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The Council is permitted by the Food Hygiene Regulations to treat fundraising operations as occasional food premises, allowing the organisers to operate without a registered food premises being used.

Many organisations sell on products such as liquorice and chocolate as part of their fundraising activities each year. In the majority of cases these are already properly packaged, but in some cases they will be re-packaged by the organisers. If re-packaging is required it is advisable to choose one location in order to carry out this re-packaging in accordance with the following advice.

While some of the strict physical requirements of the above regulations are relaxed for such situations, it is important to note that the conduct and maintenance provisions of the Regulations remain in force. Some key areas of interest that may relate to your operation are as follows: -

• If suitable handwashing facilities are not available (i.e. running water, soap, a nailbrush and single use or disposable hand drying facilities) in the working area, it is important that no direct contact with food occurs. The use of tongs or other suitable implements and clean, disposable gloves is recommended. Gloves must be changed regularly, and are available at local pharmacies. Tongs and implements must be changed or washed regularly. Separate tongs must be used for raw and cooked foods. If handwashing facilities provided with soap, nailbrush and single use or disposable hand drying facilities are available, workers must be reminded to wash their hands thoroughly at regular intervals, and always after activities that will contaminate hands.
   

• Food workers must ONLY wipe or dry their hands on clean, disposable paper towels or roller towels. Fabric towels will rapidly become soiled and damp and harbour germs.
   

• A supply of waterproof dressings must be provided in case of cuts or sores. If non-waterproof dressings are used (i.e. Band-Aids) then a disposable latex glove must be worn over the top, as ordinary dressings allow bacteria to pass through, placing food at risk of contamination.
   

• A suitable surface must be provided for food preparation. This must be able to be readily cleaned, and must be sanitised before use. Branded kitchen sanitisers will suffice for this purpose.
   

• The labelling of food products is recommended. This will inform purchasers as to the source of the product should there prove to be any fault with it at a later date.
   

• Be sensible concerning the areas in which you choose to work. Remember that you are handling food products that people will eat and make sure that the premises you use are clean and presentable. Your customers will judge you by these considerations even though you are not a full time food business.

 An application can be completed on line or downloaded as a pdf document from our Publications page.

Should you require any further information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact the Council’s Environmental Health Officers at:-

Clutha District Council

Regulatory Services

1 Rosebank Terrace

P O Box 25

Balclutha 9240

Phone: 03 419 0200

Fax: 03 418 3185

Email: help.desk@cluthadc.govt.nz