This depends on the class of food you are selling to the public.
When a food business is required to have a Food Safety Program (FSP), it must be fully implemented, including the specified records as a minimum legal requirement of the Food Act 1984.
The FSP and records are designed to help you and your staff make sure that the foods you prepare, cook, reheat or store are safe for your customers at all times.
Class 1 Businesses
Proprietors
of Class 1 food
businesses and Class 2 manufacturers must lodge an
independent FSP with Council, written to cover all food processes of the business.
The program must be assessed for adequacy by food safety auditor.
More
information can be found at the Department of Health food safety audits page.
Class 2 Businesses
Class
2 businesses that are not manufacturers are not required to have a food safety
program unless they are doing any of these processes:
- sous
vide cooking, (cooking at less than 75 degrees Celsius) where the food is
cooked under controlled temperature and time conditions inside vacuum sealed
packages in water baths or steam ovens;
- any potentially hazardous food that does not involve temperature control to
minimise the growth of pathogenic or toxigenic organisms as described in
Australia and New Zealand Food Standards Code, Standard 3.2.2;
- preparation of acidified/fermented foods or drinks that are ready to eat and
have a high level of acidity required to keep food safe, acid may be naturally
present or added or produced by the food (due to microbial activity);
- preparation of ready to eat foods containing raw unshelled eggs
(unpasteurised);
- preparation of ready to eat raw or rare minced/finely chopped red meats;
- preparation of ready to eat raw and rare poultry and game meats;
- off-site catering where ready to eat potentially hazardous food is prepared or
partially prepared in one location, transported to another location, where the
food is served at a catering event;
- any other complex food process activity such as:
- pasteurisation/thermal processing,
where food is heated to a certain temperature for a specified time, to
eliminate pathogenic organisms;
- packaging food where the oxygen has
been removed and/or replaced with other gases for food safety or to increase
shelf life of the food;
- any food processing activity which
does not involve the use of temperature control, to minimise the growth of
pathogenic or toxigenic organisms in food, as described in Australia and New
Zealand Food Standards Code, Standard 3.2.2.
Food
Standard 3.2.2A requires evidence be kept of food safety management for all
other Class 2 businesses. It is recommended that all class 2 food
businesses keep records and have processes
written for staff to follow as it is the easiest way to provide evidence that
you are maintaining safe food handling practices at your food premises. You
may wish to create your own management program using the
Foodsmart website as a way
of keeping evidence.
Class 3 businesses
Class
3 warehouses/distribution centres are required to keep minimum records
Suppliers and Distributions Lists for the purposes of recalls.
It
is recommended that class 3 businesses keep temperature records as evidence of
food safety.
These
businesses also require a traceability and recall protocol.