So is there any difference between food safety for small or large food businesses?

So you are starting up a small café and have to ensure that you have food safety control, do you have to do the same as a big multinational food company or even an aged care centre.

The answer is a very simple no.

All food related businesses and groups (like community groups  and sports clubs) must meet some basic food safety requirements, like temperature control, hygiene, cleaning, pest control, allergen control, stock rotation, and contamination and cross-contamination controls, but how they must do that varies depending upon the business.

What does this mean?

As a simple example, a small café is not expected to have metal detectors as part of their process to find any metal, whereas a food factory does.

Why?

The Food Standards Code is where we find the food safety requirements which businesses and food related groups must meet. In some places the requirements are very specific – eg; have and use a food grade thermometer, and in others it is less clear – eg; must do whatever is reasonable to prevent or control contamination.

It is completely unreasonable and impractical to expect that a small café would have a metal detector as part of it’s process, but completely logical that a food factory will.

The Code and associated Food Acts in each State and Territory also require that different types of food businesses will have to meet extra food safety requirements. These businesses either make food which needs extra protection (eg; shellfish) or target members of our community who are more at risk from food poisoning – the High Risk Groups. Therefore, food businesses such as Aged Care Centres and Hospitals, are required to not only meet the basic or mandatory requirments, but go to at least the next level of food safety by implementing and maintaining a food safety program.

So the answer to the question is really not that simple – essentially it is No, but it entirely depends upon the size and type of the business and what it makes or does.

The local council is the first place to go to ask what food safety controls are need for a business and then go and download a copy of Food Safety Australia from Food Standards Australia New Zealand  to help work out how to do it- http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/publications/Pages/safefoodaustralia3rd16.aspx