HUME CITY COUNCIL HUME FOOD NEWSIssue 65 Winter 2016www.hume.vic.gov.au

Around the traps – page 2

Sanitising your food premises – page 3

Handling eggs safely – page 3

Food recalls– page 3

Grease traps – page 4

Your trade waste – page 4

Top takeaways – page 4

You must ensure that all food received by your business is safe and suitable for consumption. This applies to all food that is delivered to your premises and collected from your suppliers. You must ensure that your food is: • Protected from contamination • Identifiable and traceable back to its supplier • The correct temperature (below 5°C, above 60°C or frozen) • Labelled in accordance with the Food Standards Code Meet these requirements by following the sections and filling out a record as outlined in the Purchasing and Receiving Food section within your Food Safety Program and Food Safety Guide. When receiving deliveries: • Check the truck and driver are clean • Examine the packaging for damage • Check use by and best before dates • Look for signs of pest infestation or other signs of physical or chemical contamination • Check the temperature of food to ensure it is 5°C or below; or 60°C or above • Tap frozen foods to test that they are frozen hard • Check the product is correctly labelled

During the course of this year Council’s Health Services will again be targeting labelling contraventions. It is evident from visits to a wide range of retail establishments that packaged foods are on sale without appropriate labels. The consumer is entitled to certain information about the products and the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Food Standards Code sets standards and guidelines for labelling. This Code is enforceable under Section 16 of the Food Act 1984 and can result in penalties of $40,000 for an individual or $200,000 for a company for each offence.

If you are unsure of the requirements, or have been warned before, it’s time to take action and ensure that your labelling is compliant. If it is not, your food can be seized or you may be prosecuted (collection of evidence is as simple as seizing or buying the product).

Importers should be particularly vigilant as they may receive receipts for seizure from retailers and retailers may also rely on implied warranty relating to the suitability of the goods for sale in Australia when they are prosecuted for their sale.

Your Food Safety Program and associated records must be kept on the premises at all times. If it is not there, it will be difficult for you to show that your business is taking all reasonable precautions to ensure that your food is safe.

If you are not keeping your Food Safety Program records up to date, now is the best time to start. If you have any problems understanding the Food Safety Program requirements, call Council’s Health Services on 9205 2599 and we will help you.

Use suitable scoops for the transfer of ingredients from bulk storage containers. We are finding many proprietors using single service take away tubs to scoop out ingredients. When this is done not only does the food handler stick their thumb into the ingredient but there is the risk that the fragile edges of such containers may break off.

These single service containers are also sometimes used as ingredient containers, for salt and spices, and the same risk applies.

As these containers are made of very light clear plastic any pieces entering the ingredients and thereby the food will not be readily detected and customers may have an unpleasant experience with your food, of which they are certain to tell others.

AROUND THE TRAPS SAFE RECEIPT OF FOOD

FOOD SAFETY PROGRAM

SEIZURE AND LABELLING TRANSFER OF INGREDIENTS

SANITISING YOUR FOOD PREMISES

HANDLING EGGS SAFELY

Tips for safe egg handling:

• Receive regular deliveries of fresh eggs and store them at less than 20°C at every step and if possible in the fridge • Buy eggs from reputable suppliers • Only buy eggs in packaging that identifies the supplier • Don’t wash your eggs as the shell becomes more porous when wet, making it easier for bacteria to enter the egg • Thoroughly clean your hands, food areas, work surfaces, dishes, utensils and cleaning cloths after working with eggs, especially after egg spills • Make raw egg products daily in small batches rather than large quantities • Cook eggs and foods containing eggs until they are hot all the way through • When preparing foods involving raw or lightly cooked eggs (e.g. a sauce or dessert) they must be treated as any other potentially hazardous food requiring strict temperature control including storage at or below 5°C • Serve hot dishes containing eggs immediately, or cool them quickly in the fridge and refrigerate until they are eaten. • Consider using pasteurised egg products in foods that will not be cooked or will only be lightly cooked. Alternatively, change to recipes that do not require raw eggs as an ingredient

FOOD RECALLSFood Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) publishes a list of consumer level food recalls. You can join an email alert list for food recalls and access the latest announcements at: www.foodstandards.gov.au If you stock a recalled item, you must isolate the product to ensure that it is not sold or used in food production and act in accordance with the recall requirements (e.g. return to supplier or dispose of product). Salad products recalled

A major recall of pre-packaged salad leaves occurred in early February 2016. The recall related to the presence of Salmonella anatum in these products and numerous reports of illness. The producer, Tripod Foods based in Bacchus Marsh Victoria, distributes a wide range of this type of product, including baby spinach leaves, baby rocket, watercress, sorrel, baby cos and mixed varieties of these types of leaves. The recall affected a variety of different sized products, with the same use by date. This recall reinforces the need for all food businesses to know the suppliers of all foods to their premises to ensure an effective response. Allergen related recalls

Many recent food recalls have related to the presence of undeclared allergens in food (e.g. peanuts in pine nuts, fish in chicken pesto pasta, and milk in bread rolls). You can familiarise yourself with your responsibilities regarding allergens and food labelling by visiting www.foodstandards.gov.au or by consulting a qualified food analyst.

