Food safety for business

If you are selling food, following the right safety procedures is critical to prevent food poisoning.

All food businesses in Victoria must comply with the Food Act 1984, which oversees food safety in Victoria. The Food Act 1984 is available to view on the Victorian Department of Health website.

Types of food safety registrations

Permanent premises

All businesses that handle, prepare, package, store, serve, supply and repackage food must be registered with their local council according to the Food Act 1984.

If you are registering a food business for the first time, or buying an existing food business, you need to follow the process on our Start a food business page.

To update your details or pay your current food safety registration, visit our Pay food or health premises registration page.

Temporary food pop-ups

Stalls at community events, food vans, sausage sizzles or mobile food premises need to notify or register with Council and lodge a Statement of Trade form each time they operate. For more information, see our Register a temporary or mobile food business page.

Resources

The Victorian Department of Health provides a range of food safety resources for businesses and community groups, including:

• Their Food - how to keep it safe page, which includes safety regulation after a power failure, food handler hygiene and food preparation and storage.
• Their DoFoodSafely page, which has information about free online training recommended for Class 3 and Class 4 businesses and community groups.

You can also find Allergen Awareness Training on the Food Allergy Training website. This free online training is recommended by the Department of Health for all food businesses.

Food safety program 

The Food Act requires some food businesses to implement a food safety program. A food safety program is a written document that shows how a business is managing the safety of the food prepared, served, manufactured or sold. You can find out if your business requires this using the information on the Victorian Department of Health website.

The Department of Health provides some templates to help you implement and run a food safety program, depending on your food business classification. You can find out more about these classifications on our Food business classification page.

You can also see which food safety templates are available for your business on the Victorian Department of Health website.

If you have questions about your classification or food safety program, email [email protected].

Food safety management tools

Most food businesses are required to comply with other food safety management tools, including continuous food safety training of all staff, regular updating of Food Safety Supervisor certificates, and substantiation of critical food safety controls.

The Department of Health provides further information on how you can achieve this. You can find more information about food safety management tools at the Victorian Department of Health website.

If you have questions about food safety management tools, email [email protected].

Food recalls

If food has been identified as potentially unsafe and posing a risk to consumers, it will be recalled.

The Department of Health and FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand) notify local government and the public regarding food recalls.

We will contact the relevant businesses to ensure the recall has been actioned, and the affected food is removed from sale.

Food safety training

We offer regular free online training for food businesses. Join a session to learn how to keep food safe and the latest information on emerging risks to food safety.

The food safety training sessions are run several times a year online. 

We send out email invites to food businesses registered with Council when each session is open for registrations. There is no need to pre-register.

Recording of a food safety training session