Food Safety

The principal agency is the Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry (Food Safety).  Health Protection Officers are designated as Officers under the Food Act and are responsible for a variety of activities to make sure food is safe to eat.

What do Health Protection Officers do in Food Safety & Quality?

• Food Complaints:  Investigate public complaints regarding safety or quality of food related products and also supervise food recalls.
• Food Poisoning:  Investigate cases and outbreaks of food poisoning to identify the source, stop the spread of illness and prevent it happening again.
• Labelling and Compliance:  Check foods for compliance with standards and monitor accuracy of food labelling.
• Liaison and Collaboration:  Liaise with the food industry and work with other agencies like local bodies, Ministry of Health and MAF Food Safety Authority).
• Shellfish Quality:  Act on alerts for marine biotoxins to ensure public awareness.

Health protection officers work closely with the Gisborne District Council as both have responsibilities and activities in respect of Food Safety and Quality.  In general, GDC deals with licensing and regulation while our health protection officers carry out surveillance, testing and investigation.  (E.g. selling food must be conducted in a manner that complies with Regulations and Bylaws and generally requires a licence from the local authority but most Food and Foodborne Illness Complaints are followed up by the Health Protection Officers.)

For further information about Gisborne District Council activities www.gdc.govt.nz

USEFUL LINKS

MAF (Food Safety)

Information for industry http://www.foodsafety.govt.nz/index.htm

information for consumers http://www.foodsmart.govt.nz/

Food Standards Code

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/foodstandards/foodstandardscode.cfm 

Food labelling guide

http://www.foodsafety.govt.nz/elibrary/industry/nzfsa-food-labelling-guide/