Food and Beverage Safety: Issues, Regulations and Recommendations

This investigative report sheds light on the recent food and beverage safety issues in Australia, the salient legislations to be considered and the key managerial recommendations. The report discusses the issues of foodborne illnesses and safety of imported food, key regulations and laws, and recommendations for the prevention of foodborne illnesses and ensuring safety of food which are imported.

Running head: FOOD AND BEVERAGE SAFETY
FOOD AND BEVERAGE SAFETY
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Executive Summary
For the maintenance of adequate health and safety, food and beverage industries must adhere
to adequate food safety and handling practices. Inadequate adherence to adequate practices
pertaining to food hygiene, results in the emergence of food safety issues such as
transmission of food borne illnesses and safety associated with importing of foods. In
Australia, legislations such as the Food Standards Code, the Food Safety Australia and New
Zealand and Department of Agriculture and Water Resources contribute to formation of rules
and regulations which food handling businesses must adhere to. Despite such laws, the
management of concerned food and safety institutes must aim to incorporate adequate
training, auditing and educational practices on food safety and handling among staff to ensure
prevention of foodborne illnesses, safety of imported food and resultant positive health
outcomes in consumers.

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Discussion......................................................................................................................3
Analysis of Identified Issues......................................................................................3
Foodborne Illnesses................................................................................................3
Safety of Imported Food........................................................................................4
Key Regulations and Laws.........................................................................................4
Recommendations......................................................................................................6
Conclusion......................................................................................................................7
References......................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
As stated by Jeinie et al. (2016), for the maintenance of a healthy body along with the
acquisition of adequate strength and vitality required for the sustainable performance of daily
activities, consumption of nutritious food is of utmost importance. Hence, as researched by
Afoloranmi et al. (2015), the access to safe and healthy food and beverages, free from any
harm of pathogenic contamination, is of utmost importance for the prevention of food borne
illnesses among consumers and for ensuring positive health outcomes in the community. The
following paragraphs of this investigative report, aim to shed light on the recent food and
beverage safety issues in Australia, the salient legislations to be considered and the key
managerial recommendations.
Discussion
Analysis of Identified Issues
Foodborne Illnesses
The occurrences of food borne illnesses are a major public concern worldwide, and
are significantly prevalent in Australia, inflicting approximately a total of 1.4 million citizens
of the nation, as reported by the New South Wales Food Authority (OzFoodNet Working
Group 2015). According to Tavoschi et al. (2015), an illness or infection which is caused due
to consumption of food or beverage, contaminated with harmful pathogenic and spoilage
causing microbial strains is known as food poisoning or a foodborne illness. As observed by
Vally et al. (2016), the incidences of foodborne illnesses in Australia is increasing at
alarming levels due to improved systems of reporting, increased levels of awareness and
improved conductance of surveillance along with an emerging trend among citizens to
indulge in the consumption of fast, processed or packaged foods. As researched by O’Briene
et al. (2016), adherence to inadequate food safety and handling practices in food and

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beverage industries in terms of inadequate storage temperature, prevalence of cross
contamination, lack of personal hygiene among food handlers, unclean equipment usage,
avoidance of achieving critical cooking temperatures coupled with prolonged periods of food
transportation and long chains of food distribution resulting in greater food handling are
major industrial reasons leading to occurrences of foodborne illnesses.
Safety of Imported Food
As observed by Withall et al. (2016), with onset of advancements in media and social
networking, along with emergence of globalisation and multiculturalism, the prevalent
barriers across nations are gradually diminishing, hence, encouraging global citizens in
general and Australians in particular, to explore and experiment varied culinary options,
cuisines and exotic foods from across the world. As researched by Lynch and Nalder (2015),
this demand has further resulted in increased importing of exotic food ingredients from
various countries, which is not devoid of safety issues, despite its significant impact in
boosting the popularity of existing restaurant and hospitality segments. According to Walker
(2017), importing from countries across the border may raise serious health, safety and
microbial concerns since adequate controls in food safety and handling, may be absent or
inadequate in these nations, resulting in further illnesses if appropriate safety standards of
food safety are not met. In accordance to a news article published by the Australian Institute
of Food Safety, numerous imported brands of frozen vegetables from Europe were recalled
after they were reported to cause nine deaths, as stated by the European Centre for Disease
Prevention and Control. Such incidences have led to the emergence of several concerns on
the safety and credibility of existing policies of food imports in Australia (McAndrews 2018).
Key Regulations and Laws
The maintenance of hygiene and safety in food and beverages is regulated in
Australia, with the aid of legislations such as Food Safety Act 1991 and Food Standards

