On this World Food Safety Day, New Zealand Food Safety has reminded food businesses and consumers to be 'prepared for the unexpected'.
"New Zealand has a strong food safety system, however from time to time, things can go wrong," said New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle.
"Our readiness to respond when this happens is a key part of ensuring food is safe and suitable for the five million plus New Zealanders and millions overseas that enjoy our products."
The theme for this year is 'prepare for the unexpected', which Arbuckle said was a timely reminder for food businesses and consumers that everyone can all play their part to be prepared for adverse events.
New Zealand Food Safety has worked with food businesses to help them get ready to respond to potential food incidents, from conducting simulated food recalls to knowing what to do at a food business after natural disasters and emergencies.
Consumers can ensure they are prepared by signing up for food recall alerts to stay on top of recalled foods and familiarising themselves with New Zealand Food Safety's information on food safety in the home during an emergency.
"This is also an opportunity to highlight our newly launched Listeria campaign that we hope will save lives and emphasise to our pregnant and older population (65 and older) that some risks are just not worth taking," said Arbuckle.
"We have also undertaken a survey into consumers' food safety habits, which is informing our approach to protecting New Zealanders from getting sick from food. After all, everybody eats, and we want to help people prepare and enjoy food safely.
A highlight of the survey was that 83 percent of people say they use the health star rating system when buying packaged food or drink for the first time.
"We will be working with industry and consumers to continue to boost uptake."
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