Community and not-for-profit groups often sell food as part of their fundraising events. Food safety is an essential part of these events.
If your community group is selling food to the public you will need to notify or register with us.
This checklist will assist you to ensure that the food you sell to the public is safe.
Before the day of the event
- Purchasing – Keep a list of where food was purchased from
- Transporting – Ensure meats and dairy are kept cold (below 5°C) and limit transport time as much as possible
- Storage – Refrigerate meat and dairy as soon as possible after purchase
- Preparation – Ensure area is clean and free of contaminates
- Labelling of packaged goods – Keep a list of what each person made, including ingredients and allergens
- Encourage all volunteers/food handlers at your event to complete the:
On the day
- Transporting – Ensure meats and dairy are kept cold (below 5°C) and limit transport time as much as possible
- Preparation – Keep meat and dairy refrigerated or on ice until needed and ensure raw meat is kept separate to ready to eat food (ie salads, bread, cooked food)
- Cooking – Ensure all food is cooked thoroughly and to above 75°C
- Serving – It is recommended that different people do different jobs (ie prepare food, cook, serve and handle money)
- Temperature control – Take the temperature of cold and hot food at different times throughout the day to ensure that cold food is below 5°C and hot food is above 60°C
- Discard any left over food at the end of the day.
Safe food handling
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Avoid coming into direct contact with food
- Wash hands frequently, especially immediately prior to handling food
- You should thoroughly wash hands with warm water and soap for at least 15 seconds and dry hands with disposable paper towel
- Wear disposable gloves and replace frequently.
Temporary set up of site
- A marquee with 3 walls and a roof
- Hand washing facilities – water supply, container, liquid soap and paper towel
- Equipment washing facilities (that is: cooking equipment, dishes, utensils) – water supply, separate container to hand washing container, detergent, sanitiser and disposable paper towel
- A water supply can be set up using a water drum for cold water and an urn for hot water
- Benches or tables with smooth surfaces
- Plastic table clothes are recommended
- Cooking facilities that are clean and in good working order
- If a portable cool room or fridge is not possible, then you must have eskies and ice to keep potentially high risk food (that is: meat, cheese, milk etc) cold (below 5°C)
- Rubbish containers – all rubbish must be removed at the end of the day
- Waste water containers – waste water must be emptied into a sewer point (check with event organiser as to nearest point).