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Food safety programs are designed to help businesses identify and manage hazards to food safety.
Most licensed businesses must develop and implement a documented food safety program (FSP).
To find out if you need a food safety program for your business visit the industry sectors.
Food safety programs are based on Codex Alimentarius Commission’s HACCP system and guidelines, or Standard 3.2.1 of the Food Standards Code.
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point.
Food safety programs:
- identify potential hazards that may occur in food handling operations
- identify where hazards can be controlled
- monitor the control methods
- provide corrective actions when a hazard is found to be not under control
- establish, document and verify detailed pre-requisite programs
- must be regularly reviewed for adequacy (at least every 12 months).
Food businesses should keep a record and retain copies of action taken to demonstrate compliance with the food safety program and ensure it is audited by a food safety auditor.
You should have a written copy and the appropriate records available to the food safety auditor when requested.
Industry-specific templates
The Food Authority has developed a range of food safety program templates to help businesses meet their regulatory requirements.
Each template is industry specific and designed to help determine and resolve most day-to-day operational issues and to assist with compliance.
| Template | Format | Online ordering |
| Cold store | ||
| NSW cold store | PDF, 702 KB | Printed copies available for a fee via our online order items form |
| NSW cold store dairy | PDF, 2.8 MB | Printed copies available for a fee via our online order items form |
| Dairy | ||
| Small dairy processors | PDF, 1.4 MB | |
| Eggs | ||
| Egg producers with additional activities | PDF, 11.4 MB or Word format | |
| Small egg producers | Word format | |
| Meat | ||
| NSW retail meat food safety program and retail diary | PDF, 1.29 MB | Printed copies available for a fee via our online order items form |
| Wild game meat field depot | PDF, 3.4 MB | |
| Wild game meat field harvester | PDF, 2.8 MB | |
| Retail | ||
| Children's services | PDF, 530 KB or Word format | |
| Seafood | ||
| Seafood processing | PDF, 569 KB | |
| Shellfish | ||
| Farmed shellfish (approved harvest and hold) | PDF, 614 KB or Word format | |
| Farmed shellfish (not eligible for harvest and hold) | PDF, 590 KB or Word format | |
| Wet storage of shellfish | PDF, 690 KB | |
| Wild harvest of shellfish | PDF, 669 KB | |
| Vulnerable persons | ||
| Guidelines for food service to vulnerable persons | PDF, 503 KB | |
General template and resources
In addition to the industry specific templates, the Food Authority offers 2 general customisable resources:
- Guide to develop a food safety program (PDF, 226 KB)
- Template for a food safety program (Word format, 56 KB)
The general template is suitable for:
- dairy sectors that need a food safety program: primary producers; processors and dairy collection and transport
- businesses that process and/or store plant products
- some meat businesses such as meat and poultry processors, red meat abattoirs, poultry and non-red meat abattoirs
- food businesses that do not need a documented food safety program but choose to develop and implement one
- licensed businesses that wish to use the general template.
Which ever template is used, food businesses are responsible for customising the template to reflect the hazards, management practices and relevant regulations appropriate to them.
About HACCP
HACCP is an internationally recognised system used to identify and manage risk. The principles of HACCP are:
- hazard analysis
- identifying critical control points
- establishing critical limits
- monitoring
- taking corrective action
- keeping records
- verifying results.
These principles are used in food safety programs.
The Food Authority is not able to:
- provide HACCP certification
- offer information about private sector HACCP certification or costs
- endorse any HACCP-accredited business or provider
- customise a food safety program or template for an individual business
- provide contacts for organisations that run HACCP accreditation schemes.