Posts from the "Latest News" category


AU: Olives painted with copper sulphate top largest-ever Interpol-Europol list of fake food

The Age: Italian olives painted with copper sulphate solution, Sudanese sugar tainted with fertiliser, and hundreds of thousands of litres of bogus alcoholic drinks top Interpol’s annual tally of toxic and counterfeit food seized by police agencies across the world. The haul of bogus diet supplements, adulterated honey and formalin-drenched chicken guts makes for stomach-churning reading.

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AU: How salad vegetable surfaces harbour pathogens — and it’s not how you expect

foodprocessing.com.au: Researchers at the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) decided to look at how viruses could stick to the surface of 24 common salad vegetables. They expected to establish that the small virus particles could ‘hide’ in the rough structures of the cuticle, the waxy layer that protects the plant against diseases and reduces water loss.

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US: Ensuring food safety when serving 81 million meals/year

foodprocessing.com.au: Serving more than 81 million meals each year gives Disney a lot of experience in managing food safety and now the company is licensing its food safety system to outside restaurants and chains.

Every year Disney serves more than 81 million meals to visitors to its American theme parks and resorts. With so many meals it is vital that the company’s food safety policies and practices are robust and reliable as a high-profile food safety fail could prove disastrous.

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AU: AU macadamia processing company invests in food safety

Fresh Plaza: In light of a number of recent processed food safety scares, a North Coast macadamia processor has invested heavily in steam-pasturisation prior to packaging, a world first. Macadamia Processing Company (MPC), a 100 per cent grower owned co-operative at Alphadale, has spent $1.7m on the wet steam plant which will be used this coming harvest season for the first time.

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US: Western Growers’ $1 million contribution pushes CPS research campaign past halfway mark

Center for Produce Safety (US): Western Growers has committed $1 million to the Center for Produce Safety’s (CPS) Campaign for Produce Safety, officials from both organizations have announced. Western Growers’ contribution brings total campaign commitments to more than $10 million – over halfway toward CPS’s goal.

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UK: ‘There’s nothing wrong with a bit of mould’: chefs on food waste and using leftovers

The Guardian: It’s a wonder the human race managed to survive before the advent of a date sticker telling us when we should be eating certain foods by, but survive we did. Mostly we sniffed our food and decided whether to eat it or not. These days, around half of us go by the date label printed on the packaging, and will often throw away food that is safe to eat. According to the Waste Resources Action Programme (Wrap), an organisation that promotes sustainability, we throw away 4.2m tonnes of food every year in the UK, which, aside from the financial costs, has a huge impact on the environment.

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AU: The effect of temperature on different Salmonella serotypes during warm seasons in a Mediterranean climate city, Adelaide, Australia

Epidemiology and Infection: Changing trends in foodborne disease are influenced by many factors, including temperature. Globally and in Australia, warmer ambient temperatures are projected to rise if climate change continues. Salmonella spp. are a temperature-sensitive pathogen and rising temperature can have a substantial effect on disease burden affecting human health. We examined the relationship between temperature and Salmonella spp. and serotype notifications in Adelaide, Australia.

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US: Counting the cost of food safety issues

Checkit.net: The outbreaks of norovirus, salmonella and E.coli linked to restaurants within the Chipotle chain in the United States provide a stark warning about the potential cost of food safety issues. Over 500 people have become ill since July 2015 after eating at the company’s restaurants, with outbreaks centred around different locations in the US.

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AU: Detailed labelling helps food safety, says Fortescue’s Forrest

The Australian: Fortescue Metals chairman ­Andrew Forrest has called for improved labelling of world food products, particularly those sold to China, to encourage more production of safe food. Speaking at a panel on agriculture at the Boao Forum for Asia on China’s Hainan Island yesterday, Mr Forrest said Chinese leaders were deeply concerned at the quality of the products that were going into their drugs and food.

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MY: Malaysia to propose establishment of common certification on food safety for ASEAN

Bernama.com: Malaysia will propose to ASEAN for the establishment of a common certification on food safety in the region. Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the common certification was an accreditation that provides food export opportunities to ASEAN member states for greater access to the world market.

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