Industry partners

Information for Industry on the Foodsafe Partnership

  

What is the Foodsafe Partnership?

There are an estimated 200,000 cases of foodborne illlness in New Zealand each year. About 40 percent of those are caused by unsafe food handling practices in the home. That’s about 96,000 people afflicted with a foodborne illness caused by either themselves or someone they know

So while the products you produce may be safe and fit for purpose when they leave your premises, what happens to them when they get home is out of your hands. In the eyes of some of your customers, it’s your products that are to blame - not their handling of them. Educating New Zealanders about safe food handling practices is paramount. That’s where the New Zealand Foodsafe Partnership comes in. It was formed to reduce the country’s high levels of foodborne illness through education on safe food handling practices in the home.

Representatives come from the food industry, consumer groups, public health groups, the Ministry of Health and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority. Association with the Partnership highlights your role as a responsible producer or manufacturer. It shows that you are interested and care about your customers’ wellbeing and it allows your organisation to stand out from the crowd.

The main function of the Partnership is to administer the annual Foodsafe Campaign, which runs throughout the year but with increased emphasis during the summer months. A lot of effort is concentrated on the first week of the campaign which is National Foodsafe Week; this year it is the 10-17th of November. Partnership members throughout the country work together to give consistent and appropriate food safety messages. A variety of media is used including television, print, magazines, radio and live events.

Evaluations of past campaigns have shown that the messages are getting through. A majority of New Zealanders can recall at least one of the food safety campaign’s promotions and say they have made changes to their home hygiene practices as a result. See company testimonials: The Consumers' Institute, PIANZ, HortNZ

Among the allies promoting our messages are Partnership mascots Foodsafe Freddie and his cousin Foodsafe Feleti. These characters are used to promote safe food handling practices in a number of ways, including television and radio advertising, promotional materials and in person at events.

Why was the Partnership formed?

The New Zealand Foodsafe Partnership was set up in 1998 to promote consistent and appropriate food safety messages to New Zealand consumers. It was formed as a result of concern about high levels of foodborne illness in New Zealand and recognition that no matter how much care is taken to produce safe food, food handling by consumers at home plays a key role in preventing foodborne illness.

The groups aim is to reduce the country’s high levels of foodborne illness through education on safe food handling practices in the home.

How you and your organisation can be involved:

There are several ways that you and your organisation can be involved in the Partnership. Current Partners are involved in one of four ways: as working group members, as full partnership members, on a project basis, and being kept informed.

Working group:

Working group members are the most actively involved in the Partnership. They attend regular meetings and teleconferences and make decisions for the Partnership, such as the theme of the Foodsafe campaigns, the organisation of events, the production of resources and the use of the Foodsafe logo etc.

There are a limited number of members on the working group, however if you are interested in being involved at this level please contact Gary Bowering at the New Zealand Food Safety Authority.

Full Partnership:

Full Partnership members attend twice yearly meetings, where campaign themes, the development of new resources and other initiatives are discussed. Full members can offer support to the Partnership, for example sponsoring resources, or providing product or materials for promotions. Full members also contribute expertise to Partnership projects, and liaise with Working Group members when organising their own Food Safety initiatives.

If you would like to be involved at Full Partnership level please email us at the New Zealand Food Safety Authority.

Project basis:

If you would like to be contacted by the Partnership when there is an opportunity for you to be involved in a Partnership initiative that is specifically relevant to your area of work, you can opt to be involved on a project by project basis. Your contact details will be held by the Partnership, and you will be contacted when there are new initiatives being developed in your area that may be of interest to you and your wider organisation. You can also contact us if you have an idea or project that you think might support our work.

If you would like to be involved on a project by project basis please email us at the New Zealand Food Safety Authority.

Kept informed:

If you would like to be kept informed about what is happening with the partnership but not actively involved, you can choose to add your details to the Partnership database and receive the Foodsafe Partnership newsletter which comes out several times a year. You can choose to receive the Newlsetter electronically, or receive a paper copy in the post.

If you would like to be kept informed of the activities of the Partnership please email us at the New Zealand Food Safety Authority and we will add you to our database.

Use of the Partnership logo:

The Foodsafe logo is the brand of the Partnership but it is not a brand to be used by just an exclusive few. The Partnership intends for the logo to become the brand for food safety information and for it to be widely used and recognised. It might be used on, for example, information pamphlets, shopping bags, advertising brochures, educational materials, place mats or recipe cards that have food safety messages. There are, however, a few rules regarding the use of the logo:

  • The logo cannot be used as an endorsement on any product and should not appear on the label of a product.
  • It must not be used in any way that implies the product is safe or has been approved by the Partnership.
  • The logo must be associated with at least one of the food safety messages depicted in the logo - Clean Cook Cover Chill.

Approval for use of the logo must be given by the Logo Approvals Group of the Partnership. Approval must be requested before production is begun and the final draft/artwork must also be approved so the group can see the context in which the logo will be used. Any material that the group decides is unsuitable for use with the logo can be amended and should be resubmitted for approval. If changes are made to material already approved and published, the changes must be sent for re-approval. The Logo Approvals Group undertakes to process all applications for permission to use the logo within 2 working days.

For approval of material contact please email us at the New Zealand Food Safety Authority.

Regional Contacts for the Partnership:

Northland & Auckland:

Waikato:

 

Taranaki:

Wellington:

Canterbury:

Dunedin & Southland: