We are starting to see sets of stars on the products in our supermarket. These are the Healthy Star ratings. These are intended as a simple way of showing customers and consumers  whether a specific food is healthy and how it rates using a five star system. Obviously the more stars a food has, the higher the likelihood is that consumers will want to buy the food as it will be seen as healthier.

To manage and evaluate this complex system, the Health Star Rating (HSR) Advisory Committee (HSRAC), was established when the HSR was introduced as a requirement on labelling.

The Guide for Industry to the HSR Calculator  provides the rules to be followed by manufacturers in determining what star rating their products will have.

This Guide contains specific definitions, including the one for ” food (“as prepared’)”, which is now being reviewed by the HSRAC.

The reason for this review is because there are many foods, eg; powdered soups, sauce mixes and cordials, which can be prepared in several ways, so it makes the comparison between foods potentially unfair and so the HSR will not be consistent or truly representative.

The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation recently recognised this potentially misleading issue and asked the HSRAC to conduct this review.

The public is invited to have it’s say by 30 June 2017. So go to health.gov.au/population-health-andsport-division/as-prepared-rules-forthe-hsr-system/

The following is a media release from Food Standards Australia New Zealand and is included here with permission.

Date: 2/06/2017

​Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) today alerted consumers to a food recall of a frozen mixed berries product that is potentially linked to three hepatitis A cases.

Acting FSANZ CEO Glen Neal said public health agencies are still testing the product to determine if frozen mixed berries are the cause, however, as a precaution, the supplier has initiated a consumer level recall of the product.

“The supplier is advising anyone who has Creative Gourmet frozen mixed berries 300gm packs with a best before date of 15 January 2021 at home to check their freezer and return any opened or unopened product to the place of purchase for a full refund or dispose of them,” Mr Neal said.

Consumers should not be concerned about purchasing or consuming any other frozen berry brands or batches of Creative Gourmet product. The berries in question were imported in early 2015 and there is no evidence of cases of hepatitis A associated with imported berries since border controls were put in place in February 2015.

“FSANZ is working closely with enforcement and public health agencies at the state, territory and Commonwealth level to investigate the issue,” Mr Neal said.

“The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services is working with the supplier who has advised that all frozen berry products are tested before distribution for hepatitis A, E. coli and coliforms and that no tests to date have returned a positive result.” Mr Neal said.

Hepatitis A is a short-term illness that rarely results in symptoms in young children. Symptoms in older children and adults include abdominal pain, nausea, fever and chills and yellow skin or eyes. While symptoms are not usually severe, vulnerable people, for example people with supressed immune systems can become seriously affected. 

Anyone experiencing these symptoms should contact their health care professional.

Media contact: 0401 714 265 (Australia) or +61 401 714 265 (from New Zealand)​

More information:

FSANZ advice on hepatitis A 

Food Recalls:  Food recall notice – Creative Gourmet  

Food recalls for consumers – frequently asked questions 

Food recalls – who does what 

Department of Agriculture and Water Resources: Food safety requirements for importing berries

The Raw Milk Cheese Decision Support Tool can be downloaded at foodsafetycentre.com.au/RMCtool.php

Following is a media release from Food Standards Australia New Zealand and is included here with permission.

Call for submissions on genetically modified potato lines.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) today called for submissions on an application to permit food from a number of genetically modified potato lines.   

FSANZ Acting Chief Executive Officer Glen Neal said some of the lines had been modified to reduce bruising and acrylamide formed during cooking and some had been modified to protect the potatoes from a type of blight.

“The potato lines have been modified using the potatoes own genes and in some cases genes from wild potato varieties,” Mr Neal said.

“FSANZ conducted a thorough safety assessment on the application, which included comparing the GM potatoes with non-GM potatoes from a molecular and compositional point of view.  

“The aim of the assessment is to find out if there are any differences between the GM food and its conventional counterpart. No public health or safety issues were identified and the potatoes were found to be as safe as its conventional counterpart.”

All FSANZ decisions on applications are notified to ministers responsible for food regulation who can decide to adopt, amend, or reject standards or they can ask for a review.

