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Licensable food businesses include:

Businesses manufacturing food, i.e.

• Making biscuits or cakes for retail sale for profit
• Making food for wholesale, i.e. producing frozen meals in a factory or producing cake mixes
• Changes the condition or nature of food by any process such as milling, peeling, cutting or freezing
• Bottling or canning food
• Packing unpackaged food (other than unprocessed primary produce), i.e. packing bulk coffee for wholesale
• Making ice

Businesses that sell unpackaged snack food by retail, i.e.

• Restaurant or delicatessen
• Catering business
• Takeaway food outlets
• Motel providing meals with accommodation
• Unpackaged food from a vending machine
• Child care centres/services
• Private residential facilities
• Bed and breakfasts
• Hostels

Apply here for a food business licence.

Itinerant Vendors

Council's fact sheet relating to Itinerant Roadside Vending (PDF)

Councils Roadside Vending Policy (PDF)

Food Vehicles

Food vehicles that prepare and sell food within their vehicles are subjected to the same requirements as commercial food premises. Food vehicles that only sell pre-packaged food items are exempted from licencing requirements.

Non-Profit Organisations

Non-profit organisations are required to be licenced if they provide meals at a particular place on at least 12 days each financial year, i.e.

• A restaurant, open daily to the public, operated by a sporting club to raise revenue for the club
• A non-profit organisation preparing and selling meals to homeless people at a homeless person's hostels
• The preparation of meals by Meals on Wheels
• Mobile food van (providing meals) at a sporting ground

The definition of “meal” under the Food Act 2006 includes food that:

• Is or is intended to be eaten by a person sitting at a table or fixed structure used as a table with cutlery and
• Is of adequate substance as to be ordinarily accepted as a meal

If a non-profit organisation is not deemed to be preparing a “meal” outlined above, then it is not considered a licencable food business. This definition exempts sausage sizzles from requiring a licence.

Illegal Operation of a Food Business
The primary reason for licencing requirements is to ensure that businesses produce safe and suitable food.

Outdoor Dining Licence

Council regulates outdoor dining to ensure that activities are carried out in a safe manner for diners, pedestrians and road-users.

Council is required to monitor the standard of operations in food premises that provide outdoor dining. Compliance with requirements of the Outdoor Dining Policy and associated Guidelines will assist you in providing a safe outdoor dining environment.

Apply for Outdoor Dining.

Temporary Food Stalls

Temporary food stalls are an important feature at many festivals, fetes and markets. Temporary food stalls can pose a higher risk to consumers than restaurants due to their temporary nature.

Therefore it is important to ensure your stall is setup and operating in compliance with the Food Safety Standards. There is also a designated vending location in Cloncurry, endorsed by Council.

Any person or company who sells unpackaged food by retail at a stall of a temporary nature; examples include BBQ, hot chips or hot dog vendor.

Unlicenced businesses:

• Have reduced operating costs and therefore create an uneven playing field for businesses that are licenced; and
• Increase the risk of food borne illness if there is improper food handling practices.

If you believe a business is operating without a licence, contact council and advise us with as many details as possible including the trading name, address, types of foods sold and the day or time they were operating.

Council follows up on any unlicenced food businesses by ensuring they apply for appropriate licencing and taking enforcement action where necessary. Penalties do apply for operating a food business without appropriate licencing.

Even though a licence may not be required, these businesses still have a responsibility to ensure the sale of safe and suitable food and an obligation to comply with the Food Safety Standards. This includes the design, construction and fit out of the food premises.

Businesses not requiring licence include:

• Production of primary produce, i.e. abattoir or dairy farm
• The processing or sale of fisheries resources
• Food businesses conducted by the State or a government-owned corporation
• Tuck shops operated by a parents and citizens association at a State School
• Handling of food at a person’s home that is intended to be given away to a non-profit organisation for sale by the organisation, e.g. cakes made for fundraising parents and citizens association at a school fete
• Sale of unpackaged snack food that is not potentially hazardous food, i.e. corn chips, potato chips, confectionary, nuts, dried or glazed nuts, biscuits and cakes (however the business where the biscuits and cakes are made needs to be licenced)
• Sale of whole fruit or vegetables
• Sale of drinks, other than fruit or vegetable juice processed at the place of sale, i.e. tea, coffee, soft drinks, alcoholic drinks.
• Sale of ice including flavoured ice
• Provision of meals by a non-profit organisation if the meals consists only of fruit, cereal, toast or similar food or the consumer of the meal helps prepare it
• Sale of unpackaged food, not considered to be a meal, by a non-profit organisation, i.e. BBQ sausage sizzle
• Provision of meals by a non-profit organisation that are pre-pared by an entity other than the organisation and are stored and heated or otherwise prepared by the organisation in accordance with directions of the meal’s manufacturer

