Safe Food’s annual report for 2018-19 in now available on our website.
Despite the many challenges that Queensland faced this past financial year, including severe flooding in Northern Queensland and ongoing drought conditions throughout much of the state, Safe Food received a strong number of new applications for accreditation.
We approved 1056 new applications (up from 884 in 2017-18), indicating that many businesses remain optimistic about the future of food production in Queensland.
Safe Food conducted 3308 audits and 4210 assessments this past financial year, with a high level of compliance with food safety requirements observed overall.
Where non-conformances were found, our agency used a range of tools to facilitate and enforce compliance with the Food Production (Safety) Act 2000.
In 2018-19, this included 241 Corrective Action Requests (CARs) being issued, 15 compliance notices, 6 Penalty Infringement Notices (PINS) and zero prosecutions.
Safe Food was able to proactively work with the majority of non-conforming businesses to rectify food safety issues, with PINS and prosecutions always used as a last resort.
Below are some more highlights from the 2018-19 accreditation period, with figures accurate as of 30 June 2019.
A full copy of our Annual Report can be downloaded here.