Awards serve up 15 years of food safety in Hamilton

Seventy-five Hamilton food businesses will be presented with excellence awards during the 2009 Hamilton Food Safety Awards this afternoon.

It is the 15th 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. To mark this milestone, six of this year's excellence awards winners will receive special distinction awards for maintaining an excellent standard for seven years or more. These winners will be announced at an award function this afternoon at The Grandstand, Claudelands.

Council environmental health manager Peter McGregor said as well as giving special acknowledgement to the six businesses, it is hoped the distinction awards will further encourage other food premises to strive for this high standard.

"We see the annual Food Safety Awards as a great way of rewarding high achievers, while encouraging other businesses to also strive for the same standard. By this year presenting special distinction awards to those businesses that have achieved and maintained an excellent standard of food safety for seven years or more, we hope this will further raise the bar and promote these businesses as role models for other food premises throughout the city," he said.

For the fifth consecutive year, Council will also present an award for the 'Top Food Safety Student' at Wintec's School of International Tourism, Hospitality and Events. Samantha Jeffries will receive the award for academic achievement and coursework, excellent kitchen hygiene standards and exemplary attendance.

The Food Safety Awards were originally launched in 1994 as a way of acknowledging 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. This year 60 merit awards will be mailed out to local food premises.

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