Thu 27 Sept 18.
New Ruapehu food premises grade certificates issued
People buying food in Ruapehu can expect to start seeing Food Grade Certificates being displayed by food sellers as part of the introduction of Council's new food premises grading system.
The grading system will mean all shops, restaurants and cafs throughout the Ruapehu District who sell prepared food will be given either an A, B, D or E grade which needs to be prominently displayed for customers to see.
Group Manager Customer Services Margaret Hawthorne said that the grading of food premises is being introduced by an increasing number of councils around NZ to better enable people to make a more informed decision when choosing a food outlet.
The first of Ruapehu's food grade certificates are now being sent out to food premises that have completed the grading process, she said.
With a large tourism and hospitality sector Ruapehu has around 240 businesses involved with the sale of prepared food with 58 having completed their assessment so far and 87% of these having received an A grade rating.
Food premises that have not reached an A standard have been issued a preliminary grade certificate and have the opportunity to make the necessary changes to their processes and be reassessed before a final grade is issued.
People should note that the grading looks at a range of criteria including personal hygiene, temperature control, food protection, cleaning and sanitizing, staff training, documentation and assessment of their general premises.
Premises that do not get an A grade may have failed on any one or a number of these criteria.
Mrs Hawthorne said that in addition to giving people confidence in the standards of any given food business the introduction of the food premises grading system is helping to support and reinforce the requirements of the new Food Act which has recently come into force.
Council's environmental health team has been giving every assistance to food businesses to help them meet the A grade certificate standard.
We want to see every food premise operator in Ruapehu being able to display an A grade certificate when the introduction of the new food premises grading system is fully implemented in mid-November.
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