The Queensland Government offers lots of information about liqour permits. Information that may be relevant to your event includes:

• Liquor guidelines

• Application for Community Liquor Permit

The Cloncurry Shire Council aims to promote and maintain environmental health across the shire. Food safety is an important issue for everyone. Food businesses are required to ensure that they handle, store, display and sell food in a safe manner.

• Hand washing
• Chilled storage and display
• Personal hygiene for food handlers
• Thawing food safely
• Cooking and reheating food
• Hot storage and display
• Preventing vermin and harbourage
• Stock rotation
• Separation of raw and cooked food

Hand Washing

Washing your hands significantly reduces the number of bacteria on your hands. It is considered to be the most important measure to reduce the likelihood of infection in the food service industry. Hand washing facilities must be provided in food premises where hands are likely to become a source of contamination. All food premises must have hand washing facilities that are located where they can be easily accessed by all food handlers.

Chilled Storage and Display

Potentially hazardous foods such as raw and cooked meat, dairy products, seafood, cooked rice and pasta and food containing eggs (e.g. quiche) must be stored at 5°C or below. Food temperatures above 5°C are in the “Danger Zone”. When food is in this danger zone food poisoning bacteria rapidly multiply in numbers which may cause illness.

Unless the food business can demonstrate another safe alternative, the Food Safety Standard requires potentially hazardous food to be kept under temperature control at all times including:

• When it is being stored
• Displayed
• Transported; and
• When received by customers

Personal Hygiene for Food Handlers

Food handlers have responsibilities to minimise the risk of food being contaminated. This means that they must not be ill whilst they are working and use hygienic practices when handling food.

The term handling in relation to food should not be taken in the literal sense, but as a more general term that refers to various techniques used to safely manage food and drinks. Section 15 of Food Safety Standard 3.2.2 outlines requirements for Hygiene of Food Handlers. The personal hygiene of food handlers must be of a level that minimises the contamination of food.

Hair, fingernails, jewellery and adhesive dressings and other bandages can become a source of contamination.

Thawing Food Safely

Freezing is an excellent way of extending the life of foods. However, it can be fraught with danger and can easily cause outbreaks of food poisoning if some simple rules are not followed.

Foods requiring most care include sauces, red and white meat, cooked rice and pastas, fish, dairy products, stew and casseroles. The temperature zone between 5°C and 60°C is called the Danger Zone because it produces optimum conditions for certain bacteria to multiply in certain foods. When thawing food, keep it out of the danger zone for a minimum amount of time. The safest place to thaw food is in the refrigerator overnight.

Thawing frozen potentially hazardous food may pose a food safety risk if the temperature of the food is prolonged between 5°C and 60°C.

Cooking and Reheating Food

All potentially hazardous foods need to be cooked adequately to ensure food poisoning bacteria are destroyed.

All foods that require to be cooked must reach an internal temperature of on or above 60°C. You can check this by using your probe thermometer, ensuring it is sanitised before and after use.

Hot Storage and Display

The Food Safety Standard requires potentially hazardous food to be kept under temperature control when it is being stored, displayed or transported, unless the food business has safe alternative arrangements in place.

The Standard also requires a food business to take all practicable measures to ensure potentially hazardous food is received under temperature control.

Preventing Vermin and Harbourage

Food businesses must take all reasonable measures to prevent the harbourage and entry of pests into their food premises or food vehicles. This includes having screen doors and blocking any gaps in walls and ceilings.

Stock Rotation

Stock Control is important to understand as it ensures that foods are not kept beyond their shelf life and that food is safe and suitable for consumption. Food that is left for too long and in unfavourable conditions, bacteria can begin to multiply. Even foods that are tinned or frozen still have a shelf life and can deteriorate over time if kept for too long. Foods that are stored for too long in unfavourable conditions can become more contaminated through contact with food handlers, pests etc.

Separation of Raw and Cooked Food

Storing your food correctly and keeping food at a safe temperature is very important especially in the tropics. Poor temperature control or cross-contamination can lead to serious health risks including food poisoning. Food businesses must, when storing food, store the food in such a way that it is protected from the likelihood of contamination.