The closing date for submissions is 7 July 2017.

More information

Read the call for submissions report for A1139

Acrylamide- information for consumers

Read about our GM safety assessment process in detail

Media contact: 0401 714 265 (Australia) or +61 401 714 265 (from New Zealand)

We all know that supermarkets spend a lot of time and money positioning items in their store, playing just the right music, having just the right lighting and displays, to increase our interest in making purchases, and particularly purchases they want us to make.

Even where things are placed on shelves will influence whether we buy a product or not, the colour of the lighting in the meat department helps us decide if a meat looks good or not. The items right at the registers are there as impulse buys and some stores have realised that we have recognised this and now have registers with no lollies / chocolates etc to tempt us or kids as they go through the checkout.

We are being constantly bombarded by subtle (and not so subtle) suggestions about what to buy and how much.

Deakin University is about to run a new study in partnership with IGA to test whether this can be used to help us eat better.

The stores which are participating will be using posters, decals, signage and banners to promote helath promotion. Staff will be trained in encouraging the purchase of healthy food choices and may even be in specific uniforms to reinforce the message. The stores involved will be in Bendigo and Geelong.

Researcher, Dr Adrian Cameron, said; “Given that most Australian food purchases are made in supermarkets, this work has exceptional potential to improve the healthiness of food purchases and lower the risk of disease at the population level. We tested some of the interventions separately last year in Bendigo, without any promotion, and found they were effective in guiding customers towards healthy choices.”

The National Health and Medical Research Council is funding bthe research with a AUD $550, 000 Partnership grant.

The George Institute for Global Health recently run a study of 400 Australians, asking questions about their salt consumption.

It found that on average we are eating 9 grams each per day.

The study also asked each participant how much salt they thought they were eating. The answer is frightening, as we believe we are only eating on average 6.8 grams each day – a third less than we are actually eating.

The maximum amount of salt to be consumed daily

Researcher, Associate Professor Jacqui Webster, said; “The dangers associated with eating too much salt are widely known, yet we are consuming way too much every single day, more than double than what is recommended.”

The study shows that we really don’t understand how much salt is actually in our diet.

Obviously that salt comes from two sources, what comes in our food and what we put in it at home.

The simple way to reduce salt intake is the stop adding salt at the table or during cooking and use herbs and spices instead.

However, the majority of our salt intake is coming from the food we bring into the house, and this means manufacturers.

Salt has two main functions in a processed food; flavour and preservation.

Salt is a natural preservative as it slows down bacterial growth, and is added to  some foods for that reason, so reducing this may have food safety implications.

Salt is not an expensive ingredient compared to many others and does improve the flavour of many foods, so is commonly used in the food industry.

However there is a push to significantly reduce the salt content of processed foods and the results from this study support this. The problem is that we like the flavour of our favourite foods and will not buy them if the flavour changes. The good example is when Arnotts changed the flavour of their icon BBQ Shapes. Sales dropped dramatically and so Arnotts had to bring back the old recipe and relaunch the favourite. You now see two BBQ type Shapes on the shelves.

So even though it may be a good thing from a health perspective for manufacturers to reduce salt content of their foods, there are significant potential implications.

A lot of work is being done worldwide to find suitable salt alternatives, which are both flavoursome and economically viable.

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

Listeria and pregnancy – Mothers’ Day reminder for mums-to-be

The Food Safety Information Council today used Mothers’ Day to remind mums-to-be about the risk of listeria infection during pregnancy.

Council Chair Rachelle Williams said that between 2010 and 2014 there were 61 deaths due to listeria in Australia. While most of these cases were in adults with underlying health conditions, ten were unborn or new-born babies.

‘Although Listeria cases are rare it can be a very serious disease and miscarriage can result if a pregnant woman is infected, even if she doesn’t show any symptoms. The time from infection to symptoms can be anywhere between 8 to 90 days.

‘Listeria is a bacteria found widely 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 through poor food handling after cooking.

