Pie Study
A recent survey by the NSW Food Authority of savoury pastry products has shown that 99.75% were microbiologically safe - an almost perfect score!!
The NSW Primary Industries Minister, Ian Macdonald said “This is a great result, it means consumers can be confident that their meat pie or other favourite bakery products are being made to the highest safety standards. Around 45 bakeries were randomly sampled across Sydney and regional NSW as part of the survey including bakeries in Griffith, Holroyd, Hornsby, Penrith, Ryde and Sutherland.”
“The reason we did the survey is because meat pies, sausage rolls, pasties and quiches can be potentially hazardous foods, because large temperature variations occur in their manufacture, which can lead to bacterial growth if not monitored, ” said Mr Macdonald.
The survey of 172 savoury pastry products was done over four months with products being analysed for bacteria against the requirements in the Food Standards Code, including E. coli and Salmonella, within 24 hours of purchase. At the same time a questionnaire was conducted in the bakeries.
It showed that bakery food-handlers had a good awareness of the potential hazards to the food, and that good production practices were in use. The questionnaire also showed that 87 per cent of bakeries dump any left over pastries at the end of each day’s trade.
The survey found:
* 101 pies: Result = 100 (99%) good; 1 (1%) acceptable
* 38 sausage rolls: Result = 38 (100%) good
* 11 quiches: Result = 11 (100%) good
* 22 other products: Result = 22 (100%) good
“In the last decade there have been two documented food poisoning incidents in Australia linked to contaminated meat pies from bakeries, the most recent was at a retail bakery in NSW in 2000,” Minister Macdonald noted. “There were no unsatisfactory or potentially hazardous samples in this survey, which is a great result.”
“It’s encouraging to see that bakery operators are complying with correct food handling, thanks to ongoing education initiatives by the NSW Food Authority and councils,” Mr Macdonald said.
A similar survey was done by the Authority in July 2008 on sweet bakery goods and this showed a 97.8% satisfactory rating.
So, we can all feel safe eating that little treat from the bakery.