Food Hygiene Regulations

Any premise where food is manufactured, prepared, packed, stored or sold to the general public must be registered with Council. Those premises that do not required registering with Council include:

• those used by the Crown or Local Authority;
• partially exempted premises where the provision of food is secondary to the main purpose of the premise (such as hospitals, retirement homes, schools or work cafeterias);
• occasional food premises (such as church halls, market stalls and sausage sizzles); and
• any premises that is not open to the general public (such as some clubs).

Before any registered premises opens for business, they must be inspected by an Environmental Health Officer to ensure that the premises' construction complies with the Food Hygiene Regulations 1974 and any relevant bylaws, and the registration fee must be paid for the Certificate of Registration to be issued.

An opening inspection will check the:

• construction of physical aspects: floors, walls, ceilings, lighting, ventilation, space, changing facilities, toilet accommodation, wand hand basins, water supply, sewage disposal and yards.
• relevant notices are displayed.
• first aid facilities.
• cleaning and maintenance of the premises (facilities, equipment and cleaning programmes).
• restricted use of rooms to protect food from contamination.
• pest control measures.
• general duties of the occupier.
• equipment to be used, its condition, sufficiency and appropriateness of type for maintenance and cleaning.

Once a business is open, registration must be renewed each year, or when the business changes ownership. Regular inspections by the Environmental Health Officer can also be expected, regarding the above matters as well as the business's:

• conduct of workers (food handling, food protection, clothing and behaviour of workers and food vehicles).
• pest control practices.
• cleaning programmes.
• staff training.
• requirements specific to certain types of premises.

From July 1997, an amendment to the Food Act 1981 brought in an alternative to Registration with the Local Authority. Food businesses can choose to apply for exemptions from the requirements of the Food Hygiene Regulations and register a Food Safety Programme with the NZ Food Safety Authority instead.

This programme must be based on a system of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points - HACCP, which ensures that each stage along the food production process is examined to identify potential hazards, the risk involved, how they may be controlled, which controls are the most vital, and how they are ensured to be working to provide safe food. Training in food safety is obviously a vital part of food safety programme development and implementation.

This course will give you a basic level of food safety training suitable for any food handler in the food industry. If you become a food business owner or manager, or are interested, further training in HACCP and Food Safety Programme development is also available.

Registration of Food Premises

In order for a food premises to be registered with a local authority, it needs to meet the conditions of the First Schedule of the Food Hygiene Regulations, 1974.

We have summarised the requirements of the Food Hygiene Requirements 1974 that apply to your premises below. This is not intended to be a substitute for the requirements of the Food Hygiene Regulations 1974 but it has been prepared to clarify the expectations of the Napier City Council for compliance before the premises can be registered. Refer to the Food Hygiene Regulations 1974 for the full details of these requirements.

General
The premises shall be well constructed and in good repair. As far as possible, they should offer no entrance or harbourage to vermin.

Materials used in a food premises must be of high quality and may be expensive but will help to prevent dampness, peeling wall surfaces, cracked floors and contamination of food areas. Repairs to substandard premises are costly and can result in the premises being closed.

Floors
Floors should be suitable for the particular task. This is important to assess as in some processes, floors are subjected to considerable wear and tear. Good quality floors are durable and waterproof and maintained in a good condition so that they are easy to clean and keep clean.

In wet processing areas, impervious and graded floors will permit rapid disposal of liquid waste. In areas that are swept or mopped, there is no need for grading.

Floors should be coved up to a height of 75 mm at the walls to facilitate cleaning. Pencil coving is not appropriate.

Walls
The main criteria are that walls are light coloured, smooth, non-absorbent and are easily cleaned. The minimum height from floor to ceiling is 2.4 metres.

Cooking areas must be heat resistant (e.g. stainless steel and aluminium sheet between cooking equipment and vent hood). The joints should be filled so that no gaps are evident.

Wash-up areas and surrounding walls must be plastic laminated sheeting (or alternative approved surface), two metres from the floor level.

Storage areas must be gloss painted or polyurethaned, stopped and finished Gibb or equivalent, or medium density fibre board.

Ceilings
The same criteria generally applies to ceilings as wallls. They should have a smooth, impervious and dust-proof finish and allow for effective cleaning.

Any exposed trusses or beams need to be enclosed.

Lighting
The illumination of the premises shall be of sufficient intensity to enable effective inspection and cleaning of all areas of the premises. Lights should be either fitted flush to the ceiling, or otherwise designed and placed for ease of cleaning.

Ventilation
Ventilation must be sufficient to maintain comfortable conditions for people on the premises by preventing air from becoming excessively heated, preventing condensation and excess moisture on floors, walls and ceilings, and removing objectionable odours, fumes and impurities.

Suitable ventilation is to be provided over all cooking equipment.

The system is to comprise a hood enclosure, a fan of sufficient capacity, grease filters, condensate channels and ducting to remove cooking vapours to the exterior of the premises. The extractor system must discharge in a manner that will not create a nuisance and it must be constructed of durable materials that facilitate cleaning.

There must be discharges to the air that are noxious, dangerous, offensive or objectionable at or beyond the boundary of the food premises property. Theses discharges include odour and dust. To avoid a nuisance situation, the ventilation system discharge point is to be situated at the building'ss highest point, in an area removed from opening windows and air intake points.

The system is to comply with noise levels set out in the District Plan.

Space
Adequate unobstructed floor space for workers is essential as it promotes efficiency and easier cleaning. As a general guide, and where it is not specified by regulation, it is recommended that the space per person is not less than 3 m², or a minimum of 9.5 m², whichever is greater. This space is for food preparation, cooking and cleaning of food utensils and is to be clear of furniture fittings and stored goods.

Changing facilities
Clothing worn by food workers should not contaminate the food, so street clothing must be kept separate from food processing or retail areas.

Larger premises should have locker rooms for storing workers' outdoor clothing, shoes and bags. Smaller premises should still have specific areas set aside for storage away from food areas.

Toilet accommodation
Toilets should be conveniently placed for the food handlers and designed to protect the food from any possible airborne contaminants. The Building Code requirements for the number and design of toilets should be referred to.

Toilets and isolation chambers should not be used for storage.

Wash hand basins
Wash hand basins are required in each bar and kitchen area and should be supplied with soap, nail brush and suitable hand drying facilities.

Handwashing facilities are essential to the personal cleanliness of food workers. It is important that all food workers wash their hands after using the toilet, before commencing work and at periodical times during the day.

Hand basins must be used for handwashing only. They should be located so that supervisors can observe that workers frequently wash their hands, and it is desirable that the facilities are located as close to the work area as possible. It is recommended that they be not more than six metres from the work area, although it is recognised that this is not always possible.

Sinks
Sinks used for washing/preparing food must be connected directly to waste.

Dishwashing sinks must be connected to a grease trap.

Cleaning sinks must allow for the emptying and filling of buckets used to clean large appliances, floors and toilets.

All sinks must have a continuous supply of piped hot water the entire time the premises is used.

The minimum water temperature is 63°C for all sink units and 83°C for dishwashing units.

All plumbing should be installed by registered tradesmen and comply with the requirements of the Building Code and relevant Council bylaws.

Water supply
The water shall be of a potable quality and, wherever possible, must be from a local authority-approved reticulated supply.

Hot water supply
The hot water supply must be of an adequate volume and temperature to cope with the maximum demands of the premises. If there is insufficient hot water, there is a tendency to use less than is desirable. It is difficult to establish a formula that is suitable for all premises; however, a suggested minimum for eating houses is a storage capacity of 180 litres.

Grease trap
A grease trap or other suitable grease pre-treatment facility of sufficient capacity is required if there is a likelihood of grease from your operation entering the sewer.

The grease trap just be cleaned or treated so that no nuisance is caused (Health Act 1956, S29).

Dishwashers must not be installed to discharge through the grease trap.

Always refer to the manufacturer's instructions on maintenance and cleaning.

Pest control
Installing fly screens on windows and entrances, self-closing doors, directing air currents or other suitable control measures are required to keep out birds and flies.

All joints with plumbing or other fittings must be sealed to prevent entrance or harbourage for rodents.

Yard
The yard area is important as refuse is usually stored here and food stuffs enter (and occasionally leave) via the yard. Provide suitable washable bins fitted with close-fitting lids for both inside the kitchen and any awaiting collection.

Paved, graded and drained yards make the area easier to clean and remove the surrounds of any grease trap.

Cleaning chemicals
A suitable area for the storage of cleaning chemicals and cleaning equipment must be provided at each site to avoid contamination of food.