A few years ago the French government decided that only foods from specific regions or areas could bear that name, the classic example is Champagne, which is the name that can only be used on sparkling wine from the Champagne region. This has changed labelling worldwide and as an example you cannot buy Australian Champagne anymore.

A similar decision has been made by the French relating to words like “steak”, “burger’  and “sausage”, to name but a few meat related names. So in France it is now illegal to called a vegetarian product with any meat related descriptors. The fine, if you do, is the equivalent of AUD$480,000.

This is going to make  it pretty difficult for the vegetarian product industry but it was believed by the French Parliament that these descriptors were resulting in losses to the French meat industry.

In 2017, the European Court of Justice decidied that the dairy industry is the only industry which is permitted to use words like “milk, “cheese”, “cream” and “butter” in Europe. This has sparked a big debate in Australia about the use of the word “milk” with soy, rice and other non dairy products.

Following on from this “what’s in name” philosophy, The Australian Manuka Honey Association (AMHA) has just introduced a guideline to help producers and consumers identify what authentic Australian Manuka honey looks and tastes like.

There has been a lot of debate about the origins of this special honey, some believe it is from New Zealand and others from Australia.

So this Guideline is an important step in helping to work out what is genuine Australian product and what is not. The AMHA is also working on a mark of authenticity for Australian Manuka honey, which will be launched shortly.

AMHA Chairman, Paul Callander, said;  “This important milestone was made possible by eminent scientists Dr Peter Brooks, Dr Shona Blair, Dr Nural Coketin and Dr Craig Davis joining our recently established Scientific Advisory Committee.These scientists are experts in the Manuka honey field and have outstanding global reputations. No-one could doubt the credibility of these guidelines, which will now be circulated internationally.”

There is a dramatic change coming to Australia over the next seven years.

As of 2025, all packagaing must be 100 percent recyclable, reusuable or compostable.

This was the decision made by the country’s Environment Ministers at their latest meeting.

This is going to be a huge change for all of us, at work and at home.

In some ways this decision has been driven by a restriction by China on the importation of recyclable material from Australia. Around 1.3 million tonnes of our 4 million tonnes of recyclable material is exported for processing in China.

Our amount being exported into China for processing has been dramatically reduced, as we have not been able to consistently meet their maximum contamination rate of one percent. Contamination is the food and other material left on the recyclable material. This contamination costs a lot to remove and so China has placed a massive restriction on the quantity of recyclable materials coming into it’s country for processing from Australia.

As part of this decision, the Ministers agreed that to off set the risks associated with sending much of our recyclable materials overseas, Australia must have businesses and facilities which not only cost effectively process recycled materials but utilise this material to produce goods which can be used and sold here.

So we must ensure at home that we wash or scrape our food containers before we put them into the recyclable bin.

It is the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), which will be leading the way with busineses to meet this sufficient target

Businesses will not only have to ensure that all their packaging meets this requirement but their waste  does as well. It is good that the time frame is seven years as it will most likely take this long to bring about such a fundamental change to packaging in this country. Businesses will have to design and identify new and suitable packaging and then run out whatever they are currently using before starting with their new packaging.

Food waste was also discussed at the meeting and the commitment to halve our food waste by 2030 was confirmed. It was agreed that as consumers are a key part of this reduction, all jurisdictions will align their community education.

Well, there has been a lot of noise around lately about Listeria. So how bad can it be?

Listeria is the name of the genus of bacteria which have similar characteristics. It is the bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes which is of particular concern from this group.

It is this bacteria which has been the cause of the six deaths in Australia in the current outbreak.

It is the elderly and the other high risk groups who are most susceptible to Listeriosis

One of the characteristics of Listeriosis is that it may take up to 90 days for the symptoms to show, so we expect that the number of cases in Australia may still increase.

The outbreak has been sourced to rockmelons from a specific farm in New South Wales.

Although these melons were recalled from the market and are no longer available for purchase or consumption, the outbreak has already significantly impacted on the rockmelon industry with massive loss of sales due to consumer lack of trust for the fruit.

