Posts from the "Latest News" category
AU: A hungrier, wealthier, choosier, smarter, riskier world: five challenges for Australian agriculture
The Conversation: You don’t need a crystal ball to know Australia’s rural industries will face significant change at global, national and local levels over the coming decades. This will create opportunities and challenges for small and large farms, and will affect rural lifestyles, agricultural landscapes and Australia’s society and economy.
In a new report, we describe this future through a series of interlinked “megatrends†set to hit Australia over the coming 20 years
Read Article →AU: ‘Halal inquiry’ not warranted but could help to eradicate myths: Australian Food and Grocery Council
ABC Rural: An inquiry into halal certification is not warranted but could be useful in eradicating myths, says Australia’s leading body for packaged food. Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) is presenting at a Senate inquiry, which began today, exploring third party certification schemes, including organic, kosher and genetically modified products.
Read Article →NZ: Stopping product recalls from becoming a car crash
The Register: Food recalls are handled by the Ministry of Primary Industries, those for medicines and medical devices are regulated by Medsafe, and motor vehicle recalls are listed by the NZ Transport Agency. Most recalls aren’t as dramatic as a car crash, but the idea behind them is to remove the product from consumers before it causes harm.
Read Article →US: The future of food safety: new markets for retailers
Progressive Grocer: On average, $10 million dollars is the cost of a recall on a food company. Add this to the fact that recalls have been doubling every year from the 2002-2014 period in the United States, and it should worry any stakeholder in the manufacturing and processing facilities. Yet many of them are surprisingly optimistic about the chance of a recall affecting business, and it’s their belief of invincibility that leaves them unprepared to weather a storm when one blows up.
Read Article →AU/NZ: Guidelines for Fresh Produce Food Safety
The Fresh Produce Safety Centre (FPSC) Australia & New Zealand launched their much anticipated Guidelines for Fresh Produce Food Safety at the University of Sydney on 11Â August 2015.
The new guidelines provide Australian and New Zealand fresh produce industries with up-to-date information on assessing and managing food safety risks, incorporating the latest in scientific research and industry experience.
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CA: Potato tampering mystery remains unsolved
The Guardian: As the old saying goes, it’s not adversity that defines a person or group but rather how they deal with it in moving forward. That’s the perspective P.E.I.’s [Prince Edward Island, Canada’s] potato industry is taking after a nearly year-long food tampering mystery that has led to millions of dollars in upgrades, a $500,000 reward and ongoing criminal investigation.
Read Article →US: Food safety concerns are changing how consumers shop and retailers stock food
Food Navigator USA: Americans increasingly are concerned about food safety and it is changing the way they shop, retailers stock and manufacturers produce and package food and beverages, according to a new survey.
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US: New study says keeping wildlife habitat next to farm fields is perfectly safe.
Monterey County Weekly: Nearly a decade ago, a deadly outbreak of E. coli linked to bagged spinach grown and processed on the [California] Central Coast sickened more than 205 people and killed three.
The outbreak triggered some major changes to farming and food safety practices, originating on Salinas Valley farm fields.
Growers formed the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, a voluntary set of guidelines designed to prevent pathogens from coming into contact with salad greens.
Those guidelines are largely based on common sense: Ensure there are enough portable toilets and sinks for field workers at their work sites; don’t pick salad greens from a flooded area; don’t apply raw animal manure as compost.
Read Article →AU: CSIRO joins global traceability community
Food and Drink Business: CSIRO has become the first Australian member of the Global Food Traceability Centre which was launched in 2013 to implement food traceability across global networks and supply chains.
CSIRO’s research leader for food safety, Dr Kari Gobius, said food traceability wasn’t just about helping manage a food safety emergency or product recall, though it could significantly reduce costs if it did happen.
“Traceability also has less obvious but proven economic benefits such as improved risk management, supply chain efficiencies and confidence, inventory accuracy, brand reputation and access to new markets and customers,†Gobius said.
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AU/NZ: Fresh Produce Safety Conference resounding successs
12 August 2015
At the Fresh Produce Safety Centre Australia & New Zealand conference on 12 August 2015 at the University of Sydney, over 100 delegates heard a wide range of presentations on recent research findings on fresh produce safety from local and international researchers and industry speakers.
Titled Advancing research and outreach for safe, fresh food, the conference addressed the issues of microbial contamination of fresh berries and leafy greens, and three in-depth case studies that are relevant to the fresh produce industries in Australia and New Zealand.
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