NSW Food Authority 5th Anniversary Review

OUR FOCUS
Keeping food safe
The NSW Food Authority has a key safety role at every stage
of the food cycle – from the time the food is harvested/
slaughtered to the moment it arrives on the dinner table.
Protection
The Authority’s primary goal is to protect consumers
from unsafe food. We do this by working closely with
industry and business to ensure food is regularly
checked and monitored under agreed food safety
schemes and other measures.
These include random food business inspections by Authority
and local government inspectors where various elements -
such as food handling, storage and labeling - are assessed.
Where a breach is discovered the business is asked to
rectify it as a matter of priority or face further action.
Our officers regularly check the overall effectiveness of
food safety schemes in the meat, dairy, seafood, plant
products and vulnerable persons sectors. Businesses
operating under these schemes are required to have
an approved Food Safety Program and are audited to
ensure that they comply with food safety requirements.
Enforcement
The Authority has in place tough enforcement strategies
to ensure that food sold in New South Wales is safe and
correctly labelled.
We also help to maintain standards through our ‘name
and shame’ web portal which aims to deter food
businesses from doing the wrong thing. ‘Name and
shame’ was developed in response to strong public
sentiment that food business performance information
be made available to consumers, particularly when food
businesses were not doing the right thing.
Information and education
The Authority educates and empowers consumers
by providing timely access to important food safety
information – allowing them to make informed choices
about food selection, food preparation and dining out.
We do this through targeted education campaigns, our
website, brochures, newsletters and ongoing media
coverage. The information we provide is guided by
research, consumer and industry feedback, inspections
and audits, surveys, and trends in foodborne illness.
State-wide consumer education programs we have
conducted over the past five years have included highlighting
the dangers of mercury in fish for pregnant women,
safe egg promotions at the Sydney Royal Easter Show,
factsheets on how to avoid foodborne illness and the launch
and enhancement of the ‘name and shame’ web portal.
The Authority also has an active industry information
program which provides targeted information on
managing food risks to industry sectors.
As the agency responsible for investigating breaches of
the Food Act 2003 (NSW), our trained officers routinely
undertake investigations of food businesses across the
State. These sometimes result in enforcement action and
prosecutions through the courts.
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