Standard Of Food Premises Attacked

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30947, 31 December 1965, Page 14

Standard Of Food Premises Attacked

Only seven local authorities out of the 274 in New Zealand have a satisfactory food sanitation programme, according to a report in the summer edition of “Health,” the official journal of the Health Department.

The department has made good progress with a new system of evaluating the standards and supervision of

food premises, the report says.

Progressive totals show that the average food premises reached 82.38 per cent of compliance with the legal minimum requirements for structure, equipment, and conduct.

The report adds: “Local authorities cannot regard their food sanitation programme as satisfactory unless 90 per cent of the premises are within 10 per cent of complete compliance, and only seven local authorities of a total of 274 have reached this level.”

This year there were more than 40 outbreaks of food poisoning in widely separated areas and in four instances more than 40 persons were affected.

Quoting department figures of 347 cases of food poisoning notified during the year —B5 cases fewer than last year—the report says the figures are comparable with the average number over the last 10 years and do not signify any decrease.