Posts from the "Latest News" category
NZ: New Zealand, Vietnam step up food safety cooperation
Voice of Vietnam:Â Vietnam and New Zealand will spur food safety cooperation, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat at a recent meeting with New Zealand’s Minister for Food Safety and Associate Minister for Primary Industries Jo Goodhew in Hanoi.
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EU: Relevance of microbial finished product testing in food safety management
Journal of Food Control: The relevance of finished product testing is described for three case studies (canned food, chocolate and cooked ham). Finished product testing is often not very effective for controlling food safety. Food safety management systems and preventive approaches are more effective and can reduce finished product testing. Finished product testing may be used for process and product verification.
Read Article →UK: Food fraudsters targeting oregano a ‘major problem’
Food Manufacture: Food fraudsters are substituting dried oregano with other herbs, such as olive and myrtle leaves, reflecting a “major problem†in the herb and spices sector, according to Professor Chris Elliott.
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US: Latest LGMA annual report shows lowest citations on record
LMGA:Â The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement just released its 2014/15 Annual Report detailing results of the mandatory government audits conducted during this past fiscal year. The findings show that out of nearly 75,000 food safety checkpoints audited, a total of 370 citations were issued. This is the lowest number of citations issued in the history of the LGMA and represents less than half a percent of the total checkpoints verified during all LGMA audits.
Read Article →US: Celebrity chefs cooked when it comes to food safety
Herald Mail Media: During the past eight years, I have trained nearly 10,000 people for food manager certifications nationally and internationally. On a weekly basis, someone brings up a celebrity chef and talks about what he or she viewed on a televised program. Bam! I have to undo the damage that’s been done.
In other words, if a huge celebrity chef can do it on TV, why can’t I? Let me tell you, Gordon Ramsay’s primary responsibility when filming “Hell’s Kitchen†isn’t food safety, it’s entertainment.
Read Article →AU: Microbiological safety and food handling practices of seed sprout products in the Australian state of Victoria
Journal of Food Protection:Â Seed sprouts have been implicated as vehicles for numerous foodborne outbreaks worldwide. Seed sprouts pose a unique food safety concern because of the ease of microbiological seed contamination, the inherent ability of the sprouting process to support microbial growth, and their consumption either raw or lightly cooked.
To examine seed sprout safety in the Australian state of Victoria, a survey was conducted to detect specific microbes in seed sprout samples and to investigate food handling practices relating to seed sprouts. A total of 298 seed sprout samples were collected from across 33 local council areas. Escherichia coli was detected in 14.8%, Listeria spp. in 12.3%, and Listeria monocytogenes in 1.3% of samples analyzed.
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US: Efficacy of sanitizer treatments on survival and growth parameters of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes on fresh-cut pieces of cantaloupe during storage
Journal of Food Protection:Â For health reasons, people are consuming fresh-cut fruits with or without minimal processing and, thereby, exposing themselves to the risk of foodborne illness if such fruits are contaminated with bacterial pathogens. This study investigated survival and growth parameters of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, and aerobic mesophilic bacteria transferred from cantaloupe rind surfaces to fresh-cut pieces during fresh-cut preparation.
Read Article →AU: Towards 2050: securing food through technology
foodprocessing.com.au: The future of food is almost within our reach, and not before time. As the world catapults towards 2050’s projected population of 9 billion, food technology innovators are working to revolutionise our food system.
Technology leaders are employing increasingly sophisticated science and technology to develop solutions designed to improve food sustainability, nutrition, agriculture and safety. If successfully expanded to a global scale, their work could effect major changes in the way our food is produced. The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) FutureFood 2050 has conducted a series of interviews to find out more about the research that could help to feed future generations.
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AU: Mango industry moves on quality standards
Australian Mango Industry Association:Â New recommendations for industry standards on harvest dry matter and retail brix that place a greater emphasis on delivering mangoes that match consumer expectations were announced at the 10th Australian Mango Conference.
The industry quality standards are focused on supplying mangoes to consumers that deliver on flavour. They aim to remove ambiguity and confusion over different quality specifications that are currently in the industry.
AMIA CEO Robert Gray said that the standards will ensure consumers get the best tasting mangoes and the standards are commercially achievable by growers.
Read Article →AU: Nurture vs nature at Cowra: Bringing up baby spinach for fussy consumer market
ABC Rural:Â Harvest of the largest crop of baby spinach in New South Wales is well underway on the outskirts of Cowra. Grower Ed Fagan said he’s nursed the 80 hectare crop to perfect condition, ready for the convenience salad market.
After the spinach is harvested it is sent to the processors to be triple washed, but before that Mr Fagan said he’d done all he could to ensure the spinach leaving his farm is perfect. “We can’t have animals roaming across here, we can’t use manure on this crop. Everything has to be spot on because we can’t have a food safety scare come from here.”
To help with quality control at harvest time, Mr Fagan is now working on an optical sorter to attach to the harvester that will knock out anything that’s below par colour-wise. “”At the moment we are trialling it so we don’t ever have any problems with foreign bodies like sticks or Poplar leaves. There’s more and more pressure on us now to make sure no one gets a leaf in their salad bowl.”
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