Posts from the "Food Standards" category
FSANZ: Primary Production and Processing Requirements for High-Risk Horticulture
FSANZ extends submission deadline to 25 MarchFood Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has extended the deadline for the call for submissions on primary production and processing (PPP) requirements to address food safety for high-risk horticultural products to 25 March 2020. More information is here. To make a submission to FSANZ, visit here.PPP standards are incorporated into Chapter 4 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code and apply to Australia only. Chapter 4 Primary Production and Processing Standards do not apply in New Zealand. FPSC is asking the wider fresh produce industry to feed-back information and suggestions on this proposal to FPSC. If you would like to discuss your submission or issues raised, please contact the FPSC Chairman Michael Worthington on +61 409 181 034 or FPSC Executive Officer Emma Walters on +61 419 204 454.
Read Article →AU-NZ: Primary Production and Processing Requirements for High-Risk Horticulture
A reminder to the fresh produce industry that the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) call for submissions on primary production and processing requirements to address food safety for high-risk horticultural products closes on 18 March 2020. More information is here. To make a submission to FSANZ, visit here.The Fresh Produce Safety Centre is on the Standards Development Advisory Group convened by FSANZ for information and advice on this issue. FSANZ is seeking submissions, particularly around the questions in the call for submission document. FSANZ is also seeking advice if there are any relevant area(s) that should be addressed which may be missing from the information provided in the call for submissions.FPSC is asking the wider fresh produce industry to feed-back information and suggestions on this proposal to FPSC. Please do so by COB 16 March 2020. If you would like to discuss your submission or issues raised, please contact the FPSC Chairman Michael Worthington on +61 409 181 034 or FPSC Executive Officer Emma Walters on +61 419 204 454.
Read Article →FPSC A&NZ monthly newsletter out now!
The March 2020 edition of the Fresh Produce Safety Centre Australia & New Zealand newsletter has just been released!
Click here to view the latest newsletter.
Stay up to date with what’s happening in the Fresh Produce Safety community by signing up for the monthly newsletter.
Read Article →Webinar – Innovation Agenda: Opportunities to Improve the Audit Process
Date and Time: 10-11am (AEDT), Tuesday 10 March 2020
Webinar – Innovation Agenda: Opportunities to Improve the Audit Process – a view from Lucy MacLennan from Red Tractor
Presented by the FPSC A&NZ and Freshcare.
Register here.
This webinar will be in two parts: the first part will be an overview of the UK’s Red Tractor and its assurance scheme for fresh produce. The second part will be Lucy’s personal views about the opportunities to improve the audit process, as part of a project she is undertaking for a Nuffield Scholarship.
About the Speaker: Lucy MacLennan is a specialist consultant to the food industry having worked as a food technologist for more than 20 years. Her work has taken her around the world improving the quality and safety of fresh produce as well as ambient grocery products and high care chilled prepared foods.She is currently a 2020 Nuffield Scholar, having previously obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Agrifood from the University of Nottingham, an MBA from Cranfield University and her undergraduate degree BSc (Hons) in Nutrition and Food Science from the University of Surrey.Lucy’s career has seen her work for leading UK retailers such as Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury’s Supermarkets, as well as working extensively throughout their supply bases. Her consultancy work has led to the development of the Marks & Spencer Select Grower standard which has step changed food safety standards within the fresh produce industry.As well as her consultancy work, Lucy is Chief Executive of The Organic Research Centre, an organisation which seeks to redesign and deliver better farming practices based on organic and agroecological principles. She is also Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Fresh Produce Board Committee at Red Tractor Assurance.
This webinar will be in two parts:
Part A – Red Tractor Assurance is the leading farm assurance scheme in the UK. It is one of the biggest brands in the UK, with its logo appearing on almost £15bn food sold. The scheme covers 6 industry sectors: beef and lamb, poultry, dairy, crops, pigs and fresh produce. Lucy is Chairman of the Fresh Produce Sector Board and Non Executive Director for Red Tractor and will provide an overview of the state of the fresh produce sector in the UK and how Red Tractor has responded and shaped its strategy accordingly. In addition she will provide an overview of how the fresh produce standard is managed and implemented.
