9 hours ago
Food from fire-damaged New World: Can it be sold or donated?
It is unclear at this stage whether food or drink from an Auckland New World which was damaged in a fire on Tuesday can be sold or donated.
The fire broke out shortly after 11am on Tuesday at the store in Freeman's Bay.
Damage inside the store has been called "extensive", and Foodstuffs said it will take some time to determine when the store may be able to reopen.
But, asked whether items from within the store could be sold or donated, a Foodstuffs person told 1News the "short answer is – too early to know".
"Fire and Emergency completed their operations at the site this afternoon and have handed the building back to Foodstuffs," the Foodstuffs spokesperson said.
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"At this stage, it's too early to say what will happen to the groceries in the store, but this will be assessed over the coming days.
"Food safety will be top of mind when any decision is made."
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The Ministry for Primary Industries said all food sold in New Zealand was required by law to be safe and suitable for consumption.
"Food businesses are regularly verified to make sure these rules are being followed.
"Foodstuffs have systems in place to assess potentially affected food products.
"We have offered assistance."
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As for the building itself, Auckland Council field surveying manager of building consents Jeff Fahrensohn said New World's contractors would assess the damage and then design a remediation plan based on input by specialists such as fire engineers.
"The council currently has a live consent for remediation works to New World Victoria Park — lodged prior to the fires — so depending on the level of work needed, the remediation works may be added to the existing building consent as an amendment. Or alternatively, it may need a new building consent and possibly a resource consent as well.
"Once consents are approved, the works will commence with inspections by the council and possibly other specialists," Fahrensohn said.
"Once work is complete, a Code Compliance Certificate (CCC) would be applied for. The CCC would confirm the fire safety systems are all operating as required. The supermarket cannot open unless the CCC is issued.
"An exception would be if there are areas unaffected by the fire, it may be possible to partially open those areas under a certificate of public use (CPU) as long as it is safe to do so."
