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Hygiene standards in the nation's food outlets - from restaurants to the corner dairy - are in for a shake-up, with food regulations receiving their first serious makeover in more than 30 years.
Food Safety Authority (FSA) recommendations announced yesterday will require kitchen staff to complete regular hygiene checklists that will be checked by local authorities during inspections of premises.
The regulations - which have Government approval - were devised after a three-year review.
They will form part of a revamp of the 1974 food hygiene regulations, which are considered obsolete.
The changes are set to be introduced in July 2008.
They were designed to shift the responsibility for food hygiene to food operators, rather than inspectors and regulators, FSA executive director Andrew McKenzie said yesterday.
Dr McKenzie described the recommendations as a paradigm shift in food-safety policing that would "put the responsibility on the guy making or selling the food to make sure it is safe".
The recommendations were not intended to be imposed on grassroots operations such as weekend sausage sizzles, he said. Instead, such set-ups would be the focus of "education" rather than regulation.
Food producers such as farms and freezing works are already covered by the Animal Products Act, but restaurants, cafes and other outlets covered by the Food Act will have to establish "food control plans" to manage their operations.
Plans for most outlets covered by the act could use "off-the-peg" control plans provided free by the FSA. The plans could be registered and verified by local authorities.
Dr McKenzie said a cost of food-control training had yet to be confirmed, but it was not likely to be any more expensive than current, required, training.
"We are not talking about a food hygiene degree. It's not about making everyone go along to polytech," he said.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said the recommendations would help lower the instances of people contracting food-related diseases.
The food sector had not stemmed the rise of such illnesses, she said.
Hospitality Association operations manager Raewyn Blakely said the association had consulted with the FSA and the recommendations were "nothing surprising or dramatic".
"We support the move forward, it's just a matter of getting it right," he said.
The association would continue to work with the FSA, though it was yet to see the "absolute detail", and would work to keep compliance costs down as the recommendations came in.
The recommendations are expected to be phased in over a five-year period.
NZ'S food industry
* Half New Zealand's export earnings - about $18 billion - come from food products.
* Food products contribute $31 billion (23%) of GDP.
* About 590,000 workers are employed in the industry.
* There are about 30,000 food businesses nationwide.
- Additional reporting NZPA
