Posts from the "Topics" category
UK: What bacteria don’t want you to know about food safety
Dominic Cuthbert / Food and Drink International: Business standards company BSI has published the revised international standard for food safety management.
ISO 22000:2018 Food safety management systems – requirements for any organisation in the food chain provides a framework based on best practice for any organisation, from a small, family-owned farm to a multi-national food service outlet, to implement a comprehensive food safety management system.
Read the full post at fdiforum.net
AU: Can reusable shopping bags make us sick?
Photo: Aaron Warren / flickr.com(CC BY-ND 2.0)
Helen Yuk / mamamia.com.au: The days of flimsy plastic shopping bags floating around the place are over. People all around Australia are going to have to start remembering to bring reusable bags with them when they go to the supermarket – or buy bags once they’re there.
But for years, stories have been circulating about the amount of bacteria found in reusable shopping bags. Is it safe to reuse the same bags for groceries over and over?
Read the full article at mamamia.com.au
NZ: HortNZ Food Act Update
HortNZ: The Food Act 2014 and its regulations apply to a range of horticultural growing and post harvest food activities. The only current exceptions are growers who are not selling their produce, and those that sell all of their own product direct to consumers eg. growers who sell all of their product through “gate sales” or personally take their product to a farmers’ market where they sell to consumers.
There is recognition that existing Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) programmes provide an excellent avenue for growers to meet Food Act requirements and discussions are well underway with MPI on how to ensure growers will be able to demonstrate their compliance as part of their standard GAP programme. While the details of exactly how GAP systems can be recognised for the Food Act are still being finalised, it is important that growers understand that options are being developed and details will be available in the near future.
Growers who are not currently covered by a recognised GAP programme will need to ensure their growing practices are safe and they will need to arrange for their own registration and verification. As previously stated, HortNZ recommends growers become certified under a GAP scheme to meet market and Food Act requirements.
What do growers need to do?
Growers are required to apply for registration under the Food Act 2014 by 30 November 2018 in order to be registered for the Food Act by the final deadline of 28 February 2019.
Read the full post in the HortNZ newsletter
AU: Schreurs & Sons receive Excellence in R&D Adoption award for electrolysed water system
Congratulations to Schreurs & Sons on being awarded the AUSVEG VIC Award for Excellence in R&D Adoption. In the video below, Chris Schreur (Director, Business and …
AU: Hepatitis A death linked to frozen pomegranate recall
ABC News: A South Australian woman has died after contracting hepatitis A from recalled frozen pomegranate. SA Health chief medical officer and chief public health officer Professor Paddy Phillips revealed the 64-year-old woman died last Wednesday after “some time” in hospital.
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US: Romaine crisis creates anxiety for local farmers, but false claims about food safety hurt the industry
Fresh Fruit Portal: Very often the produce industry can be its own worst enemy. Because the crop is perishable and few growers are national or global producers, there is a constant desire to differentiate various growing regions.
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US: Compost decomposed
Good Fruit Grower: Will increasing scrutiny of food safety practices in orchards push more growers away from using raw manure? It’s unclear at the moment, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is conducting a risk assessment on raw manure before it settles on a preharvest interval that will best protect crops from contamination.
Read Article →FR: Introducing the latest version of the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements
Global Food Safety Initiative: Over the last 17 years the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements have evolved considerably. As the food industry adapts and changes, we’re always looking to keep up to date and reflect best practices. If I had to sum up the key additions to this latest version in a few words, I’d say “improved auditor competency” and “covering the supply chain from farm to fork”.
Read the full article at the Global Food Safety Initiative website
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.
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