Eating and drinking: Health, nutrition and food safety policy and procedure

This policy outlines the commitment of Early Learning Victoria to safe food handling and the offering of healthy food and drink options to children.

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Early Learning Victoria is dedicated to safe food handling. We offer healthy food and drink options that promote children’s health, wellbeing, learning and development.

Working closely with families, we support children with food allergies, food intolerances, dietary requirements or restrictions, and specific cultural or religious practices.

1. Scope

This policy and its procedures apply to anyone involved in handling, preparing, storing or serving food at Early Learning Victoria.

It also applies to families, staff, management and visitors of Early Learning Victoria centres. This includes volunteers, students on placement and contractors or labour hire employees of Early Learning Victoria.

2. Policy statement

This policy describes procedures at Early Learning Victoria centres for the provision of healthy foods and drinks for children, according to the Australian Dietary Guidelines.

2.1 Requirements

In Victoria, all food businesses, including Early Learning Victoria centres, must comply with the Food Act 1984 (the Act). This includes requirements for food safety. The Act also requires food premises to comply with the Australian and New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code).

Early Learning Victoria centres are classified as a class 1 food premises and must comply with the Act and the Code in kitchen design and operations. All class 1 premises must have a Food Safety Supervisor.

In Early Learning Victoria centres, the Food Safety Supervisor is the centre director and/or the cook.

Under the Code (Standard 3.2.2A), an Early Learning Victoria Food Safety Supervisor must:

  • be able to address food handling hazards
  • have a Statement of Attainment from a Registered Training Organisation (RTO)
  • have the authority and be available to supervise food handlers at the Early Learning Victoria centre
  • ensure that food safety practices and regulations are properly followed in a food establishment
  • ensure records are maintained relating to receiving, storage, processing, display and transportation of food (see the Records management policy).

All staff involved in food preparation or service must complete appropriate food safety training. The Food Safety Supervisor must hold a nationally recognised certificate (SITXFSA005 and SITXFSA006), renewed every five years.

Educators serving food must complete basic food handling training, allergy awareness training (All About Allergens for Children’s Education and Care), and anaphylaxis management training (ASCIA e-training) annually.

All food handlers must maintain skills and knowledge in safe food handling, hygiene and contamination prevention. It is recommended they undertake ‘refresher’ training every 2 to 3 years. Records of all training are kept on each staff member’s record for compliance.

2.2 Background and information

Early Learning Victoria centres serve meals throughout the day to meet children’s nutritional needs.

Meals are relaxed and engaging. This allows educators and children to have meaningful interactions and a positive experience.

Food at Early Learning Victoria centres is typically prepared onsite and will provide children with at least 50% of their recommended daily intake of essential nutrients. There may be some circumstances where food is prepared offsite and transported to Early Learning Victoria centres. When this happens, Early Learning Victoria will ensure compliance at all times with all relevant legislation, regulation and this policy.

Food is prepared following the Early Learning Victoria Food safety program, with all kitchens and food preparation areas following Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ). They also follow relevant local regulations, including council registrations and inspections (see the Food safety program). Early Learning Victoria staff are trained and knowledgeable in food handling, prioritising food safety at every stage.

3. Actions and procedures

3.1 Responsibilities of families

Early Learning Victoria encourages families to support their children to eat well. This includes helping to educate their children about the importance of nutritious food for their long-term health and wellbeing.

Early Learning Victoria staff work with families to support children to build healthy, positive eating habits.

Families need to:

  • list their child’s dietary needs on their enrolment form. This includes cultural or religious dietary considerations, strong dislikes and health-related restrictions. Families can also tell the centre about these needs by filling out a Dietary requirements information form (260KB, DOCX)
  • make sure the information stays current by letting the centre know about any changes as soon as possible
  • work with the centre director to develop a Risk minimisation plan if their child has a medical condition affected by food (see the Management of medical conditions policy)
  • read the centre’s weekly menu and give feedback to Early Learning Victoria centre staff if needed.

