Update from Vincent Arbuckle, DDG, NZFS

Kia ora koutou,

I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable holiday period and managed to enjoy some time with your family and friends.

We are back in full swing here at New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS). Earlier this year, I travelled to Northland and Hokitika as part of my routine stakeholder engagements and visited AFFCO New Zealand, Keri Nectar Limited, ANZCO New Zealand and Westfleet Seafoods. These visits are great opportunities to engage with industry and better understand how our work impacts them. I will also be visiting Wellington City Council later this month and look forward to meeting with the team.

In this month’s newsletter, you will find that we have launched translations of Simply Safe and Suitable templates, along with the associated record blanks, in 10 new languages. These are now available on the MPI website.

I look forward to another successful year of ensuring that New Zealand’s food products are safe and suitable.

Ngā mihi nui,

Vincent Arbuckle
Deputy Director-General, New Zealand Food Safety

Translations of Simply Safe and Suitable and record blanks

The digital version of Simply Safe and Suitable template food control plan and associated record blanks is now available in 10 languages. A link to the translations is found below and includes Māori, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Khmer, Turkish, Vietnamese and Hindi.

Link to the translations

Last year, we sent a request with an accompanying spreadsheet to Food Act registration authorities and verification agencies asking for details of existing businesses who would benefit from a translated Simply Safe and Suitable in hard copy. We’ve had a few spreadsheets returned but need to hear from lots more of you before we can print these. This is a good opportunity for NZFS to better understand the volume of businesses that benefit from translations, so we can print the right numbers, and consider other guidance that could be translated. All we require is the business RBM number, contact name and address, and the translation required.  If you want a spreadsheet to complete, please email us, and send completed details to foodactinfo@mpi.govt.nz.

Spreading awareness about safe chicken handling

NZFS have recently partnered with meal kit companies Hello Fresh and My Food Bag to help consumers stay informed during the BBQ season.

Included in Hello Fresh and My Food Bag meal kits containing chicken, is a flyer with clear, easy-to-understand reminders about safely handling and cooking raw chicken to reduce the risk of foodborne illness.

These reminders complement our Skip the Wash summer campaign and the Campylobacter Action Plan Project, which are also working to reduce the rate of notified cases of foodborne campylobacteriosis.

Registration of bone broth products

We’re aware of some confusion regarding where bone broth products fit under the Food and Animal Products Acts. The manufacture of bone broth must be registered under a custom Food Control Plan (FCP) or if intended for export with official assurances under a Risk Management Programme (RMP) under the Animal Products Act 1999 (APA). 

Below are examples of bone broth in different formats, all required to be registered under a custom FCP or RMP.

• Shelf-stable (pasteurised, acidified and hot-filled) bone broth product fits under the custom FCP sector Manufacturers of meat, poultry or fish products.
• If the bone broth requires chilled storage, it fits under the custom FCP sector Manufacturers of non-shelf-stable sauces, spreads, dips, soups, broths, gravies, or dressings.
• If the bone broth is freeze-dried into powder, it fits under the custom FCP sector Manufacturers of meat, poultry or fish products.
• If the bone broth has been retorted or aseptically filled/sealed, it fits under the custom FCP sector Manufacturers of commercially sterilised food products.
• Concentrated, shelf-stable bone broth product fits under the custom FCP sector Manufacturers of meat, poultry or fish products.
• Bone broth intended for export with official assurances fits under a RMP under the APA.

Registration authorities and verifiers – please double-check that any bone broth clients you have are operating under the correct risk-based measure.

If there are any questions about where a business might fit, please contact foodactinfo@mpi.govt.nz

Gluten free in a food service setting

We’ve seen an increase in queries from food service businesses around labelling of gluten free products and the requirements to make this claim. Some businesses have reported being asked by verifiers to use different terms to label gluten free food (e.g., No Gluten Added (NGA), Gluten Free Ingredients (GFI)).

The following information is to assist verifiers with their verification approach when businesses are making gluten free products. We also published an article in Food News last May titled ‘verifying businesses making food labelled as 'gluten free'. We encourage verifiers to go back and read this.

Meeting gluten free claim conditions

The conditions for making a 'gluten free' claim are found in Schedule 4-3 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code). The food must not contain:

(a) detectable gluten or

(b) oats or oat products or

(c) cereals containing gluten that have been malted or products of such cereals

Making a claim is a guarantee that there is no detectable gluten in the food that could conceivably arrive through cross-contamination from other activities in the business.

Making gluten free claims

'Gluten free' is a nutrition content claim defined in Standard 1.2.7  of the code. When making a gluten free claim, the conditions of the claim need to be met and the permitted descriptor to use is 'gluten free' as per Schedule 4-3 of the Code.

The use of other terms such as gluten free ingredients (GFI), gluten friendly and no gluten added (NGA) do not have the same meaning as the permitted term 'gluten free'.  These terms should not be used as they create ambiguity by implying that the product is safe even if there is a contamination risk. This has the potential to confuse consumers who have a gluten sensitivity and poses an unnecessary risk.

Substantiating claims

NZFS advises businesses that while routine testing of every batch is not required to make a 'gluten free' claim, evidence should be provided that the product contains no detectable gluten.  In a food service setting, controls need to be in place to prevent the introduction of gluten into the final food from ingredients containing gluten or from cross-contamination with gluten.

