Food surveillance – a guide tousing the new food sampling form

Evidence ProgramFood Safety & RegulationHealth Protection, WICA

Background

• The food surveillance database will provide local government and the Department of Health with better information about the hygiene and safety of food sold in Victoria.

• The database was developed in response to the VCEC enquiry into food safety regulation in Victoria, which recommended the collection and delivery of an annual report on the data from food surveillance activities as a measure of effectiveness.

• The Food Safety and Regulation Unit reviewed several years of reports, and recognised that to achieve this reporting requirement local government data would need to include:

– Consistent descriptions of food– Consistent analytical tests performed on similar foods

How it works

• This food sampling form was developed to provide consistent descriptions, allowing for statewide analysis of surveillance data and comparisons between regions, food types, etc.

• Work to standardise minimum microbiological testing on foods was conducted with all the participating laboratories – standardising chemical testing will be considered in the first review.

• Laboratory results are transmitted directly from the analysts to the new database within the department.

• Councils will be able to view their data through a secure web interface. At this stage only your own council’s data will be available to you.

The Sampling form

• The form was developed by a large working group of EHOs with the aim of following Food Standard Code terminology wherever possible, but reflecting EHO practice.

• The form is supported by a database, and each council will be able to access their information through a secure web interface.

• Following the pilot, the form and the underlying database were refined.

• The next review of the form and the underlying database is scheduled for 2 years from the introduction of the system – but with the development of a new reporting solution that is likely to be delayed until 2017.

Pilot trial of the form

A test run of the form lead to some refinements after feedback from both EHOs and analysts

–The trial ran from December 2009 to March 2010 - 9 LGA were involved from:» Bass Coast Shire» Baw Baw Shire» Casey City Council» City of Greater Geelong» City of Melbourne» City of Yarra» Glen Eira Council» Murrindindi Shire» Whitehorse City Council

• An on-line questionnaire of EHOs was undertaken to collect feedback and suggestions

• Face-to-face meetings were held with analysts to discuss their response to the form

Intentions of this exercise

• Familiarise participants with the sampling form components

• Highlight the mandatory fields for data collection

• Highlight some practice change aspects of the new form

• Provide some examples of how to fill out the sample forms for examples of foods

• Highlight other supporting documents and materials for the use of this form

The Victorian Food Surveillance form –some features

Council number and premises registration number together create a unique identifier for the premises

Food description fields (descriptors) allow for standardised descriptions of food.

The form has fields for council records, and is printed in triplicate to ensure sufficient copies for lab use and council records.

1400001

Mandatory fields and why –top panel of form

1300001

Both council name and council number are required – this assists the analysts to get back to you and for the data to be transmitted with a unique identifier

Mandatory fields and why –the food descriptors

Council specific fields – the lower panel

These fields are not transmitted to the database. The information fields here were recommended by the EHOs in the working group and the pilot trial as being useful for council records.

1Miniquiche

– Spinach and cheese

2 Rice paper rolls

– Contain chicken, prawn, lettuce, herbs, rice noodles

3 Chicken Caesar Salad

– Rocket, chicken, parmesan cheese, bacon, mayonnaise (may include raw egg)

4 Sushi

– cooked tuna, Avocado, rice

5 Fruit salad

6 Almonds

http://ellenbarrett.wordpress.com/2008/08/24/almond-smoothie-for-breakfast/

7 Sweet and sour pork

8 Fried rice

9 Pasta salad

10Soft cheese (from pasteurised milk)

http://www.foodsubs.com/Photos/cheese-tommeCrayeuse2.jpg

11Tiramisu (contains raw egg)

culinariaitalia.wordpress.com/index/

Further resources

• Consistent description and testing of food samples is important for both the department and the LGA in assessing the effectiveness of food safety regulatory measures.

• The department maintains a password protected web-page containing information on the sampling form, and other resources for EHOs

http://health.vic.gov.au/foodsafety/regulatory_info/eho/index.htm

• At this site you will find FAQ documents, the on-line glossary and other guidance documents to help you to use the sampling form.

• If you have any questions, or problems with the form, or you don’t have the password for the website, contact the department at foodsafety@health.vic.gov.au