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Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and are applicable to every industry which engages itself in
the manufacturing, packaging and retailing of food in Australia (Ghosh 2016). The Food
Standards Code outlined by Australia New Zealand Food Authority, extensively discusses the
standards, regulations and rules, which organizations dealing with the processing and
handling of food, must adhere to for the purpose of maintenance of adequate levels of food
hygiene. Such standards are discussed elaborately in Chapter 3 of the Code, in terms of
Standard 3.1.1(Interpretation and Application), Standard 3.2.1(Food Safety Programs),
Standard 3.2.2 (Food Safety Practices and general requirements), Standard 3.2.3 (Food
Premises and Equipment) and Standard 3.3.1 (Food Safety Programs – Service to Vulnerable
Persons) (Foodstandards.gov.au. (2019). Such standards provide guidelines on the required
criteria to be adhered to in food programs along with necessary level of training, knowledge,
education and habits of personal hygiene and sanitation which must be followed by
employees involved in the handling of food. The standards also dictate the rules and
regulations which food manufacturing and handling companies must comply with in terms of
functional capacity of equipment and machinery involved in the processing and
manufacturing of food. Additional factors which are covered by Food Standards Code,
include disposal, display, processing, storage, receipt, packaging, transportation of food
(Preston 2016).
Issues pertaining to the importing of food in Australia is regulated by the Department
of Agriculture and Water Resources which aids in the certification and inspection of exported
and imported food items to ensure safety and accessibility to export markets overseas along
with maintenance of adequate health in plant, animals and humans (Ridoutt 2017). Food
Standards Australia New Zealand plays a key role in informing the safety and possible threat
to health posed by foods which are imported to the Department of Agriculture and Water
Resources which then specifies standards of safety at the borders to mitigate these risks. An

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evidence based approach is utilised by the FSANZ resulting in the inspection by the
Department of Agriculture and Water Resources to ensure the compliance of imported food
with the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code and the resulted criteria for adequate
public safety and health (Ariyawardana, Ganegodage and Mortlock 2017).
Recommendations
Considering the lack of requirement for importers to submit results on tests assessing
the safety of imported food, the staff responsible for the importing of food in food beverage
organizations must ensure that they comply appropriately with the regulations set by the
Australian New Zealand Standards Code (Turner et al. 2018). As researched by Welburn,
Bier and Hoerning (2016), the management of the food handling business can ensure such
compliance by administration of a quality analysis and control department which will conduct
tests on the imported food for assessment of microbial content and freshness. Likewise, the
management must choose to purchase more of local ingredients than imported ones in order
to reduce risks associated with health and safety.
For the prevention of food borne illnesses, in addition to the complying with the food
safety regulations set by the local government along with adherence to the Food Standards
Code, the management of the chosen food and beverage industry must ensure that their staff
perform the following food safety and handling practices (Smith, Ross and Whiley 2016):
 Adornment of clean hygienic clothing.
 Usage of gloves, hair caps, removal of accessories and adherence to hand washing
and disinfection.
 Maintenance of cooling, freezing and cooking temperatures at 5ºC, -18ºC and 63ºC,
respectively.

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 Prevention of cross contamination by maintaining separate cooking counters for meat,
vegetables, dairy products and the like.
 Usage of hygienic and food grade packaging materials.
 Maintenance of regular cleaning and hygiene of cooking, serving and storage areas
and equipment.
 Conductance of regular educational, training and auditing workshops by the
management to evaluate and ensure compliance of associated staff with the standards
of food safety and hygiene.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the food and beverage industry of Australia is not absent with
issues pertaining to food safety, hygiene and handling, despite the availability of adequate
legislative measures aiming to ensure production of high quality food. Prevention of food
borne illnesses and ensuring safety of food which are imported must be considered by food
and beverage business to ensure positive health outcomes in the community. This can be
performed, if the management and associated staff of businesses adhere religiously to
adequate legislative standards and practices pertaining to adequate food safety and handling.

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References
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Ariyawardana, A., Ganegodage, K. and Mortlock, M.Y., 2017. Consumers' trust in vegetable
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