It will obviously take some time for the market to grow back to it’s level of sales. This means that the farmers and others in the industry will be suffering major losses.

In South Africa, there is also a Listerosis outbreak happening. As of early April there were around confirmed 1000 cases.The mortality rate at the moment is sitting at 28 percent. This outbreak has been sourced to a ready to eat processed meat product called French Polony (a product which is similar to baloney).

The effects from a food poisoning outbreak are wide and long term, starting with the victims and their families out to the farmers and their families.

So how bad can Liateria be?

Food poisoning  from Listeria , or any of the pathogens, is not just about a few days off work, it is also often life changing, and not just for those who become sick, but for their families, the business involved, the industry and the public.

Although this tried and tested preservation method has been around for around 100 years, and is still the international standard for extending the shelf life of milk, it will soon not be the only method available.

Technology never stops improving and changing – which is a good thing.

The difficulty is, and always will be, that technology is continuously bringing in new equipment and processes and the law has difficulty in keeping pace.

This is because the new methods must be thoroughly tested to verify on a repeatable basis that they have the same level of effectiveness and efficacy as the standard and recognised methods – and this takes time. Once this is done, there has to be reviews of those results and then there is the whole process of changing the standards and the review of those.

There are some new methods emerging which are now going through this intense process.

These include the MATS, which will completely change the whole ready to eat meal industry.

Microwave Assisted Thermal Sterilisation (MATS) uses 915Hz microwaves to rapidly sterilise ready to eat (RTE) meals. It gives a mucher deeper penetration than domestic microwaves by causing rapid volumetric heating. This maintains the aroma, appearance, flavour, texture and nutritional content of these foods.

Although the RTE meals industry is the potential place  for this technology it is in the Defence industry that most of the work on MATS is being done.

Other amazing technologies being developed and tested right now, include the following;

• Shockwave – using high shocks to potential tenderise meats
• Ultrasound – food texturisation
• Forward Reverse Technology – a new method for liquid concentration
• Super Dry Technology – using ultrasound in combination with low temperatures and reduced times
• High Pressure thermal Testing – using pressure instead of temperature as a Pasteurisation method

Antenna Microwave – possible Pasteurisation alternative

We see more red meat being served rare, when traditionally it has always been served fully cooked. This is an increasing trend which seems to be brought on by the very popular cooking shows on TV. Restaurants are encouraging this trend through their menus.

The problem is that food safety is a very real issue with rare meats.

So what is the solution?

Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) is working on it.

This includes trials on a US developed microwave technology, which when used on meat for a single second significantly reduces the bacterial load on the tested meat.

MLA Program Manager – Market Access Science and Technology, Dr Ian Jenson, said; “Government regulations also require meat to be completely free of harmful microorganisms. We have been working towards these outcomes for a number of years and these latest trial results are positive in that we now have a technology that is capable of achieving both of these.The results are equivalent to the pasteurisation process for milk, which makes it a better technology than everything except irradiation, which is not acceptable to most consumers.”

The results so far are very positive, but much work needs to be done to determine if this technology will make the rare meat now commonly preferred in restaurants always safe for consumption.

The following are  six of the common food safety myths and come from the Food Safety Information Council Ltd’s website  – www.food safety.asn.au and are included here with permission

1. If I get food poisoning it is most likely the last meal I ate.

Everyone blames their food poisoning on the last meal they ate but some forms of food poisoning can take days or even weeks to eventuate.

2. You can tell if chicken or minced meat dishes are cooked safely by tasting or if the juices run clear.

A thermometer is the only way to know your food is cooked correctly to an internal 75°C.

3. Food poisoning is mild and just a bit of gastro.

While vomiting and diarrhea are the most common symptoms, food poisoning in extreme forms can cause reactive arthritis, kidney or nerve damage and hepatitis. Each year food poisoning results in 31,920 hospitalisations, 86 deaths and 1 million visits to doctors.

4. If you are a vegetarian, your risk of food poisoning is low.

Food poisoning outbreaks have been caused by fruit and vegetable food items such as rockmelon, frozen berries, semi-dried tomatoes, orange juice, salad items and cooked rice.

5. Home made mayonnaises and aoili’s are better than the commercial ones.

They might taste better but did you know they are a major cause of food poisoning outbreaks in Australia? If you wish to make your own mayonnaise and aoli, prepare small amounts and use immediately. Adding enough vinegar can also stop any Salmonella that may be present from growing – it does affect the taste, but it makes the product safe. A touch of sugar can reduce the sourness.

6. If you’ve defrosted frozen meat or chicken it can’t be safely refrozen.

From a safety point of view it is fine to refreeze defrosted meat or chicken or any frozen food as long as it was defrosted in a fridge running at 5°C or below. You may have lost some quality in defrosting then refreezing as the cells break down a little and the food can become slightly watery. Another option is to cook the defrosted food and then divide into small portions and refreeze once it has stopped steaming.

Oh and as an extra bonus myth – the 5 second rule

Anytime in contact with the floor is going to allow food to pick up what was on the floor – would you really want to eat dog  / cat hair, cockroach poo or any one or more of the things on our floors??????? The 5 second rule is not true.

The following is from the Food Recall pages on the Food Standards Australia New Zealand website and gives an excellent summary of Recalls and who does what when one happens.

Why do we collect food recall data?

FSANZ has collected data on Australian food recalls since 1990, including the causes of all recalls and their domestic or overseas origins. This data can be used to identify trends and common problems occurring in the food industry, so that steps can be taken to prevent future issues. These statistics are updated each year.

Classification of food recalls

Food recalls are classified by FSANZ under the following categories:

• Microbial contamination
• Labelling
• Foreign matter
• Chemical/other contaminants
• Undeclared allergen
• Biotoxin
• Tampering
• Other

For more information on recalls go to

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/industry/foodrecalls/recalls/Pages/default.aspx

To find out about the current statistics on recalls in Australia go to

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/industry/foodrecalls/recallstats/Pages/default.aspx?utm_source=Food+Standards+News&utm_campaign=c59c773186-Food_Standards_News_Mar-18&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71d71e1fc3-c59c773186-310072897

For more information about how to run a recall go to

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/industry/foodrecalls/conduct/Pages/HowToRecallFood.aspx

All Food Recalls must be run according to the Food Industry Recall Protocal and you can download a copy from here http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/industry/foodrecalls/firp/Pages/default.aspx

According to recent research conducted by Woolworths the following are some interesting food related Easter facts;

• Nearly half of us Aussies had chocolate for breakfast on Easter Sunday
• 13.8 million Hot Cross buns were purchased from Woolworths in the week before Easter, and many of those were eaten before the long weekend
• 80 percent of those eating Hot Cross buns like them with butter and 67 percent have additional toppings
• About 67 perent of us ate Easter Bunnies over Easter and 88 percent of those ate the ears first
• 74 prcent of us like our Hot Cross buns warm (and we usually use the microwave to heat them), 23 percent like our buns at room temperature, with the remaining  three percent eating them cold
• It is the 18-24 year olds who really go for Easter eggs, with 87 percent deliberately eating chocolate over the long weekend
•  A third of this age group like to eat their buns whole rather than cut / broken in half
• Nearly a third of Aussies prefer solid Easter eggs to hollow
• Woolworths alone sold over a quarter of a tonne of prawns in the week before Easter, and 130000 kilograms of Tasmanian Salmon
• Around a half of us will have taken part in an Egg Hunt over Easter

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

Easter entertaining – your friends and family could be at risk of Listeria

As Easter is a perfect time to entertain, the Food Safety Information Council is warning about the risk of food poisoning from Listeria when entertaining several generations of family and friends.

Council Chair, Rachelle Williams, said that the recent six tragic deaths and a miscarriage from Listeria infections linked to rockmelons is a timely reminder that food poisoning can be extremely dangerous and even fatal.

‘While Listeria infection is rare, it can be a very serious disease in pregnant women, people who have diabetes, cancer or suppressed immune systems, and the elderly over 70, all of whom will need to avoid certain foods,’ Ms Williams said.

‘There were 71 serious cases of Listeria infection in Australia during the whole of 2017 and there have been 40 cases recorded already this year. Listeria is widely found in the environment so most raw foods are likely to be contaminated. Listeria is easily killed by heat, although cooked foods can easily become re-contaminated from the kitchen environment and utensils through poor food handling after cooking.

‘Check if any of your visiting family or guests has a weakened immune system, is over 70 or is pregnant. The best way to avoid Listeria infection is to eat freshly cooked or freshly prepared food and to be very careful with hygiene ensuring you wash hands and keep utensils and the kitchen environment clean. Try to avoid serving foods which have a higher risk of Listeria contamination such as:

• cold meats from delicatessen counters and sandwich bars, and packaged, sliced ready-to-eat meats
• cold cooked ready- to-eat chicken (whole, portions, or diced)
• pre-prepared or pre-packaged fruit or vegetable salads, including those from buffets and salad bars
• chilled seafood such as raw oysters, sashimi and sushi, smoked ready-to-eat seafood such as smoked salmon and cooked ready-to-eat prawns
• soft, semi-soft and surface-ripened cheeses such as brie, camembert, ricotta, blue and feta
• refrigerated paté or meat spreads
• soft serve ice cream
• unpasteurised dairy products
• sprouted seeds/bean sprouts.

‘Listeria is one of the few pathogens that can grow in the refrigerator, so ready to eat food should never be stored in the fridge too long. Although Listeria can grow in the fridge, it will do so only very slowly so make sure your refrigerator is keeping your food at or less than 5°C. Never eat packaged, ready to eat food like those listed above after their ‘use by’ or ‘best before’ date.

‘The symptoms for Listeria infection are usually described as ‘flu-like’, although vomiting and diarrhoea can occur. Miscarriage can result if a pregnant woman is infected, even if she doesn’t show the symptoms. The time from infection to symptoms can be anywhere between 8 to 90 days. Anyone in the groups vulnerable to Listeria who is worried about possible infection should speak with their GP or the Health Direct Hotline 1800 022 222,’ Ms Williams concluded.

Media contact:

Lydia Buchtmann, Food Safety Information Council, 0407 626 688 or info@foodsafety.asn.au

The following is a media release from the New South Wales Food Authority and is included here with permission.

The NSW Food Authority advises:

Washed Rind Pty Ltd has recalled a variety of cheeses made in France from IGA and Supa IGA in NSW, independent retailers in QLD and ACT, Foodworks and independent retailers in VIC, Foodlands IGA and independent retailers in SA and IGA, Supa IGA and independent retailers in WA due to potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Product details:

• Saint Simeon 200g, Plastic container, Best before 08-04-201
• Brie de Nangis 1kg, Wrapped in cheesepaper/plastic and set in ½ wooden box, Best before 08-04-2018
• Le Vignelait Brillat Savarin 500g, Plastic container, Best before 8-04-2018
• Coulommiers Truffe 800g, Wrapped in cheesepaper/plastic and set in ½ wooden box, Best before 08-04-2018 and 22-04-2018
• Le Coulommiers 500g, Wrapped in cheesepaper/plastic and set in ½ wooden box, Best before 08-04-2018 and 22-04-2018
• Brie de Brie Pasteurise 2.8kg, Wrapped in cheesepaper/plastic and set in ½ wooden box, Best before 08-04-2018 and 22-04-2018

Consumers should not eat this product and should return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Listeria monocytogenes may cause illness in pregnant women and their unborn babies, the elderly and people with low immune systems.

If you are concerned about your health you should seek medical advice.

For more recall information, contact Say Cheese Wholesale on (08) 8321 5867.