Cafes, restaurants and retail outlets

Cafés, restaurants and similar retail food outlets need to notify the local council of their business and food activity details. How you notify your details will depend on the council. It may involve applying for a service, permit or approval, or completing a food business notification form. Checking their website is a good place to start.

Business owners should also contact their local council to check if they have any additional requirements such as planning and environmental approvals.

• Contact your local council

All cafés, restaurants and retail food outlets need to appoint a Food Safety Supervisor (FSS) if the food they prepare and serve is:

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

Supermarkets, delis, greengrocers and coffee vendors that sell food are required to comply with the FSS requirement.

The aim of the FSS is to prevent consumers becoming ill from food poisoning as a result of incorrect handling and preparation of food.

See Food Safety Supervisors for information on training and requirements.

The owners of food businesses are responsible for making sure that all people who handle food or food contact surfaces in their business, and the people who supervise this work, have the skills and knowledge they need to handle food safely.

Businesses selling unpackaged, potentially hazardous, ready-to-eat food, must also ensure their food handlers have appropriate skills and knowledge in food safety and hygiene under Standard 3.2.2A of the Code.

Businesses can choose how food handlers are trained. They may use or recognise free online food safety training programs, past experience, internal training tailored to suit their own procedures, or courses from vocational training providers.  

Additional training is not needed if food handlers can already demonstrate adequate skills and knowledge for their duties.

• See Food Handler Basics training for more information and to access the NSW Food Authority’s free training course.

To satisfy the food standards, staff only need appropriate skills and knowledge for the tasks they perform. For example, someone who makes sandwiches will need skills and knowledge that are quite different to the skills and knowledge needed by someone who does the cleaning.

However, if some staff help with other work when people are away, or sometimes supervise other food handlers, they must also have these skills and knowledge as well as to do their regular work.

Requirements are set out in the Food Standards Code, Standard 3.2.2 - Food Safety Practices and General Requirements, clause 3 and Standard 3.2.2A – Food Safety Management Tools.

Businesses that undertake higher risk food handling need to be able to demonstrate safe food practices under Standard 3.2.2A of the Code.

This requirement ensures the business is actively monitoring and managing key risks related to food temperature control, food processing, and cleaning and sanitising, which are critical for food safety.

It applies to services that process potentially hazardous food into a food that is ready-to-eat and potentially hazardous, and serve it to consumers. “Process” is defined as chopping, cooking, drying, fermenting, heating, thawing and/or washing.

Specific risks must be controlled related to:

• food receipt
• storage
• display
• transport
• pathogen reduction (cooking)
• minimising time during food processing
• cooling food
• reheating food
• cleaning and sanitising.

Businesses can meet this requirement by:

• demonstrating safe food practices, and/or
• keeping records.

For more information, including templates for recording keeping, see Showing food is safe.

See Standard 3.2.2A – Frequently asked questions for more information.

Health and hygiene

Food businesses need to ensure that food handlers and anyone else on the premises do not contaminate food.

Separate utensils should be used for raw and ready-to-eat products, otherwise all equipment used for raw foods should be cleaned and sanitised before they are used for ready-to-eat and pre-cooked prepared foods.

Food businesses also have specific responsibilities relating to the health of people who handle food, provision of separate hand washing facilities, training food handlers in food safety and hygiene,  

Food handlers who are ill, particularly with symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhoea or fever, should not handle food for 48 hours after the symptom cease. They should inform their supervisor and not undertake duties that risk contaminating food.

Full requirements are set out in Food Standards Code, Chapter 3, Standard 3.2.2, Division 4 - Health and Hygiene. See also Health and hygiene requirements of food handlers fact sheet (PDF, 157 KB).

Cleaning and sanitising

Food premises, including fixtures, fittings and equipment must be maintained in a clean condition and all food contact surfaces be cleaned and sanitised.

Cleaning and sanitising are two separate and important tasks.  These critical processes help prevent the growth and spread of organisms that cause food poisoning and help reduce the activity of pests.

A food business must also ensure that eating and drinking utensils, and food contact surfaces of equipment, are clean and sanitised. Garbage and recycled matter need to be stored in appropriate containers.
 
The factsheet Cleaning and sanitising in food businesses (PDF, 339 KB) outlines requirements.

Food handling

Food businesses need to have measures in place related to receiving, storing, processing, displaying, packaging, transporting and disposing of food.

