Sign up for the voluntary Food Control Plan now while it’s free – before it becomes law – or risk paying fines and long queues when it does.
By Veronica Johnston
One of chef Darren Watson’s chillers was overheating recently. Fortunately he found the fault before it got any worse. The executive chef noticed the problem while checking the temperatures of his four chillers in the Portside restaurant and bar in Oamaru. This is just one of the daily checks he does while adhering to his Food Control Plan (FCP).
Since signing up to the plan a few months ago, he’s had a bit more paperwork to do than usual, but says the whole process has been relatively easy. His workplace is one of 1600 food businesses to sign up so far, surprisingly, 13,500 have yet to do so.
The FCP has been introduced as part of the new Food Bill currently before Parliament. The Bill proposes that commercial businesses in the foodservice sector operate under a FCP that includes documenting their food safety practices. Parliament will decide whether to pass the Bill into law early next year, but even without a new Food Act, restaurants and cafes can still operate under the FCP.
The current act is 30 years old and outdated – the council currently inspects food businesses yearly or more frequently to ensure they comply with the Food Hygiene Regulations 1974. But food businesses with a FCP in place are exempt from these regulations, providing their records, and management and business activities demonstrate they are following the plan.
The plan identifies any potential food safety risks at each point in the food handling process – from receiving and storing goods to preparing, cooking and serving food. It contains a ready-made set of procedures a food business operator can use to manage the food safety aspects of their business. It also has an accompanying diary for recording activities, such as purchases, wastage and maintenance. Step-by-step information and checklist style tools show staff how to manage risks.
But far too few businesses have signed up for their free FCP, which is something Steve Mackenzie from the Restaurant Association finds incredible.
“We’ve had eight years of talking about this and four years of people having the opportunity to get into a voluntary implementation programme and what have we got? Less than 2000 people who have signed onto it,” he says. “It’s a great piece of legislation – fantastic. The industry needs it because it’s going to create a level playing field for operators. Those who are doing a great job will get rewarded for it in terms of the cost and hopefully people will recognise that those who are operating a good food plan have a good product.”
Though there will be a six-month period to commencement if the act becomes law next March and thereafter a transition period of one year for many in the food service sector, Mackenzie fears a last-minute stampede by businesses suddenly wanting to sign up that will likely cost them both time and money, and put pressure on councils that are already under-resourced.
“The councils have been charged with implementation and helping businesses to introduce Food Control Plans and through their own admission, they won’t be able to cope, they won’t have the resources.”
He predicts businesses will have to pay for the resources and services of implementing a FCP once it becomes law, because the council will need to bring external or third parties in to help implement it.
“But now it’s free [to sign up], you get all the resources free and you’ve got the help of people now because they have the time and resource – it’s great so why not do it? Well, I know why, because we’re procrastinators in this industry. It’s terrible.”
If you don’t sign up when the law requires it – you won’t be able to trade. “It’s exactly like a liquor license,” says Mackenzie, “if you don’t have your license then you can’t sell liquor, same with the Food Control Plans, it will be part of your food license.” So what are you are you waiting for?
Food Control Plan Q + A
NZFSA policy director policy Carole Inkster answers some of questions about the FCP below.
So how do I sign up?
→ Contact your local council environmental health team who will provide you with a start-up pack including the template Food Control Plan (FCP), diary, posters, magnets and probe thermometer, as well as a copy of a DVD that helps explain how the FCP works and what you have to do as the restaurant owner/operator. The template FCP is also available from the New Zealand Food Safety Authority’s website (NZFSA) and the DVDs are available on YouTube.
→ Tailor the template FCP to your individual needs. There are about 14 pages in the plan that you will need to tailor to your food business. You may already be doing some of the checks and actions prescribed, such as checking deliveries, recording temperatures and pest control.
→ When you have tailored your plan (this might take 30 minutes to a few hours), you can then apply to the local council to be exempt from the requirement to be registered as a premises under the Food Hygiene Regulations 1974. Then you’ll be able to operate under the FCP as a food safety programme which is provided for in the current Food Act.
→ After you’ve been made exempt, an environmental health officer (EHO) will audit your operation to check you are operating according to the plan. This will be a scheduled visit and will involve an initial discussion on how the FCP is working within the business. During and after the audit, the EHO will discuss any issues you may need to address and a date will be set for those issues to be sorted out. In many cases a revisit will not be necessary but you may have to confirm (perhaps by email or fax) to your EHO that you have dealt with any issues raised.
When will it be compulsory?
The Food Bill is currently before the Primary Production Select Committee. The Select Committee is set to report back to Parliament no later than 22 January 2011 unless the Committee seeks an extension to that time and that extension is granted. The NZFSA cannot determine the content of the Bill and whether, for example, FCPs will be mandatory. That is the responsibility of the Select Committee at this time. Once reported back, the Bill then awaits second and third reading. Enactment would follow if the Bill passes those readings.
Why should I sign up for one now?
The template FCP actually provides some real benefits to businesses that may currently have no or limited systems put in place. Some operators have said they have been able to reduce wastage in their business to the tune of $80 per week, while others have linked their procedures outlined in their FCP with staff key performance indicators, their employment agreements and development plans. Still others have much greater assurance that when they are not around, the business continues to operate to plan and to best practice. Overall, operators really like the consistent approach that results in their business. There’s a lot of information in the published FCP that is guidance but the procedure gives you the basis for a management tool which is good for any business.
What happens if I don’t sign up in future?
If the Food Bill is enacted, you can continue to operate under the Food Hygiene Regulations until it becomes mandatory for your sector to have a FCP in place. Some sectors could continue to operate under the Food Hygiene Regulations until near the end of the transition period. The Food Hygiene Regulations will be revoked either at the end of the transition period or sooner if replaced by regulations made under a new Food Act.
Why have so few signed up?
To date NZFSA has printed 5,500 copies of the template FCP and there are only 200 copies left in stock. There are 1,600 businesses that are operating under a FCP and that have been granted exemptions from the Food Hygiene Regulations. Other businesses have chosen to tailor it over a longer time period. As with any change, it was expected a minority would adopt it early on, while the bulk would come onboard when it becomes a requirement. A similar situation occurred with the introduction of EFTPOS to the sector.
What about future compliance costs?
The NZFSA has been focussed on minimising compliance costs and this has been the driver for producing the FCP and other aids to implementation, making those tools freely available, training EHOs in their use and in audit and continuing to drive a least cost approach.
If the Food Bill is enacted, local councils needing to set fees could only do so for specific activities (registration, verification (audit) and compliance and monitoring). Any such fees would have to be reasonable, and meet clear ‘cost recovery’ principles of equity, efficiency, justifiability and transparency.
If the Food Bill becomes law, there are a series of operator workshops planned. We are also planning greater contact with training organisations and we will communicate with operators so that they are aware of how the changes will affect them and what they can do. Local councils have been running introduction and mentoring sessions for operators and have been working closely with the NZFSA Local Government Liaison team to provide any further assistance as required.