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Simply Safe & Suitable Template Food Control Plan update

UPDATES

18 May 2023

Following the consultation, We've updated the Simply Safe & Suitable Template Food Control Plan (FCP) documents:

Steps to a Simply Safe and Suitable template food control plan

19 JULY 2018

Following consultation, the Simply Safe & Suitable Template Food Control Plan update has been issued.

Why we consulted

The Simply Safe & Suitable Template Food Control Plan has been in place for just over a year. Over the past 15 months, food businesses using the plan, and verifiers that check the plans, have given us feedback on things they'd like added. There's also been a change to the allergens that operators need to know about.

What's being proposed?

There are 3 changes we sought your feedback on:

  • Some food business operators told us that they want to sell their food to other businesses, as well as direct to the consumer. So we've drafted a new card in the template that explains what you can do when using the plan and how to do it.
  • We've added a new card that outlines the operator's responsibility to regularly check that their plan is working to keep their food safe and suitable. The card explains how to meet those responsibilities. For example, by checking your procedures to make sure these are being followed and are effective and by fixing things when these go wrong. 
  • We've also added the new mandatory allergen – lupin – to the list of allergens that operators need to know about.

Guidance about lupin [PDF, 167 KB]

Have your say

We needed your feedback on the 3 proposed changes to let us know if they are clear and easy to understand:

  • Does the 'Selling your food to other businesses' card tell you everything you need to do if you want to sell your food to other businesses?
  • Is the ‘Checking the plan is working well' card clear and easy to understand?
  • Are you clear about what lupin is, and where you can find the rules about lupin in your plan?
  • Any other feedback.

Consultation document

Draft Simply Safe & Suitable template Food Control Plan update [PDF, 265 KB]

Making your submission

The consultation closed at 5pm on 12 July 2018. 


Background information

The Food Act 2014 came into effect in March 2016. It introduced a risk-based approach to managing food safety. Higher-risk food businesses need to use a food control plan. These are written plans that identify food safety risks and set out how they will be managed on a day-to-day basis.

Template food control plans are designed to make things easier. This means you don't need to write a plan from scratch (although you can if you want to).

Who is the Simply Safe & Suitable Template for?

Simply Safe & Suitable is for businesses that are primarily:

  • food service businesses such as restaurants, cafes, takeaways, and caterers. This also includes organisations that make and serve food, like rest homes and schools
  • food retailers that make or prepare food, like retail butchers, fishmongers, delicatessens, bakeries, and supermarkets.

When do businesses need to use the updated Simply Safe & Suitable plan?

New businesses must comply with the Food Act 2014 from the time they open. Existing businesses have been moving to the new rules in stages. Food service businesses with or without an alcohol licence and retail businesses that make or prepare food should be registered now and using the Simply Safe & Suitable Template. If an operator is already using the Simply Safe & Suitable Plan that we issued in March 2017, they will need to add the new cards to their plan.

Submissions are public information

Note, that any submission you make becomes public information. People can ask for copies of submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we have to make submissions available unless we have a good reason for withholding it (refer to sections 6 and 9 of the OIA).

Tell us if you think there are grounds to withhold specific information in your submission. Reasons might include that it's commercially sensitive or it's personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold information can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may tell us to release it.