Posts from the "Latest News" category
UK: European Commission gives controversial weed killer a last-minute reprieve
Science Magazine: To the relief of farmers, the controversial herbicide glyphosate will remain on the market in Europe for another 18 months. The widely used weed killer faced a 30 June deadline for reapproval of its safety—without which it could not be sold—but the decision has been stuck in political gridlock. So the European Commission stepped in to extend the safety approval until December 2017.
Read Article →AU: Food allergy innovation a hit at AIFST Awards
Food Magazine: A new technology that detects allergens in food products has been awarded the Food Industry Innovation Award at the 49th Annual Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST) Convention. The Allergen Bureau was awarded the prestigious accolade at a ceremony on Monday night at the AIFST Convention at Brisbane’s Exhibition and Convention Centre for its VITAL Online platform, a web-based calculator that reviews the allergen status of all ingredients in a product and the processing conditions that could impact on the allergen status.
Read Article →AU: Irradiation of blueberries and raspberries
Food Standards Australia New Zealand: FSANZ has assessed an Application made by the NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) to irradiate blueberries and raspberries 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.
Read Article →NZ: Food safety concerns driving Kiwis to buy local: research
Foodworks: Kiwi consumers are seeking out locally made food, as concerns about product safety and levels of additives in consumer goods manufactured offshore drive purchasing behaviour – according to the findings of a new survey. The Munchkin study which investigated the attitudes and habits of Kiwi shoppers showed that more than two thirds (69%) of Kiwi consumers said country of origin for food products they ate was important to them.
Read Article →AU: Which date do you need? ‘Use by’ or ‘Best before’?
Food Processing: Unsure whether your company’s food or beverage products need a ‘best before’ or a use-by date code? This quick Q&A will help.
Q. Why do we need date codes?
A. Food and beverages need date codes for health and safety, so consumers know how long they can keep an item before it begins to deteriorate or could be unsafe to consume; therefore, they must be indelible and visible. (A secondary benefit is for retailers, who use date marks on secondary packaging to ensure better stock turnaround and reduce food wastage.)
Read Article →NZ: MPI calls for entries for NZ Food Awards
FMCG Business: The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is proud to be sponsoring the NZ Food Awards again this year. The Awards, which will be announced in October, provide local food and beverage producers with the opportunity to highlight the success of their products and businesses.
Peter Thomson, MPI’s Director Plants, Food and Environment says: “This year we are sponsoring two awards – the Food Safety Culture Award and Primary Sector Products Award. These awards provide a great opportunity to recognise excellence in food production and processing…
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AU: Top ten reasons why a cold chain fails
Silvia Estrada-Flores / LinkedIn: Cold chains are extremely important to safeguard any perishable product, be [it] perishable food or temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals. Sadly, even though there are technologies and knowledge out there that could avoid loss of temperature control during storage and transport of goods, we continue to see spoilage and food safety issues that could have been avoided with better temperature control solutions.
Read Article →AU: New food labels should go further than country of origin
The Conversation: Australia’s new country of origin food labelling laws come into effect on July 1, 2016. The new labels will indicate if food is grown or made in Australia and the proportion of Australian ingredients.
The government has justified the new laws on the basis of the consumer’s right to know where their food is grown and processed.
Read Article →US: GFSI: 16 Years Later
Quality Assurance & Food Safety Magazine: It has been 16 years since food retailer CEOs from around the world joined together in an attempt to increase food safety and reduce the number and inconsistencies of audits to which the food industry was being held. It was the beginning of the Consumer Goods Forum (then called The Food Business Forum) and the founding of its non-profit foundation, the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).
Read Article →AU: Are you washing your fruit and veg all wrong? Tips to avoid food poisoning and salmonella
Good Food: Earlier this year, when a salmonella outbreak affected more than 100 people, eyebrows collectively raised at the cause. Not meat, not fish, not cheese – the salmonella was linked to pre-packaged lettuce, of all things.
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