Families with young children who are bottle-feeding

Families with bottle-fed children need to:

  • provide the right number of bottles needed for their child each day (whether the child is drinking formula or breast milk)
  • for powdered formula, make sure the bottles are sterilised and filled with cooled boiled water
  • for formula, supply the daily requirement of formula in containers labelled with the child’s name, the date supplied and the expiry date on the original tin or sachet
  • make sure any formula powder supplied has not passed its due date
  • for expressed breast milk, supply the daily requirement in multiple small quantities to prevent waste. Containers or bottles must be clearly labelled with the child’s name and the date the breast milk was expressed
  • for children bottle-feeding with cow’s milk or soy milk, provide a sterilised, labelled, empty bottle (Early Learning Victoria centres supply these milk options)
  • put their child’s bottles in the room fridge when they arrive and collect any unused bottles from the fridge when they pick up their child.

Note that centre staff will wash used bottles and put them in the child’s locker, ready to be sterilised at home.

3.2 Responsibilities of staff

The following procedures must be followed for feeding and for catering for children of all ages at Early Learning Victoria centres.

Procedures to support babies and children at mealtimes, including bottle safety and storage

General
  • Ensure safe bottle-feeding and eating practices for babies. This includes by holding babies in a semi-upright position when bottle-feeding and following bottle safety and storage procedures (outlined below) for handling, storing and preparing breast milk and formula.
  • Check the child’s name and date is accurate and the expiry date the family has given has not passed.
  • In consultation with families, start offering suitable solid foods to children from about 6 months.
  • In consultation with families, offer children cooled, pre-boiled water from about 6 months, and filtered or tap water from 12 months.
  • Support breastfeeding mothers by offering a comfortable, private area for breastfeeding or expressing milk.
  • Provide healthy food and drink choices based on Australian Dietary Guidelines.
Steps for heating and preparing formula
  1. Follow the handwashing procedure in the Food safety program before bottle preparation
  2. Prepare bottles in the preparation area of the room. Ensure benches in the ‘in-bottle’ preparation area have been sterilised.
  3. Warm the water in the bottle, using the bottle warmer on a low to medium setting and following manufacturer’s instructions.
  4. Unscrew the bottle collar and place it on the bench in a clean preparation space.
  5. Check the bottle and the powdered formula are labelled with the correct child’s name. Check the date is the correct date and the expiry date has not passed.
  6. Empty the correct amount of powdered formula into the bottle.
  7. Shake the bottle well to mix the formula and water.
  8. Test the temperature of the warmed formula by putting a few drops on the inside of your wrist before feeding.
  9. Discard any unused prepared formula immediately after feeding or if the bottle/breast milk is left at room temperature for more than 1 hour.
Steps for heating and preparing breast milk
  1. Follow the handwashing procedure before preparing breast milk (see the Food safety program).
  2. Warm breast milk by using a bottle warmer on the low setting, following the manufacturer’s instructions. You must thaw frozen breast milk first, following either of the methods outlined below. (Do not warm breast milk for longer than 10 minutes as bacteria can start to grow once the milk is warm.)
  3. Always shake the bottle, container or pouch gently and test the temperature of the warm breast milk by putting a few drops on the inside of your wrist before feeding.
  4. Discard any prepared unused breastmilk immediately after feeding.
Cleaning bottles
  • Used bottles should never be re-refrigerated or reheated. They should be emptied of any remaining milk/formula, rinsed with water, air-dried and put in the child’s bag to be sterilised at home.
Safe storage of breast milk
  • Store breast milk in fridges kept at 5°C or below. Containers or bottles must be stored on a shelf of the fridge, not in the door.
  • Keep breast milk refrigerated or frozen if it is not being immediately consumed.
Thawing frozen breast milk
  • In the fridge: Place frozen milk in the fridge until thawed. It can be stored for up to 24 hours in the fridge once thawed.
  • In warm water: Place the container of frozen breast milk in a bowl of warm (not boiling) water, swirling it until completely thawed and in liquid form.

