Food Businesses

• to provide information to food business proprietors and staff on how to safely prepare, store and handle food at their food premises, and meet the requirements of the Food Safety Standards.
• to monitor the level of hygiene and health of food premises that members of the public expect when they choose to dine out or purchase food for sale.
• to work with our Authorities and organisations to continually improve services which Council provide to food businesses, such as the Food Regulation Partnership with the NSW Food Authority.

Strathfield Council conducts regulatory inspections to ensure compliance with the Food Safety Standards.

Premises which sell hot foods, ready to eat foods or have had a number of food safety non-compliances may be inspected twice per year and those businesses which only sell dry foods, or carry out low risk activities in relation to food handling may be inspected one time per year.

Premises that may be inspected include restaurants, cafes, fast food outlets, kiosks, bakeries, supermarkets, temporary food stalls, school canteens, child care centres preparing food, home caterers and any other establishments where food is prepared, stored and sold.

The regulatory inspections can be carried out at any time of the year and are designed to make an accurate assessment of food handling practices and food safety measures within the business.

In accordance with Council’s fees and charges, food shops which have maintained a consecutive Scores on Doors star rating of 4 star and above will have the annual administration fee of $390 waived.

All existing and new food businesses which sell or handle food in the Strathfield Local Government Area must register their details with Council’s Environmental Services Section.

It is the proprietor’s responsibility to ensure that the form below is completed and returned to Council.

Please complete the following application and return it to Council at council@strathfield.nsw.gov.au

If you have any questions, please contact Council’s Senior Environmental Health Officer at (02) 9748 9999.

Application to Register a Business(PDF, 35KB)

All retail, hospitality and food service businesses need to appoint at least one Food Safety Supervisor (FSS) per premises if food they prepare and serve is:

• ready-to-eat
• potentially hazardous, that is, needs temperature control
• NOT sold and served in the supplier's original package.

Broadly, this includes all businesses selling potentially hazardous food to the public that are not licensed by the Food Authority, such as: cafes, restaurants, quick service venues, takeaway shops, pubs and clubs with food service areas, mobile vendors, home-based businesses, caterers, motels, and supermarkets selling potentially hazardous food (such as hot-chickens). It also includes outlets that sell food through third party ordering apps.

From 8 December 2024 the FSS requirement will also apply to:

• school canteens
• children’s services that provide meals, including out of school hours care
• supermarkets
• delicatessens
• greengrocers
• coffee vendors that sell unpackaged, potentially hazardous, ready-to-eat food
• boarding schools
• correctional centres.

Businesses licensed with the Food Authority do not need an FSS.

Please note: Penalties can apply for businesses failing to appoint a food safety supervisor.

Who can be an FSS?
The FSS is nominated by the owner of a food business and may be the business owner, manager, or employee (for example, the chef) provided they:

• are not an FSS for any other food premises or mobile catering business, and  
• can train and supervise other people in the business to ensure safe food handling occurs (as per the Food Act 2003 –Section 106B(1c)).
• are reasonably available and be easily contacted (such as by phone).

For a small business, it may be most appropriate for the business owner to be the FSS.

Larger businesses that operate longer hours may choose to nominate several people to be trained and appointed as an FSS to help cover shift work and annual leave.

How to become an FSS
To be an FSS you must achieve the required unit/s of competency and key focus areas from a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) that has been approved to deliver the NSW FSS program.

• View the list of approved RTOs

There are 2 pathways to choose from to achieve FSS certification, depending on the businesses type:

• hospitality – businesses that provide food as a service, where food is typically prepared and eaten onsite, for example restaurants and cafes
• retail – provides food as a product and may be eaten elsewhere, for example takeaways, and supermarkets.

FSS training can generally be completed in one full day (for example, through face-to-face training and assessment). However, the duration of the course will depend on the type of delivery option offered by approved RTOs, which can include:  

• face-to-face
• online  
• workplace based
• correspondence
• a combination of the above.

Training course costs are set by individual RTOs.

The training does not provide all the skills required for supervising food handling activities in specific licensed industries, such as aged care or manufacturing.

The Food Act 2003 requires that FSS certificates are renewed every 5 years. 

For more information on Food Safety Supervisors (FSS) please visit the NSW Food Authority website.

The regulation of food businesses is under the Food Act 2003, Food Regulation 2015(PDF, 599KB) and the Food Safety Standards. Council checks each clause of the Food Safety Standards during inspections.

The Food Safety Standards were introduced in NSW on 24 February 2001. The food safety standards provide technical standards which are governed by the Food Act and cover aspects such as temperature control, hygiene requirements, food handling requirements, pest control, cleanliness standards and design and construction matters.

The three standards include:

• Standard 3.1.1 Interpretation and Application;
• Standard 3.2.2 Food Safety Practices and General Requirements;  and
• Standard 3.2.3 Food Premises and Equipment

Further information and access to the standards can be obtained by visiting the Food Standards Australian New Zealand website

Recent Changes – Food Safety Standard 3.2.2A

Recent changes to the Food Standards Code introduced new food safety requirements for food businesses in NSW. These applied from 8 December 2023 and introduced 3 mandatory food safety management tools for food businesses depending on their food handling activities.

Who the requirements apply to:

The Standard applies to food businesses that sell or serve food that is:

• ·not sold or served in its original package
• potentially hazardous (requires temperature control), and
• ready-to-eat.
  
  Affected businesses include:
  
  
• restaurants
• cafes
• caterers
• takeaways
• school canteens
• bakeries
• mobile food vendors
• supermarkets
• delis
• convenience stores
• seafood retailers
• children’s services that provide meals

For more information see HERE

In addition to the Food Safety Standards, Standards Australia has produced a standard for the design and construction of food premises. The standards explains how a food premises should be designed and constructed to ensure that it can be effectively cleaned, maintained and that food is adequately protected from the likelihood of contamination.

Australian Standard 4674-2004 Design, construction and fit-out of food premises can be purchased from Standards Australia Customer Service – telephone 1300 654 646 or downloaded here.