temperature control or time is used as the control to keep the
food safe.
You can meet these requirements by completing the records and following the section(s) on Display, Hot
Holding, Cold Holding and Service, found in your Food Safety Program.
Food packaging
Food businesses must make sure that when packaging food:
the packaging material used is safe for food;
the packaging material used is not likely to contaminate the food;
the food is not contaminated during the packaging process.
You can met these requirements by following the section on Packaging found in your Food Safety Program.
Food transportation
Businesses must make sure that food being transported is:
protected from contamination; and that
Potentially hazardous food must be transported at the correct temperature. (below 5C and above 60C or frozen)
You can meet these requirements by completing the records and following the section(s) on
Transportation, found in your Food Safety Program.
Food disposal/recall
Food that is recalled or that may not be safe or suitable, (refer to ‘Your Legal Requirements’ fact sheet), must be
labelled and kept separate from the other food on the premises until such time that it can be dealt with correctly.
Wholesale suppliers, manufacturers and importers must have a written recall system for the recall of unsafe food.
You can meet these requirements by completing the records and following the section(s) on Recall, found
in your Food Safety Program.
Food handlers must inform their supervisor if they are suffering from; diarrhoea, vomiting, a sore throat with fever,
fever or jaundice, any infected skin wound or discharges from their ears, nose, or eyes as these conditions could
contaminate food.
You can meet these requirements by completing the records and following the section(s) on Hygiene/Health
of Food Handlers, found in your Food Safety Program.
The premises, fittings and equipment must be kept clean and in a state of good repair. Chipped, cracked or broken
utensils must not be used. Garbage must not be left to build up and must be removed regularly.
Miscellaneous
Temperature measuring devices
Businesses that handle potentially hazardous food must have a probe thermometer that accurately measures to +/-
1C.
Some sections of your Food Safety Program will require you to take temperatures and record them.
For further information about Food Safety Standard 3.2.2 Food Safety Practices and General Requirements please
contact your Environmental Health Officer (EHO) on 9658 8831/8815.