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

The Standard introduces new requirements for all food service, catering, and retail businesses that handle unpackaged, ready-to-eat, and potentially hazardous foods. This new Standard is now in effect.

These businesses must implement either two (2) or all of the three (3) new food safety management tools, depending on their category, which is based on the risk of the food handling activities of the business. The tools are:

• mandatory food handler training
• implementation of a food safety supervisor
• substantiation of key food handling activities.

Category 1 businesses are required to implement all three (3) food safety management tools. To do this your business must:

• make sure all food handlers have completed a food safety training course or can demonstrate their food handling skills and knowledge
• appoint a certified food safety supervisor and ensure they are reasonably available when the business handles potentially hazardous foods
• ensure you can demonstrate to an authorised officer that you have complied with prescribed provisions.

Affected businesses must implement the Standards before 8 December 2023.

Category 2 businesses are required to implement two (2) of the three (3) new food safety management tools. To do this your business must:

• make sure all food handlers have completed a food safety training course or can demonstrate their food handling skills and knowledge
• appoint a certified food safety supervisor and ensure they’re reasonably available when the business handles potentially hazardous foods.

To access more information including videos, resources and to read the Standard, visit www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/foodsafetymanagement.

Management Tools Checklist - Category 1 Business

Management Tools Checklist - Category 2 Business

Food Safety Management Tools for not-for-profit organisations

Anyone interested in becoming a certified food safety supervisor can visit  the SA Health website here to find  a list of RTOs (registered training organisations) and their courses.  Please note there is specific RTOs that offer courses for community groups and health industries (HLTSS00061 - Food safety supervision skill set - for community services and health industries).