Food safety
Under the Food Act 1984, all food business owners and community groups in our shire are legally required to ensure that food sold or prepared for sale is safe to eat.
Our Public and Environmental Health officers are responsible for food regulation throughout the municipality to make sure safety standards are maintained to protect the health of the community. They regularly inspect food businesses to provide advice and handle complaints about food handling and food poisoning.
Reporting a food safety issue
Contact our Public and Environmental Health team by making an online request or calling (03) 5471 1700 to report an issue regarding:
- Cleanliness of food premises or food handler hygiene practices
- Contamination of food, such as foreign objects. (Note: Retain the remaining food without removing the contaminant)
- Suspected food poisoning (Note: Report the incident as soon as possible and retain any remaining food by wrapping it in clean plastic and storing it in the fridge)
Smoke-free dining
The Tobacco Amendment Act 2016 has amended the Tobacco Act 1987 to ban smoking in outdoor dining areas and regulate e-cigarettes and shisha tobacco in the same way as other tobacco products.
For more information on the ban on smoking in outdoor dining areas, visit the smoke-free outdoor dining page.
For more information on the regulation of e-cigarettes, visit the retailers page. For more information about the regulation of shisha tobacco, visit the resources and factsheets page.
Food businesses
Visit our Food businesses page to find out about:
- Starting and operating a food business
- Food safety requirements for food businesses
- Food premises classification