They must be able to demonstrate they have taken all practicable measures to ensure they do not receive unsafe or unsuitable food. This means businesses must make sure the food they receive:

• is protected from contamination
• can be identified while it is on the premises
• is at the correct temperature when it arrives, if it is potentially hazardous (below 5ºC for cold food or above 60ºC for hot food).

For the storage and display of food, businesses must ensure it's protected from contamination and kept under temperature control.

Potentially hazardous foods must be stored and displayed at 5°C or below or 60°C or above and thrown out if stored or displayed at temperatures between 5ºC or 60ºC for more than 4 hours.

Potentially hazardous foods must be used immediately if stored or displayed between 5ºC or 60ºC for between 2 and 4 hours. If stored or displayed at between 5ºC or 60ºC for less than 2 hours, the food can be either refrigerated or used immediately.

The factsheet Cooling potentially hazardous food (PDF, 177 KB) provides specific information regarding the correct cooling process for potentially hazardous foods.

Food businesses should only use 'food grade' packaging and containers to store food. If the packaging is made from inappropriate materials there is potential for it to make food unsafe or unsuitable.

The factsheet Food grade packaging (PDF, 202 KB) outlines what types of packaging should be used.

For guidance on the storage and display of potting mix, please see the Potting mix storage and display factsheet (PDF, 74.8 KB).

Re-usable containers

Some customers may ask you to put food or drink into their re-usable eating or drinking container, for example a travel coffee mug. While re-usable containers are good for the environment, food handlers do not have to accept them, especially if they are dirty.

All food businesses must be designed and constructed to satisfy the requirements of Food Standards Code 3.2.3 – Food Premises and Equipment.

The Australian Standard AS 4674:2004 – Design, construction and fitout of food premises (PDF, 222 KB) is a method of compliance with the Food Standards Code and is usually a requirement as a condition of local council Development Consent.

If a food business is being developed under the provisions of State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 the premises must satisfy the requirements of AS4674:2004.

Some factors to consider when complying with the Australian Standard:

• providing adequate space for food storage and food preparation
• hand washing facilities must be hands free (that is, not capable of being used by hand operation)
• hand washing facilities must be located within 5 metres of where food is handled
• walls must be of solid construction (that is, stud walls are not permitted)
• service pipes and conduits must be concealed within floors, plinths, walls or ceilings or 25 mm from walls and 100 mm from floors and ceilings.

Contact the local council to confirm requirements and local planning regulations.

Cafés, restaurants and other retail outlets will be regularly inspected by local council officers.

Inspections assess compliance against food safety standards in the Food Standards Code. Most councils use a standard inspection checklist. The inspections cover:

• physical condition of the facilities
• processes for food handling
• food safety skills and knowledge of food handlers
• that there is a certified Food Safety Supervisor for the premises.  

You can prepare for an inspection by doing a self-test using the same checklist that councils use, the Food Premises Assessment Report (FPAR) (PDF,314 KB).

For more information on inspections and what to expect see inspections.

Scores on Doors is the NSW hygiene and food safety scoring program for restaurants, takeaway shops, bakeries, pub bistros and cafés.

Businesses are provided a certificate to display at the premise's entrance with the result of an inspection.

It lets consumers know how well the business complied with NSW hygiene and food safety requirements.

For more details see Scores on Doors.

All cafés, restaurants and retail food outlets must practice safe food handling and preparation to meet food safety requirements.

This includes:

• notifying the local council of their business and food activity details
• appointing a Food Safety Supervisor
• meeting the requirements of the Food Standards Code
• Standard 3.2.2 - Food Safety Practices and General Requirements
• Standard 3.2.2A - Food Safety Management Tools 
• Standard 3.2.3 - Food Premises and Equipment
• Part 1.2 - Labelling and other information requirements
• Australian Standard AS 4674:2004 – Design, construction and fitout of food premises
• preparing for regular inspections by local council.

NSW food laws require larger fast food and snack food chains to display nutrition information at the point of sale.

See: kJs on menus

Lightweight single-use plastic bags, and single-use plastic cutlery, stirrers, straws*, plates and bowls are banned in NSW.

* Single-use plastic straws may be provided from behind the counter to people with a disability or medical need by businesses who serve food or drinks.

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) food service items (including EPS clamshells, cups, plates and bowls) are included in the ban.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is the regulator and will monitor and enforce the bans.

For more information Plastics ban NSW