Part B – Lucy has built a wealth of experience developing GAP standards for UK retailers and has seen first hand where they work well but also the issues associated with audit and assurance schemes. Her perception is that food safety audits are currently viewed as something of a necessary evil within supply chains – certification is a market entry requirement so the process is tolerated rather than really used by anyone to improve standards on farm. But auditing on one day of the year can provide a false sense of year round compliance particularly regarding food safety. She believes that there is an opportunity farm businesses to take more responsibility for their own continuous improvement of agricultural practices and that with improved attitudes, ownership of the challenge and building knowledge, ultimately the need for external audit could be reduced – or even eliminated and instead more emphasis should be placed on internal audit and leadership culture. It is this opportunity that Lucy is exploring as part of her studies for her Nuffield Farming Scholarship. In the course of her studies she will explore different fresh produce food safety standards around the world but in addition she will explore how audit has developed in other industries such as medicine, finance and the military in order to see whether there are opportunities to learn from their experience.
Register here.
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AU-NZ: Primary Production and Processing Requirements for High-Risk Horticulture
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has called for submissions to consider primary production and processing requirements to address food safety for high-risk horticultural products. Submissions are now open and close on 18 March 2020. More information is here.FSANZ: “FSANZ has raised a proposal, Primary Production and Processing Requirements for High-risk Horticulture (P1052) to consider the development of a primary production and processing (PPP) standard for high-risk horticulture as part of a broader review of chapter 3 and 4 of the Food Standards Code.
We are currently seeking comment from the community, growers, industry and other interested parties on a first call for submissions. The period for comment closes at 6pm (Canberra time) Wednesday 18 March 2020.
This call for submissions will seek information on the current environment and potential options for regulatory and non-regulatory measures to manage high risk horticulture.”
FPSC encourages industry to review the documentation provided by FSANZ, and to make submissions as appropriate, by the deadline of 18 March. To make a submission, visit here.FPSC will provide updates on this issue over the coming weeks.
Read Article →FPSC A&NZ monthly newsletter out now!
The February 2020 edition of the Fresh Produce Safety Centre Australia & New Zealand newsletter has just been released!
Click here to view the latest newsletter.
Stay up to date with what’s happening in the Fresh Produce Safety community by signing up for the monthly newsletter.
Read Article →FPSC A&NZ monthly newsletter out now!
The December 2019 edition of the Fresh Produce Safety Centre Australia & New Zealand newsletter has just been released!
Stay up to date with what’s happening in the Fresh Produce Safety community by signing up for the monthly newsletter.
Read Article →FR: Australia and New Zealand Create a GFSI Local Group to Elevate Food Safety and Consumer Trust
PR Newswire: The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is pleased to announce the formation of a Local Group in Australia and New Zealand as part of its regional outreach model. The new group, GFSI AusNZ, is the seventh GFSI Local Group, joining existing groups in Japan, China, Europe, US-Canada, Mexico and South Latam. Fifty local industry members have expressed interest in participating in the group, whose Steering Committee already comprises leading retailers, manufacturers and food service companies including Woolworths Group, The Coca-Cola Company, Coles Supermarkets, Kerry, Campbell Arnotts, Fonterra, McDonalds and Goodman Fielder.
Read Article →NZ: New regulations proposed to strengthen food recalls and manage risks
New Zealand Food Safety: New Zealand Food Safety today announced it is seeking feedback on proposals to strengthen food recalls and improve risk-based plans and programmes. Head of New Zealand Food Safety, Bryan Wilson, says the consultation is about setting clear expectations for food businesses in preparation for and during a recall, as well as providing more certainty by making the food safety requirements clearer and more accessible to all parties involved in the food system.
Read Article →US: History, development, and current status of food safety systems worldwide
Oxford University Press: Immediately following the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box outbreak caused by Escherichia coli O157:H7, the United States began to look for a more robust regulatory food safety system than previously employed. In the same time frame in the United Kingdom, an outbreak of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) eroded public trust in the food safety systems of Western Europe. As a result, there was increased interest in implementing the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system worldwide.
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