Home Processing of meat for wholesale

Processing of meat for wholesale

There are legislative requirements for boning rooms, wholesale butchers, smallgoods manufacturer, further processors or slicing/packing facility for wholesale distribution. These include:

boning rooms, butchers and/or value adding for red meat (specifically cattle, buffalo, camels, goats, deer, sheep, pigs, and horses/donkeys).
boning rooms and/or value adding for poultry (specifically chicken, turkey, duck, squab, geese, pheasant, quail, guinea fowl, mutton-birds, other).
further processing/smallgoods for all meat species. This includes red meat, poultry, wild game, crocodile, rabbit and ratite.
rendering of animal by-products to produce food for human consumption.

Applicable legislation

All meat businesses in Western Australian must comply with:

The following commodities also need to comply with the Australian Standards adopted under the Food Regulations 2009 as per the below table.

Meat commodity	Relevant Australian Standard	Food safety management system
Boning room for red meat	AS4696	Approved Arrangement
Boning room for poultry	AS4465	Quality assurance program
Further processor for meat (all species)	AS4696	Approved Arrangement
Rendering of animal products	AS5008, AS4696	Approved Arrangement

Registration

A meat business needs to register with the Local Government Authority where the premises is located (see section 110 of the Food Act 2008).

The local government advise the Department of Health of the commencement of a wholesale meat processor.

Definitions

Enforcement agency

The enforcement agency is the local government where the premises is located and is responsible for compliance and enforcement of the requirements of the Food Act 2008, Food Regulations 2009, and Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

Controlling Authority

The controlling authority for most meat processors is the WA Department of Health under the Food Regulations 2009. The controlling authority for export licensed establishments is the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

The controlling authority is responsible for regulation of the Australian Standard adopted under Regulation 18 of the Food Regulations 2009. The controlling authority also approves the Food Safety Management System for each premises and conduct regular audits against the adopted standards.

Requirements for premises

The Department of Health requires the food business to:

demonstrate skills and knowledge in Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) procedures. Seek training in HACCP procedures as soon as practical. Two people in each premises are to be HACCP trained and at least one person who is HACCP trained is to be available during operations.
develop a documented HACCP based Food Safety Management System supported by a hygiene/cleaning and vermin plan. Other documented support programs are also necessary i.e., chemical handling, training of staff, control of allergens etc. More details can be provided upon request.
provide a copy of the program to the Department of Health for desk audit (a copy of the desk audit report will be provided to local government). This can be sent to foodsafety@health.wa.gov.au or mailed through to PO Box 8172, PERTH BUSINESS CENTRE WA 6849.
introduce microbiological monitoring of products and equipment based on a suitable validation/verification methodology. The controlling authority will require a minimum level of testing to occur based on the scope of the business.
audits against the Australian Standards may be carried out be across the requirements outlined in the Australian Standards and Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. This may be carried out together with the local government Environmental Health Officer. The auditing frequency for a newly listed premises is every 3 months for the first year or until the auditor has deemed that the FSMS is adequate for the premises and substantially being followed. An audit report is provided to the premises including details of any corrective action requests to be undertaken. Audits are ongoing and the frequency depends on previous audit performances. The auditing does not replace inspections from the local government officers which may occur unannounced.

Additional information

Further processing of meats is defined as a process applied to meat or meat products to form a new product with different characteristics and flavour. Examples include, curing, heat treatment, drying, canning or fermenting. In addition, rendering is included as a further process and will also be reviewed through the Rendering standards (AS5008) and is contextual to the process and product.