Despite no significant pay increase for most people in Australia over the last few years, we are spending a lot more of our money in eating out more than we ever have.

According to a recent article by business broking professional Faye Ferris, research is showing that we are now eating out on average  two to three times a week, which means that at least 50 million meals are being eaten away from home every week.

This obviously a huge potential market for cafes, restaurants, pubs, clubs and all the quick service businesses. Takeaway is not necessarily included as this food is usually eaten in the home.

Ms Ferris is suggesting that there are specific trends in this increase in the food service market;

1. People are looking for healthy food

The important thing here is that the food cannot just say it is healthy, it must be healthy. There are always new fads in this area and the trick for food businesses is in predicting those and having foods which meet them.

1. If your business is not online, you are missing business

More and more people are not just checking out a food business’s website and the comments from others on it, they are booking online as well. So all food service businesses must have a good and easy to use website and also need to think seriously about having a suitable app as well. Many cafes / restaurants  now use mobile technology  for customer orders in store as well.

1. Drones are just one of the ways that food is being delivered

Delivery was once not very common, it is now usual for food to be delivered. If your food business does not have some form of guaranteed delivery, you are missing business.

1. Let’s have Chinese for dinner, no let’s do something else.

There was a time when the only restaurant in a town was a Chinese or an Italian. Now these are struggling to some extent as there are now restaurants and cafes everywhere with food from all over the world. You can try foods from different cultures and styles  every week and not get bored. This means that these old favourites have really got to work hard to keep things fresh and interesting.

1. New healthy choices

Recently I found a new takeaway in a shopping centre which specialises only in toasted sandwiches. They are quick and generally healthy and great comfort food, but who would have thought a few years ago that such a chain would be set up? There are now quite a few quick service chains which are about salads and freshly made sandwiches and this will only increase with the demand for healthier food.

The following is a media release from the Food Safety Information Council Ltd and is included here with permission.

The Food Safety Information Council today reminded people to make sure their meat thermometer is accurate following a test by Choice that found a small number of meat thermometers were out by 2°C.

Food Safety Information Council Chair, Rachelle Williams, said that, as this week was Australian Food Safety Week, it is a good time for people to pick up a meat thermometer if they don’t already have one and they can now use Choice’s survey as a buying guide.

‘Our Omnipoll consumer survey found 75% of Australians surveyed reported that there wasn’t a meat thermometer in their household and only 44% of those with a thermometer reported using is over the previous month.

‘With an estimated 4.1 million cases of food poisoning in Australia each year, and escalating rates of Campylobacter and Salmonella infection in Australia, we are encouraging all Australians to pick up a meat thermometer from their local homeware store and learn how to use it properly. This will not only ensure safer food but you will also be able to cook the perfect steak.

‘You should place the food thermometer in the thickest part of the food. As close to the centre as possible and it should not touch bone, fat, or gristle. Start checking the temperature toward the end of cooking, but before you expect it to be done. Be sure to clean the stem of your food thermometer before and after each use,’ Ms Williams concluded.

The Council recommends these temperatures for cooking these high-risk foods safely:

• Red meat or pork that is minced, stuffed, rolled or boned or is mechanically tenderised (with small holes in the surface to penetrate into the meat) or corned beef pumped with brine using needles will be contaminated by bacteria throughout so must be cooked to 75°C in the centre. This also applies to red meat livers.
• Any poultry such as chicken, ducks or turkey (including their livers) will also be contaminated throughout whether they are whole or minced so they must be cooked to 75°C in the thickest part near the centre.
• Leftovers should be reheated to 75°C in the centre and make sure they are stirred to ensure an even temperature
• Eggs and egg dishes, such as quiche, should be cooked until 72 °C in the centre (or until the white is firm and the yolk thickens)

The Council also launched today their Summer campaign of TV and radio community service announcements about how to use meat thermometers plus other food safety tips on Listeria infection, cross contamination and handwashing. These will be played nationally, including on indigenous media, over the Summer. The Council thanks Food Standards Australia New Zealand and Media Heads for their support in the production of this campaign.

Media contact:Lydia Buchtmann 0407 626 688, info@foodsafety.asn.au

Australian Food Safety Week is the major activity of the Food Safety Information Council which is a health promotion charity that aims to reduce the estimated 4.1 million cases of food borne illness in Australia each year. Food poisoning results, on average, in 120 deaths, 1.2 million visits to doctors, 300,000 prescriptions for antibiotics, and 2.1 million days of lost work each year. The estimated annual cost of food poisoning in Australia is $1.25 billion.

The Food Safety Information Council today released national Omnipoll research that shows that one in three Australians are either at risk of getting the potentially fatal Listeria infection themselves or live in a household with someone at risk.

Rachelle Williams, FSIC Chair, said that this research shows a third of these people who are at risk, or living with someone at risk, had never heard or Listeria infection and two in ten of these couldn’t name any of the foods they needed to avoid or cook to prevent Listeria infection.

‘This is a timely reminder that food poisoning isn’t just a minor stomach upset but it should be taken seriously as it can be deadly. The Listeria outbreak linked to Australian rock melons earlier this year resulted in 7 tragic deaths and a miscarriage. This was followed by a recall of imported frozen vegetables which was linked to 47 listeriosis cases and 9 deaths in Europe and 1 death in Australia,’ Ms Williams said.

‘While disease caused by Listeria infection is a comparatively rare form of illness, it can be a very serious for:

• pregnant women and their unborn babies
• people who have diabetes, cancer or suppressed immune systems due to other chronic diseases such as leukaemia, HIV, diabetes, liver or kidney disease, cirrhosis or ulcerative colitis
• older people (generally considered to be over 65 to 70 years) depending on their state of health and especially if they have an underlying health issue like those above
• people taking a medicine that suppresses their immune system e.g. prednisone or cortisone
• organ transplant patients.

‘If you’re not sure whether your condition or medication puts you in one of these at risk groups check with your GP on your next visit and follow this advice if you are. You can test your knowledge about Listeria by taking our quiz.

‘Listeria are bacteria that are widely found in the environment so most raw foods are likely to be contaminated. You don’t have to miss out on your favourite foods as Listeria is easily killed by cooking so, for example, you can easily add ham to a pizza, feta to a quiche or smoked salmon to fully cooked scrambled eggs. Just remember that cooked foods can easily become re-contaminated through poor food handling after cooking. For foods that can’t be cooked you can make other choices such as using fresh whole lettuce for salads rather than bagged lettuce.

‘If you are at risk of Listeria infection you need to avoid, or where possible cook, the following foods:

• Unpackaged ready to eat meats from delicatessen counters and sandwich bars; packaged, sliced ready-to-eat meats; cold cooked chicken purchased ready to eat, whole, diced or sliced and refrigerated paté or meat spreads
• All soft, semi soft and surface ripened cheeses e.g. brie, camembert, ricotta, feta and blue (pre-packaged and delicatessen), unpasteurised dairy products (e.g. raw milk or cheeses) and soft serve ice cream
• Pre-prepared or pre-packaged cut fruit and vegetable salads e.g. salads sold in bags or containers or from salad bars, shops or buffets, etc; pre-cut fruit and vegetables that will be eaten raw; frozen fruit or vegetables that may not be further cooked (e.g. berries, peas, sweet corn); rockmelon/cantaloupes (whole or cut); and bean or seed sprouts
• Raw seafood (e.g. oysters, sashimi or sushi); smoked ready-to-eat seafood; ready-to-eat peeled prawns (cooked) e.g. in prawn cocktails, sandwich fillings; and prawn or seafood salads; and seafood extender.

‘It’s important you maintain a healthy and varied diet if you are pregnant, elderly or immune compromised so we recommend you also talk to your GP or an accredited practicing dietitian about how to eat well while avoiding foods at risk of Listeria.

‘Also follow these food safety tips to reduce your risk of Listeria infection as well as other forms of food poisoning:

• Always wash your hands with soap and running water and dry thoroughly before handling food and keep food utensils and cooking areas clean
• Unlike most other food poisoning bacteria, Listeria can grow at refrigeration temperatures, so ready to eat food or leftovers should never be stored in the fridge for more than 24 hours. Since Listeria grows slowly in the fridge, it will do so only very slowly at cold temperatures so make sure your refrigerator is keeping your food at or less than 5°C.
• Avoid refrigerated foods that are past their ‘use by’ date
• Refrigerate leftovers promptly and use within 24 hours or freeze
• Always look for cooking and storage instructions on the food package label and follow them when provided.
• Cook high risk foods such as poultry, minced meat, sausages, hamburgers and leftovers to 75°C
• Cook egg dishes, such as quiche, to 72°C in the centre (or until the white is firm and the yolk thickens)
• Cook frozen fruit and vegetables.

‘We greatly appreciate sponsorship for this year’s Australian Food Safety Week from Food Standards Australia New Zealand for our radio announcements and SA Health and Omnipoll for our consumer research and Catercare for our design work. However, following the loss of our operating grant from the Federal Government, our resources have been depleted by running Australian Food Safety Week 2018 so we would love it if you or your family have been affected by food poisoning that you share your story and make a tax deductable donation to us here,’ Ms Williams concluded.For more information about Listeria see the Listeria-take it seriously brochure

Media contact: Lydia Buchtmann: info@foodsafety.asn.au T 0407 626 688

A clean product is one with little or no artificial ingredients. There are a lot of issues associated with clean food, including food safety, nutrition,quality, purchasing, product development, marketing and sales.

For food manufacturers, choosing to go with clean products is a big risk because there are a lot of technical and operational issues which need to be balanced against the potential sales increase.

As an example of one of the issues which confront businesses when they decided to go”natural” with their products, removing salt can have significant food safety implications, as well as directly changing the flavour profile of a food. How  does a business adjust the processes and recipe to ensure that the product looks and tastes like it did previously and is still safe for consumption and has the expected shelf life when ingredients are changed?

More and more companies are making the decision to move toward clean or “natural” products because the sales increases more than outweigh the issues associated with developing and manufacturing them.

A recent global study done by Beneo, a German based ingredient supplier, is showing that foods with natural or clean labels , including; “free from”, “ no added sugar”, and  “non–GMO”, are more likely to be purchased when compared to brand recognition and product descriptions.

Fifty nine percent of the 3000 online consumers from the USA, UK and Germany believe that the word “natural’ on the label means that the food is healthy and 50 percent thought that the food would be high quality.

Although these results show that there is obviously sales benefits to a food manufacturer going “natural” with their products, the important point is that there cannot be claims on the label which are not true. As an example;  if the label says “no added sugar” then there absolutely cannot be any added sugar (in any form) in the recipe or process.

Food law expert John Thisgaard, of FoodLegal, said; “Although there is no strict legal definition on what “natural” means, businesses should be aware of consumer protection legislation that prohibits the making of misleading or deceptive statements.”

That thing  we all go through as kids about not being allowed to have dessert until we finish our vegetables is not the same when we grow up.

According to a new report from The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, we are not getting enough of, or the right type, of food from the five food groups.

The report, “Nutrition across the life stages”, shows we are just not eating our enough of our vegetables before we eat our discretionary foods, like cakes, biscuits, confectionary, pastries, potato chips, soft drinks and alcoholic drinks.

AIHW spokesperson Claire Sparke said; “For example, very few of us eat enough vegetables. This is at its worst among children aged 2–18, 99 per cent of whom do not eat enough vegetables.”

A discretionary food is one which we choose to eat and does not necessarily supply us with the nutrients we need for health.

The Australian Dietary Guidelines provide direction on eating the right types of foods and quantities to meet our nutritional needs. Foods like vegetables, fruit, grains, lean meat and their alternatives, dairy products are encouraged, whilst added sugars, saturated fats and added salt are limited.

Alcohol is another item to limit, and the report shows that this guidance is being ignored, with adults aged 51–70 having alcoholic drinks making up more than one-fifth of discretionary food intake.

A couple more of the Reports findings;

• For grains, only males aged 4–11, females aged 9–11 and females aged 71 and over meet the recommendations.
• Toddlers aged 2–3 are the only group to meet the dairy recommendations.

The Report also considered physical activity and found it is not as good as it should be either.

Ms Sparke said;  “In the teenage years, when discretionary food intake peaks, it is concerning that the data also shows a decline in physical activity at the same time. Physical activity levels are lower among teenagers—both girls and boys—than any other age group.”

The Report can be found at https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/food-nutrition/nutrition-across-the-life-stages/contents/table-of-contents

It is only right that those consuming food should know as much about that food as they can before deciding to eat it or not. This is especially important with prepackaged foods as when it is purchased there is no-one around who was involved in making it.

The Food Standards Code and other legislation  in Australia requires that prepackaged food must meet specific labelling requirements, which provides information on what is in that packaging.

The problem is that the space on a food package label is often very small and there is a lot of information that has to appear on it.

The following is just the beginning; ingredient list (in a specific order), allergens contained, the nutritional panel ( in a specific form), the weight / volume, the manufacturer / importer  name, address, the heating / cooking  / usage instructions, the storage instructions, the “new” Countrof Origin (meeting specific requirements) and of course the description and photo, as well as allowed health claims. Don’t forget the Health Star ratings as well

That is a lot of information for manufacturers to find and ensure is correct. It is particularly onerous for small manufacturers who usually do not have th resources to be able to pay the staff used by the big guys to manage this.

The introduction of the Country of Origin Labelling and it’s ongoing checking has been difficult especially for those small food companies.

Recently there has been the voluntary introduction of labelling showing the type of plastic used in the packaging in specific diagrammatic format.

Now there is a strong call for food packaging to clearly show the Greenhouse Gas content of the process and packaging of the specific food. This would use a flower type symbol with a breakdown into four quarters showing; the amount of water involved in the process, the amount of emissions, the pesticide toxicity and the Impact on biodiversity.

Besides the difficulties that manufacturers are now having trying to meet all their labelling requirements and obligations, the other group that needs to be considered is the customer and consumer.

Labels are already incredibly complex and for many consumners, just confusing. With even more information being expected by various agancies and organisationsd and the government, this is only going to get worse.

Now whilst all of this it is very good information and very useful to some consumers and for comparing products, there has to be a question asked at some point – “Just how much information can we and should we put onto our food labels”?

In this day of apps and computer access, does this information have to go onto the physical product or can it somehow be shown digitally and only the information that actually impacts on the food safety and quality of the food left on the label.

This is truly one of those times when we can definitely say “Watch this (label) space”, because who knows what they are going to look like in even five years time.

So you have a friend coming to dinner who is allergic to fish. How do you know that the Worcestershire Sauce you bought to marinate the steak is free from fish?

Well, that’s obvious right? You check out the label and see if fish is an ingredient.

All good right?

Well no, it is not all right.

Why you may ask? Even though the Food Standards Code requires that all of the recognised food allergens be shown on all food labels and there must be no unintended allergens in a food, the difficulty is how that is shown and, most importantly, how much of an allergen is allowed to be in there before that allergen must be shown on the label.

To complicate the whole issue for you deciding if a food contains fish is that there are multiple allergen related statements from manufacturers which appear on foods – from “may contain traces of….” to “made on a production line which also makes ………” to “made in a factory which also makes………” It is no wonder that the public gets confused about whether a specific food contains the allergen that is concerning them.

The Allergen Bureau developed a brilliant allergen labelling system several years ago called the Precautionary Allergen Label (PAL), which has a specific statement that is to be shown on the label depending upon the amount of the allergen present in the food.

This system requires that each food with food allergens must be tested to determine the amount of each of those allergens present in the food. Then depending upon the total amount of each allergen present and tables, based on ongoing scientific work by The Allergen Bureau, as to how that allergen must be shown on the label.

The PAL essentially has three levels of allergen labelling;

• For very very small amounts, the system states that as this amount is scientifically found to not cause any allergic reactions in people, that allergen does not need to be included on the label as either an ingredient or in an allergen statement.
• If the amount present in the food is within a certain range, depending upon the actual allergen, then there must be an allergen statement on the label, with specific wording.
• If the amount of the allergen present is aboive a set level, then it is considered to be an actual ingredient of the food and it’s labelling must meet the requirements of the Food Standards Code.

The PAL is not mandatory at this point in Australia and businesses can choose to put it in operation.

So there is an increasingly loud call for PAL to become mandatory and make it easier for you  to be able to work out if that Worcestershire Sauce does contain fish or . By the way there are at least two brands of Worcestershire Sauce in Australia that contain Anchovies.

For much of the world’s population, rice is a key part of their diet. Australia is no exception and all of us would eat white rice regularly, whether as Fried Rice, Sushi, with a curry, with Asian foods or even Paella.

White rice is however, not the best rice when it comes to nutrients and our health. White rice has little  of the fibre rich bran, germ or husk that we find in Brown Rice, but it does cook quickly. So for convenience we have given up health benefits.

So if someone were able to come up with a way for our white rice to have increased nutritional value, taste good and still be pretty quick to cook, we would all be pretty pleased, right?

Introducing Thick Rice.

Essentially this is a variety of rice which has a thicker outer layer, which allows us to get much of the nutritional properties of brown rice, whilst still giving good cooking and tasting like our favourite white rice.

The CSIRO have teamed up with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to develop this amazing rice. Which is also going to give food businesses many more options in adding nutritional content to their food.

The results from this research has opened up opportunities to see if a similar nutrient improvement could happen with other vital staples like wheat, barley and soghum

There is a lot of discussion, and has been since time immemorial, about the best food to feed your dog. Should it be a raw diet, should it be  raw meat mixed with organ mixed with vegetable and cereals / rice, is the cooked stuff from the supermarket OK, should it be just dry food, and if dry food, which one?

Dogs are not different to humans, they also need a balanced diet with the right amount of protein, carbohydrates, fats and all the other nutrients, and it changes depending upon the age and activity of the specific dog.

As there is a possibility that some dog food may be eaten by humans, it is a requirement that all dog food made in Australia must be made to the same food safety standards as human food.

However that is where the  similarities in food stops, as there is not the same labelling and testing requirements on the food for our furkids as for ourselves.

There have been stories in the news over the last year of dogs eating a food and dying shortly after. It is likely that the cause of those deaths is megaesophagus, a problem with the esophagus which prevents food reaching the stomach. It is of particular concern in older dogs, and although there is no cure, surgery and changing the way that the animal eats can make life more comfortable. There is belief that this condition may be linked to the food the dogs eat.

So there is a call by the  Senate’s Regional Affairs Committee for a review of pet food safety and particularly the labelling and testing of that food.

One of the recommendations by the Committee is the establishment of a reporting process for people to raise concerns about specific pet foods, and then the investigation process coming from it.

Australia has one of the highest percentages of dog owners in the world, so these animals are not just pets they are often “furchildren”, so this issue of ensuring that their food is always safe is becoming increasingly important.

The following is the latest media release from the Food Safety Information Council Ltd and is included here with permission.

The Food Safety Information Council today launched tips on how to keep your hands clean for Global Handwashing Day 15 October 2018 which has the theme ‘Clean hands – a recipe for health’.
Rachelle Williams, Council Chair, said that thorough hand washing is one of the keys to reducing the 4.1 million cases of food poisoning in Australia each year
‘We are encouraging every Australian household, school and workplace to download our handwashing posters, print them out and put them where they are noticeable in kitchens and bathrooms.
‘We have designed 2 posters, one for adults and one for children and, in both cases, we suggest singing ‘Happy birthday to you’ so you can time the 20 second period you need to wash and then dry your hands,’ Ms Williams concluded.
Below are three tips on how to wash your hands correctly:
1. Wet your hands and rub together well to build up a good lather with soap as the suds help to loosen the bugs. Do this for at least 20 seconds and don’t forget to wash between your fingers and under your nails.
2. Rinse well under running water to wash away the bugs from your hands
3. Dry your hands thoroughly on a clean towel for at least 20 seconds – a hand dryer may take a little longer.
Always wash and dry your hands:
• before handling, preparing and eating food
• after touching raw meat, fish, shell eggs or chicken
• after using the toilet, attending to children’s (or others) toiletting and changing nappies
• after blowing your nose
• after touching a pet.
Do not touch sores, wounds and cuts when handling and preparing food.
Media Contact: Lydia Buchtmann Food Safety Information Council, 0407 626 688 info@foodsafety.asn.au