Day: 23 November 2015

NZ: New agreements set to boost education and business between New Zealand and Vietnam

ExpatForum: New Zealand and Vietnam have launched a new era in bilateral relations which will create opportunities in terms of education, business and work.

‘This is an ambitious programme aimed at ensuring our relationship continues to go from strength to strength,’ said New Zealand Prime Minister John Keys after a visit to the country.

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Day: 23 November 2015

AU: New qualification for food industry professionals

SAI Global: Available from 1 January 2016, the 10140NAT Diploma of Food Safety Quality Assurance Management is a unique, nationally recognised qualification specifically designed for professionals working with the food industry in Operations, Food Safety and Quality Assurance roles.

The new diploma was launched in response to a growing gap in the Food Processing Training Package qualifications for food industry quality and compliance professionals, and to help overcome a national skills shortage this is creating.

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Day: 23 November 2015

US: All five convicted former Peanut Corporation of America managers now in federal custody

Food Safety News: All five people convicted in the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) criminal case are now in federal custody.

Peanut butter and peanut paste from that PCA plant was contaminated with Salmonella, causing an outbreak in 2008-09 that sickened thousands of people and led to nine deaths.

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Day: 23 November 2015

AU: Frozen berry sales slowly recovering, says Patties Foods

Fresh Fruit Portal: The head of a company embroiled in an Australian food safety scare earlier this year says frozen berry products are improving every week, although sales are still below comparative levels in 2014.

Patties Foods managing director Stephen Chaur told AAP while no direct link had actually been found between his group’s berry products and a Hepatitis A outbreak, the category was still “underperforming”.

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Day: 23 November 2015

US: Multistate outbreak of Salmonella Poona infections linked to imported cucumbers

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:As of November 18, 2015, 838 people infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Poona have been reported from 38 [US] states. Among people for whom information is available, illnesses started on dates ranging from July 3, 2015 to November 1, 2015. Ill people range in age from less than 1 year to 99, with a median age of 18. Fifty-seven percent of ill people are female. Among 601 people with available information, 165 (27%) report being hospitalized. Four deaths have been reported.

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