Posts from the "Latest News" category
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.
Read Article →AU/NZ: Food borne illness in Australia falling except Salmonella which is increasing
Australian Broadcasting Corporation:Â Despite more than four million Australians getting sick from contaminated food each year, the overall national rate of food poisoning is falling. Except, that is, when it comes to Salmonella.
A glance at Victoria’s Department of Health figures for example, shows a 50 per cent increase in salmonella in poisoning since 2012. Queensland has seen a doubling of Salmonella poisoning cases in the past 12 months.
Salmonella can be found in soil and water, and multiplies rapidly if food is not handled properly, including washing and refrigeration. It is one of the reasons the independent Fresh Produce Safety Centre Australia New Zealand has released new guidelines for everyone involved in food to try to lift standards.
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UN: Promoting safe produce and quality in Samoa
United Nations:Â The Samoa Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are partnering to promote fresh produce safety and quality in Samoa. Consumers have a right to expect that the foods purchased and consumed will be safe and of high quality. Consumers should also have a right to voice their opinions about the food control procedures, standards and activities that governments and industry use to ascertain that the food supply has these characteristics.
To raise awareness of fresh produce safety and quality in Samoa, FAO and the Samoa Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc [offered] a training workshop in Apia from July 15 and 16 on fresh produce safety and quality in Samoa.
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