5 Star Whitehorse Food Safe Program

Whitehorse City Council introduced the 5-Star Food Hygiene Assessment System in 1996 for all Class 1 and 2 premises as its principal means for evaluating hygiene standards for high and medium risk food premises such as aged and child care facilities, hospitals, restaurants, cafes, take-away food shops, bakeries, delis and hotels.

From 2019, the system model has been renamed to Food Safety Assessment to give a more meaningful comprehension on what the assessment entails.

The 5 Star Whitehorse Food Safe Program operates within a legislative framework under the Victorian Food Act 1984 and Food Standards Code.

The aim of the 5 Star Whitehorse Food Safe Program is to improve the safety of food being manufactured, handled, stored and sold in the municipality. The system provides meaningful and relevant information to food proprietors, consumers and Council about the standard of food safety being achieved in the municipality.  

The rating of premises is designed to achieve two objectives:

  • To provide a measure of food safety performance and the level of compliance with legislative requirements.
  • To manage non-compliance and establish a system for follow inspections.

A 4 star and 5 star rating demonstrates a high standard of compliance with legislative requirements, including the Food Standards Code and Food Safety Program. In addition a 5 star rating demonstrates best practice through implementing processes and procedures above and beyond legislative requirements.