Available now in 62 countries, following each country’s own food hygiene rules.

Chef Hygiene
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New Zealand: for every food business

Ready for the food inspection. Every day.

In New Zealand the app follows the Food Act 2014, the Food Regulations 2015 and MPI's "Simply Safe & Suitable" template Food Control Plan, the plan most restaurants, cafés, takeaways and caterers use. Chef Hygiene keeps your daily records; it does not register your plan or verify it, and it is not approved by MPI or any council.

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The Chef Hygiene app on a computer: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checksThe Chef Hygiene app on a phone: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checks

New Zealand: food hygiene rules

Inspection body
The local council (the registration authority for a business in one district; MPI for a business in more than one) and food safety officers; the council or a verifier recognised by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) checks your plan
Public rating
In some places
Languages in the app
English

Your inspection

Restaurants, cafés, takeaways, caterers and bakeries that make cakes, pies or pastries run a written Food Control Plan (Food Act 2014, Schedule 1); bread-only bakeries and shops that only sell packaged food follow a National Programme (Schedules 2 and 3; MPI's "My food rules" tool tells each business which). You register with your council, or with MPI if you trade in more than one district. The council or a private verifier MPI recognises checks ("verifies") your plan, and you pay for it. Food safety officers enforce the Act.

A template Food Control Plan is registered for 12 months and renewed every year. A new business is first verified within 6 weeks; after that every 3 to 18 months, on a scale of 3, 6, 9, 12 or 18 months: an acceptable visit means a longer gap, an unacceptable one a shorter one (Food Regulations 2015, regs 88 and 90). National Programmes are renewed every 2 years and verified at least every 2 years (National Programme 3) or 3 years (National Programme 2). Infringement fees are $300, $450 (for example not registering your plan or programme) or $650, capped at $1,000 by the Act. In court, knowingly or recklessly endangering people can bring a fine of up to $500,000 for a company, and up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 for a person (Food Act 2014, s 222).

Hygiene rating

There is no national hygiene grade. Some councils run their own: Auckland Council's "eatsafe Auckland" grades A (91–100%), B (61–90%), C (50–60%), D (enforcement action) and E (closed), for template-plan businesses it registers and verifies. We did not check other councils' schemes.

“Law” is a binding rule. “Official guidance” is not law, but inspectors expect it. “Chef Hygiene default” is a value the app checks against where no rule gives a number.

Temperatures

  • LawChilled food at 5°C or colder, checked every day with a calibrated thermometer, probe, infrared or automated system, not the fridge's own display. There is no lower limit (MPI's template Food Control Plan).
  • Chef Hygiene defaultFrozen food stays frozen solid: the template names no freezer temperature, and freezer temperatures need not be written down. Chef Hygiene aims for −18°C or colder and flags anything warmer than −12°C as good practice, not the law.
  • LawPoultry, minced meat and liver: 65°C for 15 minutes, 70°C for 3 minutes or 75°C for 30 seconds in the thickest part; other food cooked thoroughly. Record one item a batch, or prove the method (3 good checks in a row, then one batch a week).
  • LawHot food above 60°C, checked every 2 hours if it is held longer than 2 hours; below 60°C, reheat it to above 75°C. Food between 5°C and 60°C: under 2 hours, chill or use it; 2 to 4 hours, use it but never chill it; over 4 hours, throw it out.
  • LawCooling from 60°C to 21°C (or room temperature, whichever is colder) within 2 hours, then to 5°C within 4 more hours; over 6 hours in all, throw it out. Reheating to at least 75°C. Deliveries in: chilled at 5°C or colder, hot above 60°C, frozen frozen solid.
  • Chef Hygiene defaultThe plan asks for a daily fridge check: Chef Hygiene asks at opening and closing.

Staff, training and health

  • LawThere is no national food handler card and no required course. Your plan asks you to train staff until they are competent and to keep a training record: who, when, which parts of the plan, signed by the trainer and the trainee.
  • LawStaff with vomiting, diarrhoea or jaundice tell the manager and stay away from food until 48 hours after the symptoms stop (MPI's template Food Control Plan).

Allergens

  • LawThe allergens New Zealand's Food Standards Code names (Plain English Allergen Labelling, PEAL, in force since 25 February 2024): wheat and cereals with gluten, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, egg, milk, lupin, peanut, soy, sesame, added sulphites of 10 mg/kg or more, and each tree nut by name (almond, Brazil nut, cashew, hazelnut, macadamia, pecan, pistachio, pine nut, walnut). For food sold unpackaged, the information is shown with the food or given when a customer asks.

Fire safety checks

  • LawIn every building the escape routes are kept clear, exit doors unlocked and free of blockages, and smoke and fire doors kept closed; the owner has an evacuation procedure with information for the people inside (Fire and Emergency New Zealand evacuation regulations 2018, regs 5 to 7).
  • LawA building where 100 or more people gather, or 10 or more people work (and some others, like early childhood centres and buildings with sleeping accommodation for 6 or more), needs an evacuation scheme approved by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ Act 2017, s 75 and 76); some buildings with sprinklers can be exempt. Trial evacuations every 6 months are the law for schools and early childhood centres; other buildings with a scheme hold 6-monthly trials, or train and assess staff at least every 6 months and hold trials when FENZ asks, and report the results to FENZ.
  • Chef Hygiene defaultExtinguishers, the fire alarm, exit signs, hood fire suppression and electrics: Chef Hygiene suggests dates you can change. They come from the Building Code, which we did not check for intervals.
  • Official guidanceEmergency: 111 for police, fire and ambulance.

Records

  • LawRecords are kept for at least 4 years after they are made, and must be legible, accurate, dated and show what was done, when and by whom; give them to your verifier when asked (Food Regulations 2015, regs 36, 37, 81 and 82).
  • LawDigital records are allowed: there is no government records app. The template says you can keep the plan as a PDF or web page, and names data loggers and Bluetooth temperature monitoring as ways to check temperatures.
  • LawFood contact surfaces cleaned every day they are used; pests checked inside, outside and around the bins every day, by you or a pest company; anything that goes wrong written down with what you did.

Official sources

Checked

This page is general information, not legal advice. Check with your local authority.

New Zealand: the Chef Hygiene app

The app loads these rules for your kitchen, checks your records against them and keeps proof for the inspector.

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