A bulletin for the Australian Food Industry    March 2003

Contents: Integration of the NSW food safety system | HACCP and small businesses in the UK | Another study on HACCP and small business | Vegetables in oil and vinegar | Illness associated with minor fish species | The protective effect of alcoholic beverages in foodborne illness outbreaks | Seminar for noodle manufacturers

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• consider whether the existing division of food safety responsibility amongst Safe Food NSW, NSW Health and NSW Agriculture should be retained; and
• consider a future option which would:
  – establish a food safety agency with functions which apply from food production to retail; and
  – retain the responsibility of NSW Health for notification, surveillance, investigation and response to foodborne illness, along with a role in providing advice and education on nutrition and food safety.

• the NSW Food Agency should be the 'regulatory authority' under the Food Act and also be responsible for implementing the Food Production (Safety) Act 1998. This means that the agency would also take on the non-food safety responsibilities currently residing with NSW Health.
• in addition to its regulatory functions, the NSW Food Agency should have a consumer information and education function.
• NSW Health should retain responsibility for the following food related activities:
  – notifiable disease system and surveillance of foodborne disease;
  – epidemiological investigation and joint response to foodborne disease;
  – nutrition policy; and
  – health promotion activities.
• the responsibility of local government for food regulation should be clearly defined and appropriately resourced.
• the NSW Food Agency should undertake a whole-of-chain scientific review of food safety risks in order to produce a risk profile of the NSW food industry. The risk profile should underpin a stratified approach to food safety risk management and the achievement of public health goals.
• NSW Health should continue to progress its initiative to implement Standard 3.2.1 (Food Safety Programs) in high risk sectors identified by the National Risk Validation Project (Food Safety & Hygiene, November 2002).
• funding for the development of new food safety schemes should provide for information and training mechanisms to ensure the effective roll-out of these schemes.
• the activities of compliance audit and inspection undertaken by the new agency should be funded by the food industry using the cost recovery mechanisms of the Food Act and/or the Food Production (Safety) Act 1998 as appropriate.