Imported foods  

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Last updated: October 2023

​Foods imported for sale in Australia must comply with the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code). All imported foods must also comply with strict biosecurity requirements. Food importers are responsible for ensuring that all food they import complies with the relevant standards in the Code.

For all foods on sale in Australia, whether locally produced or imported, state and territory departments and agencies are responsible for enforcing the Code. Complaints about potentially non-compliant food, including imported food, can be directed to your relevant state or territory enforcement agency.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) administers a risk-based border inspection program—the Imported Food Inspection Scheme—to ensure that food importers only import food that is safe and compliant with the Code.  Please see Importing food into Australia on the DAFF website for more information.

As is the case with all countries, it is not practical to inspect every food item imported into Australia. FSANZ provides DAFF with advice on which foods pose a medium or high risk to public health and safety. This advice helps DAFF determine which foods are regularly inspected.

Taking an evidence-based approach to determine food safety risks, our risk advice to DAFF is prepared using  food and hazard pairing: e.g., bivalve molluscs and norovirus. Our imported food risk assessment document provides further details on how this risk assessment advice is prepared, including the types of information and data considered and the methodology used to determine the level of risk.

Download: FSANZ Imported food risk assessment document (PDF 620kb) | (Word 1.16mb)

Completed imported food risk statements

Food	Microorganism / analyte / contaminant	Is it medium to high risk?	Date of assessment ​(latest update)​
​Bean curd	​Bacillus cereus (PDF 57 kb) (Word 498 kb)	​No	​November 2016
​​Beef - fresh raw beef and beef products ​ ​	​Campylobacter jejuni/coli (PDF 451 kb) (Word 70 kb)	​No	​September 2017 ​ ​
	​Salmonella spp. (PDF 488 kb) (Word 78 kb)	​Yes
	​Escherichia coli Shiga toxin-producing (PDF 414 kb) (Word 83 kb)	​Yes
​Berries - dried, ready-to-eat	​Hepatitis A virus​ (PDF 267​​ kb) (Word 82 kb)	​Yes	July 2021
​Berries – fresh and frozen, ready-to-eat​	​Hepatitis A virus​ (PDF 773 kb) (Word 89 kb)​​	​Yes	June 2021​
​ ​ ​Bivalve molluscs ​ ​ ​	​Azaspiracid-group toxins  (PDF 778 kb)  (Word 77 kb)	​No	​January 2021 ​ ​
	​Brevetoxin-group toxins  (PDF 731 kb)  (Word 75 kb)	​No
	​Okadaic acid-group toxins  (PDF 786 kb)  (Word 91 kb)	​No
	​Hepatitis A virus (PDF 214 kb) (Word 54 kb)	​Yes	​July 2017 ​
	​Norovirus (PDF 207 kb) (Word 55 kb)	​Yes
	​Domoic acid (PDF 271 kb) (Word 84​ kb)​	​Yes	​June 2021​
	​Saxitoxin-group toxins (PDF 268 kb) (Word 88​ kb)​	​Yes
​Bivalve molluscs - ready-to-eat processed	​Listeria monocytogenes (PDF 596 kb) (Word 66 kb)	​Yes	​November 2016
​Brown seaweed of the Phaeophyceaeclass	​Iodine (PDF 629 kb) (Word 74 kb)	​Yes	​March 2016
