It's your food - issue 1, 2012 - City of Monash

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Golden Plate 5 Star ProgramIn 2011 Council’s Public HealthUnit launched a new GoldenPlate Awards program. Foodsafety assessments wereconducted by EnvironmentalHealth Officers of all class 1 &2 premises at unannouncedtimes throughout the year.After the assessment, foodbusinesses were given astar rating based on pointsaccumulated during the visit.To achieve a 5 star award apremises must achieve a score of 93% or above duringthe assessment and have a fully implemented foodsafety program. The premises must also have had nojustified food related complaints in the previous yearand no serious food safety risks during the inspection.A Golden Plate Award certificate shows customersthat Council has assessed a food premises and issatisfied that the premises is effectively managing thefood safety risks associated with the business.Promotional opportunities are given to businessesachieving a five-star rating, including being listed onthe City of Monash website as a ‘5 star food premises’.A total of 792 premises were inspected and assessedfor a Golden Plate award in 2011.Overall ratings were as follows:-Excellent (5 stars) 44%Good (4 stars) 23%Satisfactory (3 stars) 15%Unsatisfactory (0-2 stars) - 18%Congratulations to all those premises that receivedan award in 2011. All premises are encouraged tostrive for a 5 star award. To assist food businesses toachieve the highest possible score on the food safetyassessments, Council’s Food Safety AssessmentForm and Explanatory Notes are available online atwww.monash.vic.gov.au/business/food-awards.htmTransferring or Selling Your Food Business?Council receives many applications for the transfer ofFood Act registered premises each year.Part of this process can involve Council EnvironmentalHealth Officers (EHOs) conducting a pre-transferinspection of your premises on behalf of the new orincoming proprietor (purchaser). This is optional andrequires the purchaser to complete a Request for Transferof Registration Inspection form and pay a fee ($113).Written consent from you as the current proprietoris required prior to the pre-transfer inspection reportbeing sent to the purchaser detailing the overallcleanliness and structural condition of your foodpremises. You will receive a written report of anyitems found to be outstanding at the time of theinspection.Any outstanding items noted on the report will befollowed up by the EHO prior to the approval of thetransfer. In certain circumstances Council may notapprove the transfer application if major structuraland cleanliness items remain outstanding.Some areas where proprietors can assist EHOs withthe transfer inspection process is to ensure receiptsare kept of recent professional cleaning/servicing ofmajor items of equipment such as grease traps (food& oil interceptors), Mechanical Exhaust Systems etc.Request for Transfer of Registration Inspection andConsent to Disclose Information forms are availablefrom City of Monash website at www.monash.vic.gov.au/business/food-business.htm or the Public HealthUnit can be contacted on 9518 3549/3540.2www.monash.vic.gov.au/services/health.htm
Community Food FundraisersVoluntary associations, community groups and clubsthat sell food to raise funds must ensure that the foodthey sell is safe to eat.The Department of Health has developed the flyer‘Guide to food safety regulation for communitygroups - Food fundraisers’ to provide advice onpractical steps to ensure food safety, and to outlineresponsibilities under the Food Act 1984.This flyer can be found at the Department of Healthwebsite www.health.vic.gov.au/foodsafety/home/community.htm and includes a table identifying whetherthe fundraising activity falls within class 2, 3 or 4.The classification system takes into account the uniquenature of some occasional activities conducted for thepurposes of fundraising and ensures that the regulationof such small scale activities is not excessive. The aimis for the level of regulation to be proportionate to theactivity, whilst protecting public health.Fire Safety in Your Food BusinessSeveral recently reported cases of fires in foodbusinesses in Monash have highlighted the need forfood businesses to be more aware of possible firehazards in their premises.Energy Safe Victoria (ESV) states that ‘apart fromoperator error, most gas-related incidents incommercial catering occur due to lack of servicing’.ESV also have an informative website to assistproprietors in relation to gas and electrical safetywhich covers topics including:• Tips for buying a gas or electrical product• Certification requirements for appliances• Circuit breakers and safety switches• Servicing requirements• Damaged or ageing electrical equipment• What to do in the event of a fireFurther resources and food safety information forcommunity groups can be found on the Departmentof Health website including:• ‘Community group temporary and mobile foodpremises template – class 2’This new template has been developed forcommunity groups that fall into the Class 2 categoryand replaces the previous ‘Food Events’ template.• ‘Food safety guide for community groups-Class 3’.This booklet provides a comprehensive guide tofood safety for class 3 food premises includingadvice on the kinds of food handling activities yourclass 3 food premises may run, and the recordsyou are required by law to keep.• ‘Food safety information for Class 4 Communitygroups’This provides information specific to class 4activities, such as cake stalls, sausage sizzles etc.The website also has a series of Gas InformationSheets & Codes including information on:• Fire resistant boards (#3)• Is the wall behind that commercial cateringequipment non-combustible? (#15)• Connection of commercial catering equipment(#18)• Second-hand commercial catering equipment(#19)• The Code of Practice for the “Safe Use of LPG atPublic Events in VictoriaDetails: www.esv.vic.gov.au or phone 1800 652563. Or www.business.gov.au/BusinessTopics/emergencymanagementandrecovery/pages/default.aspxwww.health.vic.gov.au/foodsafety 3
Page 1: It’s YourA Newsletter for FoodBus

It's your food - issue 1, 2012 - City of Monash

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