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“For us, food safety is about people – their health, their trust and sometimes their lives. It’s about applying scientific knowledge in real-world settings to protect those we serve.”
Kent Mincherton
Head of Food Products & Performance, ISS Australia & New Zealand
Working alongside Kent, Head of Food Safety Sonia Lee ensures standards translate into consistent, practical application across sites.
“Standards only matter if they hold up in real environments. Our role is to make sure they are understood, applied and repeatable, regardless of the site, team or complexity.”
In New Zealand, Tobie Lindsey-Stuart, Health and Safety and Food Safety Manager, sees that accountability play out across the nation’s most distinct food service environments.
“Whether we’re serving a school student or an aged care resident, food directly shapes their day – concentration, energy, health, dignity. Getting it right is foundational to the outcome we’re there to deliver, whether that’s supporting learning, wellbeing or quality of life.”
Continuous improvement also focuses on making food safety easier to manage in practice. For example, across Defence sites, ISS has seen strong adoption of Safe Food Pro, a digital food safety management platform that enables teams to record checks, monitor compliance and identify potential issues in real time.
"Having food safety information available digitally gives teams greater visibility and helps us respond earlier when something needs attention," says Food Safety Manager Trampas Carpenter. "It reduces paperwork and makes it easier to embed food safety into day-to-day operations."
"We make safety part of the day's rhythm," Kent adds. "It's about equipping teams to act, not just to follow procedures, but understand why they matter."
“Consistency is built through clear frameworks, defined controls and leaders who take ownership of the outcome,” says Kent.
Long-term partnerships have enabled ISS to build strong site-level capability while maintaining clear standards across diverse operations. The challenge is not designing the framework. It's ensuring those standards are applied effectively in different environments, by different teams, every day.
“While audits and verification provide important measures, food safety is also reflected in how teams operate the quality of conversations on site, early escalation and the prevention of issues before they occur,” Sonia reminds us.
“No two sites are identical,” adds Tobie. “Our role is to deliver the same standard every time – and ensure teams understand why that standard matters.”
A shared responsibility
Food safety relies on a chain of controls across the full process from supplier approval and receival through to preparation, service and verification.
“We already know what safe food looks like,” says Sonia. “The challenge is delivering it consistently – every site, every shift, every meal.”
Consistency relies on teams who understand the controls, take ownership and act early to escalate and resolve issues before they impact service. This builds trust with clients, communities and the people who rely on these services daily.
The standard we set
For us, food safety is about understanding and managing risk and building and maintaining trust – the foundation on which every meal is served.
“The standard we walk past is the standard we accept,” says Kent. “We work in partnership with our clients and recognise that they entrust us with the wellbeing of their people – a responsibility we are committed to every day.”
Because when food is delivered safely, consistently and with care, confidence follows, allowing the people we serve to focus on what matters most to them.