4. Resources

Legislation and standards

  • Australian and New Zealand Food Standards Code
  • Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010
  • Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011
  • Education and Training Reform Act 2006
  • Food Act 1984
  • Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018
  • National Quality Standard, Quality area 2: Children’s health and safety
  • Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004
  • Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017
  • Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008
  • Administration of first aid policy and procedure
  • Anti-bias approach policy
  • Excursions, incursions and regular outings policy and procedure
  • Food allergy and preference procedure
  • Hygiene and cleaning policy
  • Incident, injury, trauma and illness policy
  • Infection control and immunisation policy
  • Management of medical conditions policy
  • Supervision of children policy

Early Learning Victoria resources

Training

Definitions

Allergen: A substance that can cause an allergic reaction.

Allergy: An immune system response to something in the environment (e.g. food, pollen or dust mites). These can be ingested, inhaled, injected or absorbed. Almost always, food needs to be ingested to cause a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis). However, measures should be in place so children avoid touching food they are allergic to.

Allergic reaction: A reaction to an allergen. Common signs and symptoms include one or more of the following.

Mild to moderate signs and symptoms include:

  • hives or welts
  • tingling mouth
  • swelling of the face, lips and eyes
  • abdominal pain, vomiting or diarrhoea (note that these are considered severe reactions to insects).

Anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction) signs and symptoms include:

  • difficult or noisy breathing
  • swelling of the tongue
  • swelling or tightness in the throat
  • difficulty talking or hoarse voice
  • wheeze or persistent cough
  • persistent dizziness or collapse
  • pale or floppy child (young children)
  • abdominal pain or vomiting.

Anaphylaxis: A severe, rapid and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. It affects normal functioning of the major body systems, particularly the respiratory or circulation systems.

Dietary needs: A child’s needs related to growth, development and allergies, to any specific cultural, religious or health requirements, and to personal preferences.

Food handler: (In relation to this policy) A person who directly engages in the handling of food, or who handles surfaces likely to be in contact with food (such as crockery, utensils, cooking equipment and surfaces) for a food business. Anyone who is working or volunteering in a food business (that is, all Early Learning Victoria centres), even irregularly, is considered a food handler. Early Learning Victoria centres must ensure all food handlers have adequate skills and knowledge of food safety and hygiene, in line with their work.

Food safety: (In relation to this policy) Ensuring food provided by the centre is fit for human consumption.

Food safety program: A written plan that details what an individual Early Learning Victoria centre does to ensure that the food it produces is safe for human consumption. A food safety program is an important tool for centres that handle, process or sell potentially hazardous foods, as it helps to maintain safe food handling practices and protect public health. It should identify potential hazards in all aspects of food handling. It should describe how these hazards can be controlled and/or monitored and the steps to take if a hazard is not being managed properly. A food safety program must also include the requirements for appropriate record-keeping.

Food safety supervisor: A person who:

  • has the ability and authority to supervise others who handle food at the premises to ensure safe food handling at all times
  • can recognise, prevent and alleviate food handling hazards at a premises
  • has a Statement of Attainment from an RTO that confirms competency in the required food safety standards.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ): A bi-national government agency responsible for developing and administering the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. The code details standards and requirements in areas such as food additives, food safety, labelling and genetically modified foods. Enforcement and interpretation of the Code is the responsibility of state and territory departments and food agencies in Australia and New Zealand.

Intolerance: Often confused with ‘allergy’, an intolerance is when someone’s body reacts negatively to a food or chemical, but that reaction does not involve their immune system.

Risk management plan: A risk management plan helps to identify areas of risk, and possible strategies to reduce these risks.

Sterilised: Something that has been treated so it is free from bacteria or other living microorganisms.

5. Authorisations and review

This policy is the responsibility of Early Learning Victoria. Contact: ELV@education.vic.gov.au

It was approved by the CEO, Early Learning Victoria, Department of Education on 13 March 2026.

Early Learning Victoria regularly reviews its policies and procedures. This policy is due for review on 13 March 2027, unless changes in legislation or Department of Education policy require it to be reviewed sooner.

Reviewed by Director, Early Learning ELV and Director Quality ELV.

Education & training

Updated

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