The City’s Environmental Health Service has received at least one thousand applications for Certificates of Acceptability (COA) this week.
The surge in applications follows the President’s announcement last week that spaza shops need to be registered, amid numerous food safety incidents around the country in recent months.
A COA is a legal document indicating that a food-handling establishment complies with the hygiene and food safety standards as outlined in the Regulations governing the general hygiene requirements for food premises, the transport of food and related matters, R638 of 22 June 2018.
Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) facilitate applications for Certificates of Acceptability – there is NO cost associated with these applications.
EHPs are mandated also, to conduct visits to business premises at least twice a year. Where non-compliance is found, more regular inspections are carried out until the problem is resolved.
In July 2024, City Health piloted its online COA application process. While EHPs will continue assisting with paper-based applications, the public is advised that the online system is up and running, and very quick to complete. https://bit.ly/3UYI0sf
COAs are only awarded on submission of all relevant documentation, and a physical inspection to ensure that the premises comply with legislative requirements.
FOOD SAFETY UPDATES
In the last week, there have been two incidents in Cape Town that have sparked widespread interest, namely the makeshift butchery in Mfuleni, and the discovery of food past its sell-by date in Khayelitsha.
Investigations into the incidents are ongoing.
The City would like to caution against the persistent references to ‘expired’ food. It is important to note that there is NO provision for ‘expired food’ in the current South African Labelling Regulations.
The regulations do however dictate that all foodstuff have a clearly indicated date marking on the label.
Generally, these are:
• ‘Best Before’, which generally applies to foods that do not require refrigeration (canned goods, rice, pasta, cereal, biscuits etc.)
• ‘Sell By’, which is the date by which it should leave the store, but will still be safe for a reasonable period of time after
• ‘Use By’, which is the most critical, and generally applies to meat, dairy or any other product that requires refrigeration.
Also important is that, with regard to shelf stable goods, i.e. items that do not require refrigeration, food items could still be safe to use, but the nutritional value may diminish after the sell-by date.
Perishables and cold chain goods should not be sold past the use-by dates.
Members of the public who have health-related concerns or complaints about businesses can contact their local Environmental Health Office for assistance via their local clinic or the City’s Technical Operations Centre on 0860 103 089.