Posts from the "Latest News" category

AU: Recall of Creative Gourmet frozen pomegranate linked to Hepatitis A outbreak

NSW Health: NSW Health and the NSW Food Authority are working with Entyce Food Ingredients Pty Ltd which is conducting a precautionary recall of its Creative Gourmet branded frozen pomegranate product sold at Coles supermarkets.

Read Article →
AU: Rockmelon Listeriosis investigation summary

NSW Food Authority: How did this outbreak happen? The investigation found that the contamination is likely to have occurred due to adverse weather (localised storm over the farm and subsequent dust storms during the season) increasing the levels of Listeria on the fruit prior to harvest. On this occasion and despite following industry best practice, the washing and sanitising at Rombola Family Farms was not able to remove all the trapped bacteria from the rockmelon surfaces, resulting in a low level of Listeria being present.
Read the full summary at the NSW Food Authority website

Read Article →
US: Big Data: a new approach to improving global food safety

Agrilinks: Big data can provide timely and innovative solutions to food safety issues. There are many definitions for big data; the WHO defines big data as “emerging use of rapidly collected, complex data in such unprecedented quantities that terabytes, petabytes or even zettabytes of storage may be required; the unique properties of big data are defined by four dimensions: volume, velocity, variety and veracity”.
Read the full report at the agrilinks website

Read Article →
UK: Red Tractor launches first TV ads

Farmers Weekly: Red Tractor Assurance (RTA) will launch its first national television advertising campaign later this year to educate customers about food standards. The focus will be on educating customers about the standards behind assured food after RTA market research reports showed shoppers were twice as likely to buy a Red Tractor product if they understood more about the standards behind it.
Read the full article at the the Farmers Weekly website

Read Article →
AU: Who does what during a food recall?

Food Standards Australia New Zealand: Did you know that FSANZ can’t order or force a food recall? Only Australian states and territories have enforcement powers to mandate, order or force a recall if necessary. See this handy visual which outlines the roles of food business, enforcement agencies and FSANZ during a food recall.
Read the full article at the Food Standards Australia New Zealand website

Read Article →
AU: Melon Industry welcomes positive response from consumers

FreshPlaza: Australian melon growers are buoyed by support from retailers, consumers and export markets.

Read Article →
NZ: Putting trust in blockchain

NZ Herald: Kiwi companies are developing and using cutting-edge technologies to ensure their food products are trusted within a discerning Chinese market where millennials are extensively researching brands before making purchases.
Read the full article at the NZ Herald website

Read Article →
US: FDA Finds hazards lurking in parsley, cilantro, guacamole

National Public Radio: Last fall, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration started looking for dangerous bacteria in a few of America’s most beloved fresh foods: parsley, cilantro, basil, and prepared guacamole. The very freshness of these foods carries a risk. Since they aren’t normally cooked, they may harbor nasty bugs like Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes.
 Read the full article at the National Public Radio website

Read Article →
US: Six best practices to make audits stress-free

FoodSafetyTech: Your next audit is already on its way. Now that many regulatory bodies and certification agencies are no longer required to give you a heads-up about upcoming audits, it’s completely up to you to stay on top of compliance, recordkeeping, and a myriad of other tasks on a day-to-day basis.
Read the full article at the FoodSafetyTech

Read Article →
AU: Webinar series: Country of Origin Labelling

Department of Industry, Innovation & Science: This series of webinars provides small to medium businesses from the food and agribusiness sector with information on the government planned changes to mandatory origin labeling on food products to help businesses comply with the new requirements.
Read the full article at the Department of Industry, Innovation & Science website

Read Article →