A WA food safety program is on its way to being adopted globally.
In 1994, the WA branch of the Australian Institute of Environ-mental Health created the Food Safe program.
The program helps businesses involved with food handling to improve their hygiene and handling practices.
It proved so successful that a version was recently launched in six Asian languages and is now being sold overseas.
AIEH member and Food Safe program co-founder Ian Doughty said the program could help promote trade between countries because it would set up common standards.
City of South Perth environmental health manager and WA president of the AIEH Sebastian Camillo said there was no legislation requiring people to be registered or trained in food handling.
“However, the Australia New Zealand Food Authority is pushing for food handling training,” Mr Camillo said.
Mr Doughty said the Food Safe program put a good manufacturing practice philosophy in place.
“The Food Safe program is a benchmark for minimum training standards,” he said.
The program has been extended to Food Safe Plus which puts food handling businesses well on the road to quality accreditation.
The Food Safe program puts a template in place that businesses can apply to their operations.
Because the two programs require the processes adopted to be documented, it puts companies into the documentation mode required for quality accreditation.
