Food Safety

‘Victoria Yeeros’, on the corner of Marrickville and Victoria Roads, sells take-away spit grilled yeeros (or gyros, in an alternative transliteration from Greek used in Melbourne), and has a yeeros meat supply premises next door on Victoria Road.

All premises that supply food are subject to regulation by the NSW Food Safety Authority (FSA, whose motto is ‘safer food, clearer choices’) and the local council. The council enforces food safety stand­ards, through regular inspections, under the coordination and regulation of the state government’s FSA. FSA publicises adverse findings through a ‘name and shame’ website that maintains notices for 12 months from the first notification. Only one business in the study area was ‘named and shamed’ on that website during the study period (June-July 2012). In February 2013,^[1141] four more premises in Marrickville Road, Dulwich Hill had been added (a butcher, a baker and a Chinese restaurant) and five in Marrickville Road, Marrickville (a fish shop, two bakers, an Indian takeaway and a cake shop).

The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system (HACCP) was developed from the international Codex Alimentarius as a means of ensuring food safety. It is promoted by the World Health Organization and implemented and accredited through national private companies (e.g. HACCP Australia).

The FSA classifies ‘potentially hazardous foods’, to which a ‘2 hour - 4 hour’ rule applies: such food must be consumed immediately or thrown away if it has been stored above 5 °C and below 60 °C for two hours (four hours if it is in and out of refrigeration or hot storage).

traditionally prepared BBQ pork, duck and chicken on the day of preparation are low risk products until they are cut up for sale. After carving the protection provided by scalding, surface drying and roasting in a salty-sugary glaze is lost and the products become perishable and potentially hazardous.^[1142]

So the freshly roasted and glazed products can be hung at normal temperatures for longer periods, and only become ‘potentially hazardous’ when cut.

The NSW FSA recognises that traditional practices may be safe in their original context. Yet they point out that modern methods, such as centralised processing and larger batches may require more modern approaches (such as refrigeration). New foods (e.g. sushi) and the transfer of practices in food preparation from immigrant cultures require a clear understanding of those practices, as well as scientific analysis of the hazards. Authorities need to review the application of traditional standards to introduced techniques. Assumptions made on the basis of traditional Anglo-Australian standards may need to be challenged and checked against scientific evidence, as in the case of Chinese barbeque products.

IV.