‘This is one of the few pathogens that can grow  at refrigeration temperatures, 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 very slowly so make sure your refrigerator is keeping your food at or less than 5°C,’ Ms Williams said.

The Council has these tips on how to avoid Listeria:

1. prepare and cook your own food so you know it is fresh
2. wash your hands before handling food and keep your kitchen and utensils clean
3. avoid refrigerated foods that are past their ‘best before’ or ‘use by’ date
4.  refrigerate leftovers as soon as they stop steaming and use within 24 hours, reheat them to 75 °C

Also try to avoid 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 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.

‘While it is illegal to sell unpasteurised cows’ milk in Australia, pregnant women should avoid any unpasteurised cheeses that are now being imported and, more recently, manufactured in Australia. These cheeses are labelled as unpasteurised.’ Ms Williams concluded.

For more information check this advice from Food Standards Australia New Zealand and from the NSW Food Authority on making safer food choices.

The Food Safety Information Council Ltd is Australia’s leading disseminator of consumer-targeted food safety information which aims to address the estimated 4.1 million cases of food poisoning in Australia each year that result in 31,920 hospitalisations, 86 deaths and 1 million visits to doctors on average each year.

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

Convenience stores are now very common and are probably the modern day equivalent of the old Milk Bars – but with much more stuff available. Fuel, food, tobacco and general groceries are just some of the stuff you can get there.

In Australia, there seems to be more and more convenience stores appearing. In fact according to the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) 2016 State of the Industry report, this industry sector is outperforming grocery with sales (without fuel) at A$8.3 billion per year.

The Convenience sector is also ahead of both liquor and pharmaceutical in terms of sales per year.

AACS’s Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Rogut, said; “The short and long term outlook for the convenience industry in Australia is undeniably positive and the 2016 result underline the value proposition of convenience stores in the Australian retail landscape.”

It is innovation which is leading this growth, with new and focused foods being a key part of the increase.

“Convenience stores are increasingly capitalising on important growth categories like On the Go Food and fresh coffee, continuously elevating the quality, variety and freshness of the food on offer,” said Mr Rogut.

Although petrol prices in these stores has dropped by 9.2 percent since 2015, purchases of more food and other items whilst at the store has lead to overall fuel sales volume rising  to5.9 percent (from 1.8 percent in 2015).

It continues to be tobacco which is the mainstay of Convenience Store with cigarettes etc making up 38 percent of the total sales – even with increased taxes, horrible photos, covered displays and plain packaging.

The future of Convenience Stores looks bright and may become even brighter if they are allowed to sell packaged alcohol. Australia is one of the few countries in the world which does not allow alcohol sales from convenience stores.

The following is a media release from Food Standards Australia New Zealand and is included here with permission

Allergen labelling a life and death matter – reminder to food businesses
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) today announced a month-long campaign aimed at reminding food businesses about the need to get allergen labelling right.
FSANZ Acting Chief Executive Officer Peter May said the campaign was timed to coincide with Australia’s Food Allergy Week (May 14‒20).
“Food businesses in Australia and New Zealand need to be across the mandatory allergen labelling requirements in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code,” Mr May said.
“Correct allergen labelling can mean the difference between life and death for people with food allergies so it is vital that food businesses meet labelling requirements.
“There are currently nine foods which must be declared whenever they are present as ingredients or as components of food additives or processing aids. Lupins are expected to be added to the list this month.
“If the food is not in a package or is not required to have a label (for example, food prepared at and sold from a takeaway shop), this information must either be displayed in connection with the food or provided to the purchaser if requested.”
Mr May said FSANZ would be running a social media and media outreach campaign for one month to educate food businesses about the importance of allergen labelling.
“FSANZ supports the important work of Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia and its New Zealand counterpart —Allergy New Zealand—in raising awareness about food allergies. Both these organisations also provide important input to allergen-related work undertaken by FSANZ.”
More information
Read about Food Allergy Week
Information about allergen labelling
Video – FSANZ CEO Mark Booth talks about mandatory allergen labelling
Media contact: 0401 714 265 (Australia) or +61 401 714 265 (from New Zealand) or media@foodstandards.gov.au