Restaurant grading in new laws

The hospitality industry is welcoming changes to the Food Act which looks set to include a national restaurant grading system - but only if compliance to the new rules won't cost operators more time and money.

Minister for Food Safety Kate Wilkinson is to update the Food Act 1981 which she said was outdated.

Proposed changes, expected to be in place within two years, include streamlined, national standards for restaurants and a shift of responsibility from the council inspectors who grade outlets on to restaurant owners.

Each territorial authority now has varying enforcement rules around food safety standards.

Hospitality Association of New Zealand chief executive Bruce Robertson agreed that changes to the Food Act were needed a long time ago.

"There will certainly be some advantages," he said.

"If you look at the old act, cats are allowed in kitchens for rodent control for example, to control the rats and mice. That's how old this act is and that's why it does need some serious reform."

Mr Robertson said the act even demanded that parts of a premises were painted a certain colour.

"This [the proposed changes] moves it away to something which is actually about the risks. So this is about operators understanding where the food safety risks are and being able to do something about them.

"The significant advantage in this new act will finally be a consistent food safety approach in food premises across the country which is certainly a major improvement on where we're at."

But Mr Robertson said he was hoping the changes would not make the industry "compliance heavy" with paperwork which would take time and therefore, money.

"We don't want food control plans to be two-feet thick," he said.

"You don't need, in fact, to have a system which requires you to check the temperature of every piece of chicken.

"We expect to have plenty of input into how that will actually operate from a practical perspective ... it's about getting that balance right, between ensuring the operator can be confident that they're dispensing safe food - and can demonstrate that," he said.

An Auckland restaurant owner, who asked not to be named, said the grading system where inspectors visited restaurants to grade them from A to E, was "inconsistent" and often came down to how an inspector felt about enforcing certain rules - some of which were not a reflection of how safe the food was handled.

He welcomed a national standard that gave restaurant owners clearer instructions on how to get good grades.

In July last year, popular Waiheke Island restaurant and vineyard Stonyridge received a D grade after an Auckland City Council inspection.

Stonyridge manager David Jackson said then the grading was due to the dishwashing area being "below standard" and he was upset the inspector would not wait for renovations that would resolve the problem.

AMENDMENTS
Proposed changes include:
* National restaurant grading system.
* Enhanced imported food regime.
* Shift in responsibility from local government to business operators.