Both the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code and various Victorian food standards allow you to use alternative techniques in meat and poultry production but the safety level of the food must be the same as, or better than, the standard.
Examples of alternative techniques are:
- different cooking, cooling, and curing methods like cold smoking
- complex processes like dry ageing, sous vide, and high-pressure processing.
You need to get alternative methods for processing, construction and equipment approved by Safe Food Victoria.
Getting approval to use an alternative technique
These are the steps to get approval to use a different technique.
Include in your proposal:
- a detailed explanation of the new idea, including what standard and parts of the standards it relates to
- proof that the new idea works just as well as the usual method and that the food you have produced is safe
- a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan.
Your HACCP plan needs to include:
- how you will check that the food safety level is the same or better than what’s in the standards
- the steps you will take to make sure the new method stays safe over time.
Learn more about HACCP plans at Guide to the Implementation and Auditing of HACCP.
How to prove that food is safe
Provide us with test results from microbiological testing to show that your new method meets the same standards as the old way. This is called validation. We will compare the results of your testing with both methods to see if they match up.
When testing is not possible, you can use verification to prove the food will be safe. Provide us with information from a recognised scientific source that has already validated the technique to confirm that the new method works well.
These are the steps to verify the alternative technique.
Once approved, you will need to keep records to show that you are continuing to use the new method properly.
Examples of alternative processes
Cooking and cooling
Cooking and cooling are important processes that keep meat safe to eat.
The Australian Standard for the Hygienic Production and Transportation of Meat and Meat Products for Human Consumption sets out the temperatures and timing required for cooking and cooling meat.
You can use different temperatures or timing from these rules as long as you can prove to us that the safety level of the food must be the same as, or better than, the Standard.
High pressure processing
High pressure processing (HPP) is a is a cold pasteurisation technique used to make food safer without using heat. High pressure is used to kill harmful microorganisms.
The benefits of this method are that:
- food can last longer (improved shelf-life)
- the taste and texture of the food is not affected.
However, it doesn’t work the same for all foods. Factors like pH, water, temperature and fat can affect how well it works.
Sous vide
Sous vide is where food is vacuum sealed in a bag and cooked in water or steam at precise temperatures.
The cooking process must be carefully monitored and food not cooked for longer than 6 hours at low temperatures (below 54.5°C).
It’s important to watch out for:
- bacteria surviving in sealed bags, like Clostridium botulinum
- cold-loving germs growing if food is refrigerated for a long time
- bacteria multiplying if food stays at temperatures between 5°C and 60°C for too long
- microorganisms surviving if food is cooked at low temperatures for a short time.
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