WHAT’S NEW
Do You Know Your Food Rules? If you grow, import, manufacture, store, transport, or sell fruit and vegetables, you need to meet food safety requirements. This may include registering with New Zealand Food Safety or your local council. New Zealand Food Safety (a business unit of the Ministry for Primary Industries) is urging owners and managers of all existing New Zealand businesses that trade in food, to find out if they need to register a plan or programme. Even if food is only a part of a business’s activity, registration may still be needed. New Zealand Food Safety’s director of food regulation, Paul Dansted, says registration helps to ensure food is safe and suitable for customer use, and provides an important link in the chain to help with tracing food products if a problem is identified. “Food rules are more flexible than they once were, when they used to focus on the place food was made and facilities provided,” Dr Dansted says. “These days, there is a more common-sense, risk-based approach to food safety – which puts food businesses in the driver’s seat when it comes to managing any food hazards that might arise.” Unregistered businesses risk fines, delays, prosecution and recalls If you don’t register, New Zealand Food Safety and local councils may take enforcement action (ranging from educational advice, warnings and instant fines, through to harsher penalties including preventing your business operating and prosecution). As well, customers may refuse to accept your goods or use your services if you don’t comply with food safety requirements. You need to register as a food business (with some exceptions) under the Food Act 2014 if you: • Grow horticultural crops. • Process harvested foods, such as grain, herbs or spices, nuts and seeds. • Manufacture foods, including dried or dehydrated fruit or vegetables, shelf-stable grain-based products, and frozen fruit and vegetables. • Brew, ferment, distil or manufacture alcoholic beverages (including fruit wine), or non-alcoholic beverages (including fruit juice). • Prepare, serve or retail food (whether from a shop, a market stall, online or via social media). 66
The ORCHARDIST : APRIL 2021
• Transport or store food (such as providing a food storage or distribution service). • Import food and beverages for sale (including ingredients). • ‘Give’ food away to promote your business. “For the horticulture industry, what you need to do depends on the type of food you make or sell,” Dr Dansted says. “Some foods pose fewer food safety risks than others, so growers have fewer rules to follow.” Under the Food Act, businesses that make or sell food (unless exempt) need to follow either a Food Control Plan or a National Programme. A Food Control Plan sets out what steps a higher-risk business making or selling food needs to take to make safe and suitable food. Medium to low-risk businesses can follow a National Programme which means they don’t need to use written Food Control Plans, but must still register the business, meet food safety standards, keep some records, and have the business verified.
Some foods pose fewer food safety risks than others, so growers have fewer rules to follow To support the horticulture industry New Zealand Good Agricultural Practice (NZGAP), Global Good Agricultural Practice (GLOBALG.A.P.) and British Retail Consortium (BRC – limited to fresh produce) have all been approved as Template Food Control Plans under the Food Act. If you are a member of these programmes, talk to your industry association about how they can help you register. Uncertified growers, packers, transporters and wholesalers have the option of joining a GAP scheme or may need to register a National Programme with their local council.
