Posts from the "Latest News" category
US: USDA says pesticide levels in produce, other foods not a threat
Food Safety News: There’s been scant reaction to USDA’s release Monday of its annual Pesticide Data Program report. The report again confirms that pesticide residues are not a food safety concern for the United States. The PDP report on data from samples collected in 2014 found our food is safe, with pesticide residue levels low enough to pose no health risk for even infants and children. Maybe because the annual PDP report has become so routine, reaction has been muted from consumer and other groups that typically weigh in on such topics.
Read Article →US: Faster checkout with invisible barcodes? New Seasons will give it a try
Oregon Live: Nearly everything on supermarket shelves comes with a barcode. Those black-and-white lines make checkout straightforward and reliably consistent. Not necessarily fast, though. Those tiny barcodes often take a second or two for scanners to locate, even with skilled checkers running them across the scanner.
Read Article →AU: Recall of 120g containers of Beta Wholesalers pine nuts after they were found to be peanuts
The Courier Mail: A Brisbane wholesale company has urgently recalled a product over fears of allergic reactions that could “put customers in danger†due to incorrect labelling. Queensland Health has been alerted to the issue by Country Fresh Food Products after plastic containers of pine nuts were found to actually be peanuts.
Read Article →
US: New antimicrobial wash for food processing
Fresh Plaza: Scientists in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, have developed an antimicrobial wash for fruit and vegetables, which can reduce the risk of food-borne pathogens contaminating fresh produce in food processing operations.
Joshua Gurtler, an Agricultural Research Service scientist at the Eastern Regional Research Center and his collaborators at NatureSeal, Inc., tested hundreds of antimicrobial formulations before they found the right combination of lactic acid, fruit acids, and hydrogen peroxide.
Read Article →AU: What are food-grade lubricants?
foodprocessing.com.au: How can a lubricant become a food additive? Whether through leaks, excessive lubrication or messy application during maintenance, food-grade lubricants can inadvertently become indirect food additives. In today’s fast-paced production environment, lubrication safety audits, selecting and implementing premium-quality food-grade lubricants and proper lubrication programs are all proactive steps towards a safe, efficient and hygienic processing facility, all while increasing profitability.
Read Article →
US: Bacteriophages: an old antibiotic alternative becomes new again
Food Safety News: The increasing global attention to the threat of antibiotic resistance has spurred research and development of antimicrobial alternatives. Once such alternative is bacteriophages.
Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and kill bacteria. There are thousands of different types and they are so abundant in the environment – an estimated 1030 live on the planet – that “we eat thousands of phages a day,†says Manan Sharma, a research microbiologist with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.
Read Article →NZ: The packaging pitch: capitalizing on clean
Fresh Fruit Portal: A few columns back, I wrote about how food marketing terminology was changing with words like ‘no hidden nasties’ making their way into advertising and packaging. There is another word becoming de rigueur so in this column we are going to explore the word ‘clean’ and what it tells us about consumers.
The concept of ‘clean eating’ is an interesting one. If you Google the term, the results show a range of concepts centered around eating real, healthy food in a mindful way.
Read Article →AU: National Residue Survey results
Apple & Pear Australia Ltd: The apple and pear industry has once again shown high compliance with chemical residue testing as the results of the 2014-15 National Residue Survey are announced. Every year the National Residue Survey tests Australian apple and pears for a range of chemical residues and environmental contaminants. It has been operating since 1998 and is funded by the statutory levies on apples and pears
Read Article →
US: Trials aim to shed light on wash-water disinfectants for mangoes
Center for Produce Safety: Several studies have been published that examine the interactions among water, disinfectants, organic matter and pathogens with various types of produce in packinghouse wash water. But there’s little, if any, published literature that examines those same interactions in a mango packing facility, said Mary Anne Amalaradjou, DVM, PhD, and an assistant professor of animal science at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.
And that’s what drove her to the project titled, “Impact of wash water disinfectants on Salmonella enterica transfer and survival in mango packing facility water tank operations.”
Read Article →
NZ: Consumers should take confidence from handling of 1080 criminal blackmail threat
Ministry for Primary Industries: Domestic and international consumers of New Zealand food should take confidence in the way the criminal blackmail threat to contaminate infant and other formula with 1080 was handled, MPI Director-General Martyn Dunne said today.
“What we saw in response to this threat was multiple government agencies working together with dairy companies and retailers with a common purpose – to protect consumers.†Mr Dunne was commenting following the guilty plea in Auckland High Court today to 2 counts of blackmail.
Read Article →