HACCP conference awards

The Australian HACCP Conference Series finished in early August, and the winners of the various awards are now in.

The award for "Outstanding individual nominated by an agri-food industry company' went to Fiona Fleming from George Weston Foods, who has been involved in their food safety and quality control regimes for the last 18 years.

"Outstanding individual working in a non-industry institution' went to Gary Kennedy from Correct Food Systems, who has spent the past decade working as a food safety auditor and consultant.

"Outstanding individual working as a registered food safety auditor' was awarded to Ray Coffey of SGS.

The award for "Outstanding company, Small " Low Risk' went to Beechworth Honey, a small family-owned and managed rural-based business.

"Outstanding company, Small " High Risk' was received by Seabest International, a supplier and exporter of fine seafood products from around the world.

The "Large " Low risk' award went to Swickers Kingaroy Bacon Factory, who have been trading for over 60 years and have one of the most modern, state-of-the-art food processing facilities in the southern hemisphere.

SPC Ardmona, one of Australia's leading fruit processing plants, received the award for "Multisite " Low Risk'. The conference acknowledged that the company had achieved significant performance improvements, thanks to ongoing machinery upgrades, internal training and ongoing process reviews.

Finally, the award for "Multisite " High Risk' went to St Vincents and Mater Health Sydney, which manages 17 health care sites nationally and is Australian's largest non-government, not-for-profit health care provider. Their food catering services division has been voluntarily undertaking HACCP food safety audits for over 10 years and has shown a high level of commitment to food safety.