DCC pours cold water on retailer's hangi plan

Bean Inn manager Sam Miller displays one of a freezer full of hangi meals he cannot sell.
Bean Inn manager Sam Miller displays one of a freezer full of hangi meals he cannot sell.
A Princes St retailer says he cannot understand why the city council will let fundraisers sell traditional hangi food, but will not let him.

Jarad Tangney, of Kai Tahu descent, wants to sell cooked-in-the-ground hangi through his Bean Inn shop, at 25 Princes St, but says city council staff will only approve retail sales of hangi food cooked in a commercial steamer.

In response, DCC environmental health team leader Ros MacGill said Mr Tangney's premises were not suitable for the preparation of meals for sale and it was not common practice in New Zealand for commercially sold hangi food to be cooked in the ground.

Mr Tangney said he had an arrangement with Arai Te Uru marae, in Wakari, to cook the hangi, but his efforts to establish the fledgling business were being frustrated by city council decisions.

‘‘They are saying it's acceptable as a fundraiser, but because we can't control the heat in the ground we can't do it as a commercial operation,'' Mr Tangney said.

‘‘My take on it is that it's been done forever and a day so, if we're taking every precaution to ensure the quality of the food, why can't we?''

He did not accept the requirement to cook the hangi in a commercial steamer because ‘‘people want traditional hangi''.

Fifty hangi meals, cooked in the ground in readiness for the business's recent opening, now sit in the shop's freezer unable to be sold.

Bean Inn manager Sam Miller said he wanted to see the business grow ‘‘as part of the tourism scene in Dunedin''.

The city council should be assisting the initiative, Mr Miller said.

The city council does not consider the traditional cooking of hangi in the ground to be unsafe, Ms MacGill said.

‘‘However, as with any food sold for commercial purposes we would expect to see that sufficient controls are put in place to ensure the safety of the end product.

‘‘The premises are currently registered as a refreshment room permitting it to only serve drinks and limited foods.

‘‘The operator was advised that additional works would be required if they intended to expand their operations to include the preparation and cooking of meals.''

Premises used for the preparation and sale of food for fundraising were defined as ‘‘occasional food premises'' under the Food Hygiene Regulations 1974 and did not need to be registered with the council.

Ms MacGill said other issues involved in this case included the ‘‘need to demonstrate that the temperature of the meals is controlled during transport to the premises . . . and that the food was being cooled and reheated appropriately''.

DCC environment health staff consulted with Public Health South and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority on the matter.

They were advised ‘‘it is not a common practice for hangi cooked in the ground to be sold for commercial profit''.

 

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement