Food Safety

A new national Food Safety Standard is in place to assist food businesses in handling and processing food in a way to ensures it is safe to eat.

The Standard is an extension of existing requirements and introduces three food safety management tools for food service, caterers and some retail businesses.
Affected businesses must have the new requirements in place by December 2023.
To see if the new standard applies to your business or for further information, please visit the SA Health website below or contact us.

A food business must notify Council of its food handling operations by providing its business contact details on the Food Business Notification form. Notification is required 14 days prior to opening and is only required once unless your business details change.

Once your notification is received, a pre-opening inspection of your business can be arranged (free of charge) to assist the owner with design/layout advice and food safety requirements (see guidelines below).

Home-Based Food Businesses can apply to us for approval using the home-based food business form.

There are four types of permits available:

• Annual Event Mobile Food Vendor Permit $230 (for trading at events only).
  
• Day Event Mobile Food Vendor Permit $155 (for trading at events only).
• City Mobile Food Vendor Permit $217/month or $2170/year (for trading at events AND at designated areas in the Holdfast Bay area).
  NOTE: The permit application form includes a map of all designated areas.
• Brighton Sunday Market Permit (No charge)

Note: Please complete the Mobile Food Vendor Permit Application if you wish to obtain an Annual Mobile Food Vendor Permit, Day Event Mobile Food Vendor Permit or a City Mobile Food Vendor Permit. The application form includes a map of all designated areas.

The Food Act 2001 and associated Food Safety Standards place obligations on Australian food businesses to produce food that is safe and suitable to eat.

I'm Alert is a free online training tool to help food businesses make sure that food is suitable and safe. The program is equivalent to a two-day consultant-delivered course. On completion, a training acknowledgment form can be printed for your staff records.

DoFoodSafely is also a free online training tool. The program is also available in Vietnamese, Arabic, and simplified Chinese.

We participate in the voluntary State-wide Food Safety Rating Scheme.

Its purpose is to inform consumers about how well a food business complies with the Food Safety Standards at the time of their unannounced routine inspection by providing a score, in the form of stars, for businesses to display at their discretion.

• 5 stars = Excellent.
• 4 stars = Very Good.
• 3 stars = Good.

Businesses that receive a rating of fewer than three stars are not eligible for a star rating.

Certificates are awarded after an Environmental Health officer undertakes a routine inspection and any non-compliant issues are resolved. A business can choose to display its rating publicly. Only food service businesses i.e hotels, restaurants, cafes, take-away shops, hotels, and retail bakeries are eligible to participate in the scheme.

More information including supporting documentation and contact details can be located on the SA Health Food Safety Rating Scheme website below.

Our Environmental Health Officers work with food businesses to advise and educate food handlers on the correct way of handling food and keeping food safe and suitable.

If you have any complaints or questions related to food or food premises, please contact one of our Environmental Health Officers.

Foreign Objects

If you find a foreign object in your food, keep it with the food, and store it in a safe place (freezing is recommended). Keep the receipt if possible.

Food Poisoning

Symptoms of foodborne illness may include diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, sore throat with fever, and jaundice.

If you experience these symptoms, you should see a doctor for immediate medical attention. Ask your doctor to take a specimen sample which will then be sent to a laboratory for analysis.