Egg food safety has been a hot topic of late with a major supermarket chain confirming that it doesn’t refrigerate its eggs. There is no food safety reason for whole eggs to be refrigerated however retailers may choose to refrigerate eggs for their own reasons, for example to maintain quality of the egg, such as firmness of the yolk and to reduce spoilage.

Sanitising food preparation surfaces and equipment is one of the most important tasks performed in a food premises. Sanitising reduces the amount of dangerous bacteria that could harm your customers. Surfaces and equipment should be cleaned with detergent and hot water before they are sanitised. The active ingredient in a sanitisation product must be between 4% - 6%, either chlorine or quaternary ammonium based. The sanitiser should be clear, as colours can leave residue on surfaces. Sanitiser can be purchased from a chemical company or can be made by mixing 2.5ml household bleach (4% chlorine) with 1lt of cold water. This must be made fresh every day or as the manufacturer’s directions state. Supermarket ‘spray and wipes’ are not suitable sanitisers as they do not contain the appropriate level of active ingredients. There are six cleaning steps for food contact surfaces and equipment:

1. Pre-clean: scrape, wipe or sweep away food scraps. Rinse equipment with water 2. Wash: use hot water and detergent to remove grease and dirt. Soak equipment, if needed 3. Rinse: rinse off any loose dirt or detergent foam 4. Sanitise: use a sanitiser to kill remaining germs 5. Final rinse: wash off sanitiser (read sanitiser’s instructions to see if you need to do this) 6. Dry: allow to air dry

Hume City Council 1079 Pascoe Vale Road,

BroadmeadowsPO Box 119 Dallas Victoria 3047

Telephone 03 9205 2200 Facsimile 03 9309 0109

contactus@hume.vic.gov.auwww.hume.vic.gov.au

YOUR TRADE WASTE• Trade Waste is wastewater generated by your food handling business.

• Food businesses need to have a Trade Waste agreement with Yarra Valley Water or Western Water and a maintained (i.e. regularly emptied and cleaned) Grease Trap.

• If you are not sure if your business generates Trade Waste, please contact the Yarra Valley Water Trade Waste Team on 9872 1240 or Western Water on 1300 650 422 9am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday.

TOP TAKEAWAYS1. Pizza 2. Italian 3. Asian 4. Pasta 5. Thai

Deciding factors when choosing takeaway were taste (45%), price (35%) and health (15%). Source: Food Service, October 2015

What is a grease trap and do I need one?

If you have a food business it’s likely that you generate ’trade waste’. If this is the case then you need a trade waste agreement with Yarra Valley Water or Western Water and a maintained grease trap at your business. Depending on your water service provider, Yarra Valley Water or Western Water officers may visit your food business to check that you have a grease trap that is regularly emptied and cleaned. Wastewater spilling inside your business is bad for business! Please give your water service provider a call if you are unsure whether you:

• Need a trade waste agreement • Need a grease trap This gives us the opportunity to go through what is required for your business. As Yarra Valley Water Trade Waste Officer Sandy Fitzgerald points out, knowing about your grease trap is not as easy as it seems. “A question we often get asked about trade waste is ‘I don’t know if I have a grease trap, how can I find it?’” said Sandy. “One of the funniest things I’ve seen while helping a restaurateur to locate their grease trap, was finding their grease trap disguised as a table – covered with a table cloth!” “Grease traps are either above ground or below ground. If you have trouble locating your grease trap or you’re not sure whether your business is required to have one, call your local Trade Waste team” added Sandy. “The grease trap takes the smelly wastewater out of your business and needs to be cleaned out regularly so that it doesn’t block up the sewer or spill into your business- the smell and clean up would turn customers away” said Sandy. “It is actually an offence under the Water Act 1989 to put your trade waste down the sewer without having a Trade Waste Agreement,” said Sandy, “and this Agreement requires food businesses to have a correctly sized grease trap that is regularly emptied and cleaned”.

GREASE TRAPS