Businesses owners have been given safety checks they should make before opening. Photo / 123RF
Food businesses opening under alert level 3 are being asked to check for pests, thoroughly clean, flush water and check produce before reopening this week.
To ensure businesses keep themselves and customers safe, a number of hygiene checks they should follow have been posted by the Ministry of Primary Industries.
The "Food Business Checklist" provides a summary of the most important food safety checks MPI wants businesses to consider when reopening.
Premises should be thoroughly cleaned before reopening, including food-preparation surfaces.
Utensils should be cleaned and sanitised before use to ensure there is no risk to food safety or contamination.
Any food beyond its use-by date must be thrown out, and all ready-to-eat food like processed meat must also be thrown out, regardless of its use-by date.
Making sure pests have not become a problem in the five weeks of lockdown is key; businesses are required to get rid of them before reopening.
Checking for rice and mice droppings, gnawed food and food packaging would be signs of rodents or insect pests.
Any food or packaging which has been exposed must be thrown out - and all other packagings should be cleaned.
During the lockdown, stagnant water could have become stuck in pipes, so businesses are being told to flush the water.
Any unusual colours, cloudiness or smell in the water are signs of potentially unsafe water and businesses are told to contact their supplier.
"If you know of a water-supply issue near your business, confirm with your supplier it is okay to use the water," MPI said.
Ice machines, drinking fountains, coffee machines, self-service soft drink machines, water coolers or any device plumbed into the water supply should also be flushed.
Any new or replacement staff are required to receive food safety training before starting work.
MPI suggests businesses remind staff of sickness policies and how vital it is to keep hands and food preparation services and equipment clean.
Businesses must make sure chillers, freezers, display cabinets and other equipment have not broken down and are working as intended.
If any refrigeration devices have broken down or been without power, the food could have been affected, MPI is warning.
Potentially hazardous foods such as meat, fish and dairy products should be thrown away if the device's power has been turned off for more than 24 hours.
If chillers they had been off for less than 24 hours, and were not opened, contents should be checked for strange smells and other signs of spoilage before use.
Businesses should throw out any foods they have doubts about.
"Perishable foods in the chiller, for example, fruit and hard cheeses, may still be safe to use if these are not showing obvious signs of spoilage," MPI says.
"If a freezer was full, power was off for less than four days and the freezer was not opened during the power cut and there is no evidence of thawing, contents should be okay to use.
"If the freezer was opened during the power cut, the freezer was not full, there is any evidence that contents have completely thawed, or have thawed then refrozen, throw this food out. Don't feed it to pets or use as pig food."
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