In only eight weeks the NSW ‘name and shame’ website for food law breaches has reached the 100 mark, Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald reported on Sunday. There are now 101 food outlets in 31 NSW council areas listed on the Food Authority website with a total of 163 offences. “Twenty-eight new offences have just gone up on the name and shame website, including a café in the Blue Mountains that was fined $330 for permitting an animal in the food handling area,” Mr Macdonald... ...Read more »

A NSW Food Authority safety survey of bakery products has revealed that 1 in 4 Vietnamese-style rolls tested scored either “unsatisfactory” or had “marginal” satisfactory levels for human consumption, but overall the industry was typically meeting strict food safety guidelines. The survey of 125 small non-supermarket bakeries was conducted over eight months by the NSW Food Authority and 40 local councils. “The good news is that out of almost 700 samples, the vast majority... ...Read more »

Pioneering new laws that empower local councils as food safety enforcers and allow the government to publish food law violations are to come into effect next month. Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald said the Food Amendment Act 2007 comes into effect on July 1, formally recognising the food regulation responsibilities of 152 NSW councils. “Within a year 100s of premises are expected to be named on the Food Authority Website,” he said. “This Name and Shame legislation is about... ...Read more »

The ‘chain of responsibility’ could be about to become more stringent, with new laws to be introduced in NSW to crackdown on companies setting unrealistic deadlines. If the legislation is passed, businesses, which promote unsafe driving practices by enforcing impractical targets, will be charged and/or fined. The NSW initiative follows the nationwide introduction of the ‘chain of responsibility’, which came into force in 2005. This legislation was introduced to ensure that... ...Read more »