If you have further questions about the requirements around nutrition content claims or health claims, email info@mpi.govt.nz. 

New Zealand Sugar Company fined almost $150,000 for importing and selling sugar products contaminated with lead

The New Zealand Sugar Company, also known as Chelsea Sugar, has been successfully prosecuted by MPI for charges relating to manufacturing, distributing and selling sugar products contaminated with lead.

The reserved decision, including the fine of $149,500, was released on Friday 7 February 2025. The charges were Food Act 2014 offences relating to negligently endangering, harming, creating risk, or increasing risk, (section 224(1)(c)) and breaching or failing to carry out their duty in the manufacture of sugar products (section 240(4)).

NZFS started investigating Chelsea Sugar in November 2021 after consumer-level recalls were undertaken of sugar products including brown and raw sugar. The sugar contained elevated levels of lead. The contamination occurred during the transport of raw sugar cane on a ship that had previously been used to transport industrial materials containing metal sulphide concentrates. An unacceptable level of lead can directly or indirectly increase the risk to the health of those consuming the sugar products.

Food business fined for breaching their FCP

On 20 January 2025, Soma & Sons Ltd, trading as Tasty Foods, along with manager Bhavesh Soma was sentenced in the Auckland District Court on two charges under the Food Act 2014, following a successful prosecution by MPI.

NZFS’s investigation found Soma & Sons Ltd did not record cooling and cooking temperatures as required as part of its FCP on four occasions between 2020 and 2022. In March 2021, a trade-level recall of samosas was undertaken due to the lack of required documentation of food safety controls.

Soma & Sons Ltd were fined $13,500 for failing to comply with their FCP and Mr Soma was fined $3,000 for providing false information to a Food Safety Officer.

More information on judgments under the Food Act 2014 can be found here.

Academy tour video and Continuing Professional Development programme

The Food Safety Academy was updated in January to improve navigation for users. We now have the academy tour video on the homepage to show you how to find your way around. Also on the homepage is a suggestion box where users can give feedback on the academy and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme.

The CPD year is well underway, so now is a good time to check if you're on track to meet your CPD points target. It is important to complete your learning activities and claim points in your timecard throughout the year. We have produced a new resource to help you identify types of learning activities and understand how many points to claim for them. You can find the Learning Activities & Points Guide on the Learning Activities page in the academy.

In March, the Regulatory Capability team will be running online CPD Q&A sessions. These drop-in sessions will be an opportunity to ask any questions you have about using the academy or the CPD programme. Verifiers and CPD Managers will receive calendar invitations by email in early March.

Risk Management Programme evaluators

Are you involved in working with non-dairy animal products? Have you considered becoming a non-dairy RMP evaluator under the APA?

NZFS is on the look-out for anyone interested in becoming recognised to bolster the pool of non-dairy evaluators.

To become recognised, applicants need to meet criteria detailed in the Animal Products Act, Regulations and relevant Notices, including:

• demonstrate a strong knowledge of APA, RMPs, validation and HACCP;
• provide written procedures about your processes and administration of evaluations;
• meet recognition criteria set out by Part 8 of the APA which includes fitness and properness checks; and
• submit an AP7 application form and fee.

For further information, including guidance documents on what it means to be an evaluator and how to become recognised, visit our website.

Food Standards Code Consolidated PDF Version

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) recently published a consolidated PDF version of the Food Standards Code which can be accessed here.

The consolidated version of the Code compiles all 80 Standards and 29 Schedules of the Code into one single PDF for ease of navigation.

Bear in mind that when changes are made to the Standards and Schedules there may be a lag in updating the consolidated version.  The authoritative version of the Code is located on the Federal Register of Legislation and can be accessed here.

Food News survey

In our December edition last year, we included a short survey asking about your experience with receiving Food News.  We didn’t receive as many responses as we hoped. Your feedback is important to us, and we'd greatly appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to complete the survey if you haven't already.

The survey takes two minutes to complete, and your responses will help us better understand customer preferences and ensure we are sending you the content you want to see. Please complete the short survey here. The survey will close on Monday 17 March 2025.

New Zealand Institute of Environmental Health Conference

The annual New Zealand Institute of Environmental Health Conference will be held at the Rydges, Auckland on the 25-27 March 2025. NZFS have been involved with the conference for 16 years and will be supporting the event again.

In addition to an address from Jenny Bishop, Director for Food Risk Management at NZFS, hear from our experts at the conference on Wednesday 26 March:

• 11:15am: Chris Hewins, Principal Advisor, Food & Wine Systems: 'Regulating the manufacture of animal-cell cultured food products in New Zealand'
• 3pm: Bethany Clapham, Regional Manager Food Compliance North - Case study

For more information about the conference, visit NZIEH’s Conference page.

Refreshed Good Governance Guide published

With the food sector’s business environment constantly changing, it is vital for food businesses to continually refresh and develop good food safety capability.

NZFS have published a refreshed resource, Food Safety Good Governance Guide for directors. The Guide is free to use and helps directors and boards understand their food safety and suitability responsibilities and offers practical tips to incorporate a strong food safety culture at all levels of a business.

The Guide will be used for a new course run by AsureQuality. Interested parties can register for this course on the AsureQuality website.

You can download your copy of the Guide on the MPI website.