The Sydney Morning Herald reports tomorrow (today) that the process of checking food safety standards at NSW hospitals, aged-care facilities and other food handling businesses has been quietly 
privatised by the State Government, leading to fears of an increase in food poisoning outbreaks among the sick and elderly.
Previously, companies and institutions known as ”high-risk food businesses” had to undergo regular, rigorous audits by the government-run NSW Food Authority, which examined storage, preparation and hygiene.
But the Government changed the rules in October to hire private auditors to inspect the facilities.
Private auditing has been criticised in the construction industry because of the view that businesses seek out auditors whose inspections are less rigorous in an attempt to reduce compliance costs.
The result is pressure on all auditors to ”go soft” on clients in order to retain clients and attract more.
Introduced with little fanfare, the new food safety auditing system has drawn a furious response from organisations representing older people and from the NSW Greens, who say the Government has abandoned its responsibility to maintain food safety standards for the sake of cost cutting.
That assessment seems overly dramatic. Although the auditors involved in the Peanut Corporation of America fiasco have left a black mark on auditors for decades.
The new minister, Steve Whan, said the changes would give businesses more flexibility and avoid cost duplication without compromising food safety levels.
”Some businesses may continue using the Food Authority officers as auditors and we believe many licensed food businesses will continue this way.”
He said there was a rigorous approval process for businesses and auditors wanting to operate under the new system. All businesses would have their first audit conducted by the authority, and only premises performing well would be allowed to use a private auditor.