Posts from the "Latest News" category
The poms have something to teach the Aussies about promoting agriculture
Gaétane Potard writes: While not normally considered a leading agricultural nation, the farmers of the United Kingdom (UK) might be able to teach Australian farmers a thing or two about the development of a national brand for agricultural products.
What is probably best known about the Red Tractor scheme is the logo that you may have seen on food packaging while travelling in the UK. In 14 years, the red tractor scheme has become the dominant farm assurance program in the UK, and has been adopted by approximately 95% of all UK farms.
The standards, reviewed every 3 years, guarantee the British origin of the farm product and have to address four objectives: better food traceability, better animal welfare, better food safety and better environmental protection.
Read the full article at farminstitute.org.au
Read more about the Red Tractor Assurance Scheme at www.redtractor.org.uk
Call for submissions – Application A1092 Irradiation of Specific Fruits & Vegetables
FSANZ has assessed an Application made by the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry to seek permission to irradiate apple, apricot, cherry, nectarine, peach, plum, honeydew, rockmelon, scallopini1, strawberry, table grape and zucchini (courgette) for phytosanitary purposes and has prepared a draft food regulatory measure. Pursuant to section 31 of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 (FSANZ Act), FSANZ now calls for submissions to assist consideration of the draft food regulatory measure.
For information about making a submission, visit the FSANZ website at information for submitters.
Green Cabbage Likely Caused Minnesota’s Recent E. Coli O111 Outbreak
Food Safety News writes: The 15 cases of E. coli O111 reported in Minnesota this summer were probably linked to green whole head cabbage, says the state’s health department.
Health officials’ routine monitoring identified the cases of illness associated with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O111. Bacterial isolates from all of the cases had the same DNA fingerprint.
Read the full article at foodsafetynews.com
Image credit: Caelie Frampton / Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
Hazelnut growers target pathogens, pests
Mateusz Perkowski writes: Heavily shaded hazelnut orchards may discourage salmonella from lingering on the ground, but the conclusions for growers remain uncertain, according to an orchard researcher.
Ground temperatures in heavily shaded hazelnut orchards appear to fall below the temperature range in which salmonella thrives, compared to orchards with less shade cover, said Bruce Lampinen, a tree nut specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension.
The results in Oregon hazelnut orchards were greatly different than in California almond and walnut orchards, where heavy shade cover seems to improve conditions for salmonella, he said.
Read the full article at capitalpress.com
Image credit: Jennifer C. / Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
More answers still to come in food safety research
Tim York writes: While the need to reduce risk of foodborne illness in fresh produce is not new, it remains at the top of the list of priorities for most of us working in the supply chain. Similarly, managing risk continues to be a hot topic among foodservice operators simultaneously working to reduce food costs and improve customer satisfaction.
Safe produce starts in the field and ends on the plate — but all points along the way have a shared commitment to preventing problems. Creating an industry culture that puts protecting people as its first priority is followed closely — but followed nonetheless — by the health of our companies.
Read the full article at thepacker.com
Food Labelling Confusion Contributes to 1.3 Billion Tonnes of Food Waste
Nicholas Burge writes: Between one third and one half of food produced for human consumption is wasted each year according to the FutureFood 2050 initiative. That’s more than 1.3 billion tonnes which could, if not wasted, feed over 1.25 billion people on the planet.
Let’s look at some of the statistics for Australia provided by OzHarvest:
· In Australia, over 4 million tonnes of food is wasted per year
· That’s 178kg per person
· The retail value of this food is AUD $7.8 billion
Fresh Produce Safety Centre Announces Technical Committee
The Fresh Produce Safety Centre today announced the members of its newly-established Technical Committee. The Technical Committee’s role is to advise the Fresh Produce Safety Centre Board on research priorities, to evaluate research proposals submitted to the Centre, and to provide the fresh produce industry in Australasia with practical, translatable research data that can be used at all levels throughout the supply chain.
Read Article →Fresh Produce Safety Conference scores top marks with delegates
21 August 2014
The Fresh Produce Safety Centre’s feedback survey from the Fresh Produce Safety Conference on 11 August 2014 indicated that the conference was relevant, useful and an excellent networking opportunity. Specifically, 94% of the 67 respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the conference was relevant to their work, while 97% agreed or strongly agreed that the conference presentations were relevant or useful.
“Learn from the past, because history has a habit of repeating itself†writes Richard Bennett
What’s the difference between a serious typhoid outbreak in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1964 and the tragic – was it cucumber or sprouts? – E. coli outbreak in Germany in 2011? Not a lot according to this article and the even worse news is that major foodborne illness outbreaks are most likely to happen…
New food safety & technology post by Richard Bennett on the PMA A-NZ Blog . View the full post here: http://ift.tt/1oYx2cq
Image credit: E. coli with flagella by AJ Cann CC BY-SA 2.0
Resilient Organisations – helping New Zealand businesses bounce back
resorgs.org.nz: Resilient Organisations (ResOrgs) is a public good research programme based in New Zealand. We have been researching what makes organisations resilient to crises since 2004.
ResOrgs is a collaboration between top New Zealand research universities, particularly the University of Canterbury and the University of Auckland. We are funded by the Natural Hazards Platform and supported by a diverse group of industry partners and advisors.
We are a multi-disciplinary team of over 20 researchers, representing a synthesis of engineering, science and business leadership aimed at transforming organisations into those that both survive major events and thrive in the aftermath.
See resorgs.org.nz for further information.