Praise for FNDC food safety inspectors

New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS) has praised the council’s Environmental Health Services Team for its outstanding efforts to ensure hundreds of food businesses across the Far North are operating safely.

In a letter to council CEO Guy Holroyd, the Director of Food Risk Management at the government agency commended the council team for successfully monitoring food businesses that are spread over a large geographical area.

Far North District Council (FNDC) is accredited by NZFS, a business unit of the Ministry for Primary Industries, to monitor and inspect the district’s 509 registered food businesses. The team, which has just three inspectors covering 524 active sites, must confirm that each food business adheres to food safety plans and are providing safe and suitable food to locals and visitors.

Each inspection requires a team member to check food safety plans, food-related equipment and overall hygiene alongside a representative of the business. Inspections can take up to three hours to complete.

Ruben Garcia, Group Manager for Delivery and Operations says the acknowledgement from the food safety agency recognises the logistical challenges that face a team that is also responsible for inspecting licenced premises, processing alcohol applications, and investigating health nuisances.

“Most Far North food businesses are small, so it can be a challenge coordinating times when a staff member of that business can be onsite and available. The size of our district adds the challenge. Getting to each and every business – sometimes several times a year – requires a lot of travel time and the team must fit this in with other duties.”

NZFS Director, Jenny Bishop, said that out of 509 registered food businesses, just 3.2 per cent (17 sites) had been overdue by longer than three months.

FNDC has monitored the district’s commercial food outlets since the Food Act was passed in 2014. The act aims to maintain confidence in New Zealand’s food safety system, minimise the impacts of foodborne disease on public health, and protect human health.