Canberra’s failing food regulations
Canberra has a problem with its eateries – many are failing hygiene checks.
The ACT government has scrapped its proposal for “scores on doors” restaurant safety ratings.
But over the last year, three out of 10 inspections found restaurants failing to comply with public health laws.
That’s alarming because it’s twice as many as the ACT government’s target maximum failure rate.
Basically, most failures related to unsafe food practices
Alarmingly, it’s the fifth consecutive year in which inspection pass rates have fallen well below the official target of 85 per cent.
Government-commissioned polling in 2014 found four in five Canberrans wanted restaurants to display hygiene ratings, known as "scores on doors". It was a plan that had the support of Labor and the Greens although the Liberals raised questions about whether it was necessary.
These ratings would show the results of health checks.
It’s a system that’s used in Queensland and New South Wales. It also operates in other jurisdictions. British councils, for example, public health inspection reports.
However, the ACT government abandoned the proposal after industry groups – such as the hotels association, ClubsACT and the food and grocery council – came out against the policy.
The chief executive officer of Restaurants and Catering Australia said the poor results reflected tougher inspections following high-profile salmonella outbreaks in recent years, such as at The Copa.
It wasn’t a case, he said, that hygiene practices were worse.
"They're certainly going to much greater lengths to determine compliance. And I think this [latest result] reflects not a decrease in the standards of food safety but an increase in the penetration of the assessment," Mr Hart told the Canberra Times.
"So we're in fact not getting worse; we're just seeing more technical breaches being considered a non-compliance."
According to estimates, food-poisoning cases cost the ACT economy between $61 million and $89 million a year. Pain and suffering, food recall and compensation costs, and productivity losses all contribute to the losses.
by Leon Gettler, June 20th 2016
