Food safety tops the menu in Hamilton

Fifty-seven Hamilton food businesses received Excellence Awards during the 2008 Hamilton Food Safety Awards this morning.

It is the 14th year that Hamilton City Council has held the Food Safety Awards, which aim to recognise and reward businesses that maintain a standard of excellence in their premises above that required by legislation.

The awards were originally launched in 1994 as a way of rewarding businesses that continually rated highly in Council's Environmental Heath Unit's risk assessment system – evaluating everything from a premises' physical environment, food preparation and handling practices, cleaning/sanitising procedures and staff training; to the type of food being handled on the premises and the manner in which it is processed.

Premises which score highly in each of these assessment areas are eligible for the Excellence Awards, with the final selection based on the premises and operator history. A second level of award, a Merit, was also introduced a few years ago to recognise the achievement of a secondary level for food businesses that have maintained a high standard of food safety.

Council environmental health manager Peter McGregor said the Awards are a great way of rewarding high achievers, while encouraging other businesses to also strive for the same standard.

"The fact that today we presented 57 Excellence Awards at a breakfast ceremony, and mailed out a further 47 Merit Awards to food premises throughout the city is a testament to the high standard and commitment to safe food practices that we have here in Hamilton," he said.

For the third consecutive year, Council also presented an excellence award category for the top Food Safety Student at Wintec's School of International Tourism, Hospitality and Events. Lieke Bliekendaal received the award for academic achievement and coursework, excellent kitchen hygiene standards and exemplary attendance.

A full list of this year's Food Safety Award winners are available on the Hamilton website at www.hamilton.co.nz/foodsafety.