Food Safety FAQs

To report a food safety concern about a retail food business operating in the City of Ryde, you can:

1. Contact our Customer Service Centre on 9952 8222 and speak to a customer services officer
2. Lodge your concern online via our Report an Issue form
3. Send an email to council@ryde.nsw.gov.au.

If your food safety concern relates to a butcher shop, please report this issue to the NSW Food Authority.

Yes. It is City of Ryde policy to communicate with customers once a customer request has been lodged. Once the request is assigned for investigation, you will receive acknowledgement that the report has been lodged and the investigating officer will communicate with all customers directly to provide updates and feedback.

Every food business registered with City of Ryde will receive a “Primary” inspection in the financial year. This is the first inspection for the financial year. Depending on the risk rating of the food business, a “re-inspection” may also be conducted during the financial year.

City of Ryde may also conduct further inspections if a food safety concern is reported or if enforcement action is required as a result of a failed inspection result.

Yes. Fees and charges are applied for all food inspections.

Yes. Every food business that sells food for retail sale in the City of Ryde must register.

To calculate the number of FTE food handlers your business has, add up all the hours that the food handlers are undertaking food handling activities during a working week and divide by 38 hours (average working week). For example, if a food business had 4 food handlers to handle food for 25 hours per week, this would equate to approximately 3 FTE food handlers.

Example calculation of FTE food handlers:

(4 food handlers x 25 hours per week) ÷ 38 = 2.6 FTE food handlers (round up to 3 FTE food handlers)

Home-based businesses involving the preparation or manufacture of food are classified as home industry, for which development consent (Development Approval) is required.

Consequently, for a Home Business, City of Ryde requires a Development Application (DA) to be lodged. The application must include a DA form and supporting documents.

Anyone proposing to carry out a home based food business should contact our Customer Service Centre on 9952 8222 to determine whether the use is permissible or visit our Business and Development webpage for more information.

There are strict guidelines about preparing ready-eat foods such as sauces and desserts that contain raw, unpasteurised egg. Guidance material is available to assist to ensure that these foods are prepared and stored safely and to avoid potential for food poisoning to occur. Read about the safe preparation of raw egg products.

Results about food inspections at specific food businesses is not available due to privacy legislation. The NSW Food Authority website contains information about penalties that have been issued to food businesses in NSW. This is called the “Name and Shame” register.

There is a list of all registered training organisations offering the training on the NSW Food Authority website.

A link to a copy of the current version of the Food Premises Assessment Report (FPAR) template used during inspections is available on the Food Business Inspection Program webpage.

If you have a question that you would assistance with about anything to do with the food safety in the City Ryde, you can contact our Customer Service Centre on 9952 8222 during normal business hours. Alternatively, you can write to us at cityofryde@ryde.nsw.gov.au.