​​Caffeine - pure and highly concentrated caffeine products	​​Caffeine (PDF 504 kb) (Word 64 kb)	​Yes	​March 2020
​Cassava chips - ready to eat	​Hydrocyanic acid (PDF 542 kb) (Word 65 kb)	​Yes	​March 2016
​Cooked poultry meat	​Listeria monocytogenes ​(PDF 711 kb)  (Word 89 kb)	​Yes	​September 2019
​Cheese (production includes a heat treatment step) ​ ​ ​ ​	​Brucella spp. (PDF 545 kb) (Word 52 kb)	​No	​July 2015 ​ ​ ​ ​
	​Mycobacterium bovis (PDF 544 kb) (Word 51 kb)	​No
	​Salmonella spp. (PDF 551 kb) (Word 65 kb)	​No
	​Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (PDF 554 kb) (Word 54 kb)	​No
	​Staphylococcal enterotoxin (PDF 553 kb) (Word 64 kb)	​No
​Cheese (production includes a heat treatment step) in which growth of Listeria monocytogenes can occur	​Listeria monocytogenes (PDF 595 kb) (Word 60 kb)	​Yes	​July 2015
​Cheese (production includes a heat treatment step) in which growth of Listeria monocytogenes will not occur	​Listeria monocytogenes (PDF 595 kb) (Word 59 kb)	​No	​July 2015
​Cheese - raw milk ​ ​ ​ ​	​Brucella spp. (PDF 557 kb) (Word 56 kb)	​Yes	​July 2015 ​ ​ ​ ​
	​Mycobacterium bovis (PDF 545 kb) (Word 54 kb)	​Yes
	​Salmonella spp. (PDF 545 kb) (Word 54 kb)	​Yes
	​Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (PDF 545 kb) (Word 54 kb)	Yes
	​Staphylococcal enterotoxin (PDF 545 kb) (Word 54 kb)	​No
Cheese - raw milk cheese in which growth of Listeria monocytogenes will not occur	​Listeria monocytogenes (PDF 545 kb) (Word 54 kb)	​No	​July 2015
Coconut - dried	​Salmonella spp. (PDF 504 kb) (Word 57 kb)	​No	​November 2016
​Cooked poultry meat	​​Listeria monocytogenes ​(PDF 711 kb)  (Word 89 kb)	​Yes	​​September 2019
​Crustaceans - ready-to-eat cooked ​	​Salmonella spp. (PDF 512 kb) (Word 60 kb)	​No	​November 2016 ​
	​Staphylococcal enterotoxin (PDF 510 kb) (Word 59 kb)	​No
​Crustaceans - ready-to-eat cooked crustaceans in which growth of Listeria monocytogenes can occur	​Listeria monocytogenes ​(PDF 731 kb) (Word 90kb)	​Yes	​March 2020
​Crustaceans - ready-to-eat cooked crustaceans in which growth of ​Listeria ​monocytogenes will not occur	​Listeria monocytogenes ​(PDF 721 kb) (Word 79 kb)	​No	​March 2020
​Dates	Hepatitis A virus (HAV)  (PDF 409 kb) (Word 171 kb)	​Yes	​September 2023
	​Salmonella spp. ​(​PDF 428 kb) (Word 111 kb)	​No	September 2023
​Finfish - processed ready-to-eat	​Listeria monocytogenes (PDF 472 kb) (Word 61 kb)	Yes	​March 2016
Fish and fish products	​Histamine (PDF 84 kb) (Word 569 kb)	​Yes	June 2016​
​Goji berries	​Agricultural chemicals (PDF 472 kb) (Word 52 kb)	​No	​September 2015
​Ham - uncooked slow dry cured ready-to-eat ham ​ ​ ​	​Listeria monocytogenes (PDF kb) (Word 56 kb)	​No	​March 20​16 ​ ​ ​
	​Salmonella spp. (PDF 558 kb) (Word 64 kb)	​No
	​Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (PDF 467 kb) (Word 56 kb)	​No
	​Staphylococcal enterotoxin (PDF 556 kb) (Word 55 kb)	​No
​Kava (Piper methysticum)​	​(PDF - 828 kb) (Word 96 kb)​	​Yes	​March 2022
​Marinara mix ​ ​	​Salmonella spp. (PDF 514 kb) (Word 60 kb)	​No	​November 2016 ​ ​
	​Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (PDF 549 kb) (Word 59 kb)	​No
	​Staphylococcal enterotoxin (PDF 557 kb) (Word 62 kb)	​No
