Are you finding the food safety plan process a little confusing? We get it! That’s why in this blog we give you all you need to know about Food Safety programs.
We cover:
- if you need a food safety program,
- whether it should be accredited, and
- when the best time to create it is.
Read on to learn all you need to about food safety plans!
What are Food Safety Programs?
They are documents that contain all procedures and compliance operations conducted in your food business.
Food safety plans identify specific hazards a food business may encounter, as well as listing the control method to help mitigate the hazard. It also provides the corrective action that should be taken if you encounter any hazard in your premises.
Do I Need a Food Safety Program?
Not all food businesses need a full food safety program – only those that are required by law.
If you classify as one of the following forms of food business, you will need an accredited food safety program. These businesses include:
- Catering Businesses including:
- Onsite catering
- Offsite catering
- Places serving food to vulnerable people such as
- child centres
- schools
- age care facilities
- hospitals etc
Other businesses that don’t fall under these categories are not required to have an Accredited Food Safety Program.
Regardless of this, here at Food Agent Australia, we strongly recommend that all food businesses have a food safety program or at a bare minimum, a council-compliant record-keeping tool like our food safety diary.
Our food safety diaries are an effective risk management tool for food business owners that don’t require the full accredited version. And the good news is they contain fewer pages and are more cost-effective than an Accredited Food Safety Program.
We usually recommend the food safety diary for any small businesses such as cafes and restaurants if they have undergone proper food safety training.
How do food safety diaries work?
Our food safety diaries are meant for record keeping purposes only (for example, temperature checks, pest control and maintenance logs, etc). They’re what council check in their annual audits of your food business.
They also provide evidence whenever food businesses have complaints. Plus, our food safety diaries have always helped food businesses secure a high rating or have helped to improve their existing rating.
A lot of food businesses fail to have this type of record and thus usually are non-compliant upon council inspections nor have as good a rating from council, that’s why it’s vital to have such a document.
If you are a bigger food business such as a franchise, we do recommend you get a full non-accredited food safety program.
When would I need to apply for my food safety program?
We recommend getting your food safety program before submitting your food licence application.
How do I go about creating a food safety program?
Many food business owners tend to try and create a food safety program on their own. If you choose to go about that route, make sure not to make these common mistakes!
Creating your own food safety program can be very risky for your food business.
We often find that food business owners that create their own food safety programs create programs that aren’t compliant with their local council’s requirements. This could lead to serious implications for your food business if a customer ever submits a complaint against your food business.
That’s why we recommend always hiring a food business consultant such as Food Agent Australia to ensure that your food safety program is fully compliant and is site specific like we do for our clients.
Remember, a food safety program is site specific – Food Agent Australia will advise exactly what you do and don’t need for your food business.
Ready to create your food safety program?
Don’t go it alone, the potential risks to your business aren’t worth it!
Contact us Food Agent Australia so we can take care of all the confusing and stressful details, so you can invest your time doing the things you love in your food business!
