General informationNot legal or food safety advice. FSANZ’s guide Safe Food Australia explains the food safety standards, and your state or territory’s food regulator, such as the NSW Food Authority, is the place to check.
The NSW Food Authority says operators of cold stores must apply for a Food Authority licence online and prepare for regular audits, and that a cold store must not start operating until it has been told its licence application has been processed.
What counts as stored
Safe Food Australia, FSANZ’s guide to the food safety standards, says food counts as “stored” when it is not being processed, displayed, packaged or transported, and has not been marked for disposal. It asks for extra care with unpackaged food, ready-to-eat food, and potentially hazardous food.
Potentially hazardous foods are those that must be held at particular temperatures to keep the risk from dangerous microorganisms or toxins low. FSANZ lists meat and poultry, raw or cooked; foods with eggs in them, cooked or raw; dairy products such as milk, cream and fresh custard; seafood; sprouted seeds; cut fruit and vegetables; cooked rice and fresh or cooked pasta; and sandwiches, pizzas and sushi.
Protected from contamination
Safe Food Australia gives these examples of general best practice for food storage:
- store food in food-grade containers or wrapping
- inspect packaged food regularly, and dispose of food that might be contaminated because its packaging is unsuitable or damaged
- store raw food such as raw meat and seafood separately from, or below, ready-to-eat food
- store food separately from chemicals, such as cleaning agents and pest control poisons
- store food off the ground on shelves
- don’t store food in toilet facilities, and avoid storing food contact equipment and packaging there
- store containers that will later sit on food contact surfaces off the floor, on shelves.
Storage areas should be kept clean and dry, and free of pests that could contaminate food or damage its packaging. The NSW Food Authority says all food businesses must take practical measures to prevent pests entering the premises, prevent them living and breeding there, and eradicate any that are found; its prevention list includes keeping food covered in sealed containers and storing food, equipment and food containers off the floor.
The right conditions
Safe Food Australia says the right storage conditions depend on the food and its packaging, and gives examples of conditions that can harm it:
| Condition | What it can do |
|---|---|
| Humidity | Encourage mould; let exposed dry food absorb moisture and deteriorate; damage packaging (metal rusting, biodegradable plastic dissolving); make seeds germinate and tubers sprout |
| Heat | Favour the growth of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms; melt or soften heat-sensitive foods |
| Light | Raise toxic glycoalkaloids in potatoes over prolonged exposure; make some vegetables shoot; change the composition of vegetable oils |
Where a food needs particular conditions to stay safe or suitable for its expected shelf life, it should be kept in them, guided by the manufacturer’s storage instructions.
Temperature control
Potentially hazardous food kept hot.
Only when you need to, for example while preparing food, and as quickly as possible.
Potentially hazardous food kept cold.
Food meant to be stored frozen must stay frozen during storage.
FSANZ says food must be kept under temperature control at all times other than those quick spells, including when it is received, stored, displayed or transported, and that food may be kept at a different temperature only if you can show it stays safe there. Safe Food Australia gives an example: the Australian Standard AS4696-2007 allows raw meat carcasses to be stored at up to 7°C, measured as the maximum surface temperature.
How long in the cool room
Some disease-causing bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes among them, can still grow at 5°C or colder, so refrigerated storage time needs managing too. Safe Food Australia lists considerations for information, including that holding potentially hazardous ready-to-eat food at 5°C or below for 5 days at most will restrict the growth of L. monocytogenes, and that foods containing raw or low-cooked eggs are recommended to be kept no longer than 24 hours. It notes date labels help track how long items have been stored.
Checking it
Use a thermometer: FSANZ says the best way is a probe thermometer in the thickest part of the food; where packaging stops you inserting one, lay the thermometer along the length of the package or use a scanner-type thermometer instead. Safe Food Australia adds that the food itself should be checked, rather than relying on the refrigerator’s temperature gauge.
Looking after the cool room
Safe Food Australia’s best practice for refrigerated storage:
- check food temperatures with a probe or infra-red thermometer, not the refrigerator’s gauge
- keep the time food spends out of refrigeration to a minimum
- check date markings regularly, and rotate stock so older food is sold first and no food is sold beyond its Use By date; if packaged food needs refrigeration once opened, open it so the date marking stays intact
- don’t take refrigerated food out and put it back unnecessarily
- don’t overstock beyond the refrigerator’s capacity to chill food and let air circulate around it
- don’t open the doors more than necessary or leave them open
- have refrigerators regularly maintained and serviced
- some businesses install temperature monitoring devices for ongoing measurement.
Cold stores in NSW
The NSW Food Authority describes cold stores as businesses that store high-risk food products that would normally require a licence to manufacture, such as meat, seafood, plant or dairy products. All must comply with the Food Standards Code, and cold stores of raw red meat must also comply with relevant sections of AS4696:2023.
- Licence and audits. Apply online for a Food Authority licence and prepare for regular audits; operating without a licence may lead to enforcement action.
- Skills. No formal qualifications are required, but each food handler and person in control needs food safety skills and knowledge suited to their work.
- Premises. Fixtures, fittings, equipment and vehicles designed so they can be easily cleaned and, where necessary, sanitised, with water, waste disposal, light, ventilation, cleaning and hygiene facilities, storage space and toilets.
- Temperature. The Authority puts it as keeping food at the correct temperatures, “that is, < 5°C”.
- Food safety program. Required for meat cold stores, optional for other cold stores; the Authority publishes a Cold Store Food Safety Program document to help.
- Cleaning. Meat cold stores need a documented cleaning schedule covering what is cleaned, how often, how, and which chemicals at what strength. Routine internal cleaning and sanitation inspections must be carried out, with records kept of the corrective action taken on any problem found. Cleaning chemicals must be suitable for contact with food and used as their manufacturer instructs.
- Recalls. Every food business must have a food recall plan. The Authority says cold store operators need a system for recalling unsafe food, a written document setting out that process, which they make available to an authorised officer on request, and to follow those steps when they recall unsafe food. It publishes a recall flowchart, a recalls guide and a recall action plan template.
These are the NSW Food Authority’s rules, given here as NSW’s. Elsewhere, check with your state or territory’s food regulator.