​Meat - ready-to-eat cooked and processed meat products ​ ​ ​	​Listeria monocytogenes (PDF 459 kb) (Word 67 kb)	​Yes	​June 2016 ​ ​ ​
	​Salmonella spp. (PDF 425 kb) (Word 62 kb)	​No
	​Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (PDF 564 kb) (Word 65 kb)	​No
	​Staphylococcal enterotoxin (PDF 517 kb) (Word 60 kb)	​No
​Meat - ready-to-eat cooked pig meat	​Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (PDF 182 kb) (Word 56 kb)	​No	​August 2014
​Meat - uncooked ready-to-eat dried meat ​ ​ ​	​Listeria monocytogenes  (PDF 184 kb) (Word 59 kb)	​No	​August 2014 ​ ​ ​
	​Salmonella spp.  (PDF 151 kb) (Word 57 kb)	​Yes
	​Escherichia coli Shiga toxin-producing  (PDF 182 kb) (Word 57 kb)	​Yes
	​Staphylococcal enterotoxin (PDF 196 kb) (Word 56 kb)	​No
​Melons - whole	​Listeria monocytogenes (PDF 347 kb) (Word 93 kb)	​Yes	​March 2023
	​Salmonella spp. (PDF 366 kb) (Word 91 kb)​	​Yes
​ ​Melons - cut, ready-to-eat	​​Listeria monocytogenes (PDF 375 kb) (Word 96 kb)	​Yes	​March 2023​
	​​Salmonella spp. (PDF 366 kb) (Word 92 kb)​	​Yes
​​Milk - human milk and human milk products	​30 different hazards assessed	​Yes for 15 of the hazards	​​October 2019
​Paprika and pepper - dried	​Salmonella spp.  (PDF 509 kb) (Word 57 kb)	​​Yes	​November 2016
​Peanuts/pistachios	​Aflatoxins (PDF 423 kb) (Word 60 kb)	​Yes	​June 2016
​Pomegranate arils - dried, ready-to-eat	​Hepatitis A virus (PDF 243 kb) (Word 80​ kb)	​​​Yes	​July 2021
Pomegranate arils – fresh and frozen, ready-to-eat​​	​​Hepatitis A virus (PDF 246 kb) (Word 81​ kb)​	​Yes	​June 2021
​Poultry - ready-to-eat cooked poultry pâté and poultry livers ​	​Listeria monocytogenes (PDF 184 kb) (Word 58 kb)	​Yes	​August 2014 ​
	​Salmonella spp. (PDF 178 kb) (Word 53 kb)	​No
​Prawns and shrimp - ready-to-eat cooked ​ ​​	​Aeromonas spp. (PDF 515 kb) (Word 59 kb)	​No	​November 2016 ​ ​
	​Vibrio cholerae (PDF 514 kb) (Word 60 kb)	​Yes
	​Vibrio parahaemolyticus (PDF 520 kb) (Word 61 kb)	​No
​Pufferfish (fugu) - whole or portions, fresh, frozen, dried or canned	Tetrodotoxin (PDF 631 kb) (Word 122 kb)​​​	​Yes	​June 2022
​Sesame seeds and sesame seed products	​Salmonella spp. (PDF 510 kb) (Word 60 kb)	​Yes	​November 2016
Sausages - uncooked ready-to-eat sausages​	Listeria monocytogenes (PDF 184 kb) (Word 59 kb)	No	August 2014
	Salmonella spp. (PDF 180 kb) (Word 57 kb)	Yes
	Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (PDF 160 kb) (Word 58 kb)	Yes
	Staphylococcal enterotoxin (PDF 177 kb) (Word 56 kb)	No
​​Sausages - uncooked ready-to-eat spreadable sausages	​ Listeria monocytogenes (PDF 183 kb) (Word 58 kb)	​Yes	​August 2014​
	​Salmonella spp. (PDF 177 kb) (Word 56 kb)	​Yes
	​Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (PDF 156 kb) (Word 58 kb)	​Yes
	​Staphylococcal enterotoxin (PDF 174 kb) (Word 55 kb)	​Yes
​Seaweed - hijiki	​Inorganic arsenic (PDF 458 kb) (Word 70 kb)	​Yes	​June 2016
​Supplementary sports foods ​	​​Higenamine  (PDF 603 kb) (Word 53 kb)	​​Yes	​December 2021
	​​Octopamine (PDF 600 kb) (Word 66 kb)	​​Yes	​July 2020​

This table will be updated as new assessments are finalised and provided to the DAFF.