The following is a news alert for the New South Wales Food Authority

Lower Hawesbury River shellfish alert

21 October 2016

The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) advises that high levels of a harmful algae species, Alexandrium catenella, have recently been detected in the waters of the lower reaches of the Hawkesbury River, downstream of the Pacific Highway bridge.

The species of algae detected is known to produce Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) toxins.

As a temporary precautionary measure shellfish taken recreationally from this area should not be eaten. Cooking does not destroy the toxins.

Symptoms of PSP occur between 15 minutes to 12 hours after consuming contaminated shellfish. Symptoms usually begin with tingling and numbness around the mouth and face, progressing to the extremities followed by dizziness, nausea, headache, vomiting, vertigo, a floating sensation, weakness, and muscular unco ordination. In severe cases paralysis, difficulty in breathing leading to respiratory failure, and even death can occur.

Anyone experiencing these symptoms after eating wild shellfish from or near the affected area should seek immediate medical attention.

Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning is rare, but it is important that people follow this advice to avoid getting sick.

The NSW Food Authority is monitoring the situation and advises to only eat shellfish harvested under a recognised commercial program. Commercial harvest in the area has ceased and product in the market place is not affected.

If any health effects are experienced from contact with water affected by algal blooms, medical advice should be promptly sought.

This media alert only reports algal blooms that have been brought to the attention of NSW DPI. Algal blooms may be present in other areas.

Algal blooms can occur anywhere along the coast and are normally the result of the surge of nutrient rich deep ocean water onto the continental shelf, and can often be seen after rainfall events in estuaries and in river mouths. Some of these algae produce harmful toxins that can build up in marine shellfish.

For more information go to www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/foodsafetyandyou/special-carefoods/ recreational-harvest-of-seafood

Knowing what are the required and acceptable standards for what bacteria are allowed in food is essential to running a food business.

Standard 1.6.1 of the Food Standards Code outlines what the microbiological requirements are, and all food safety in a business is based on these.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand has just released the new Compendium of Microbiological Criteria for Food.

This guide will assist food businesses meet the process hygiene criteria to ensure they meet the requirements of Standard 1.6.1 for ready to eat foods.

The new Compendium will be regularly updated and can be found at http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/publications/Pages/Compendium-of-Microbiological-Criteria-for-Food.aspx?utm_source=Food+Standards+News&utm_campaign=923884dfc8-Food_Standards_News_September_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71d71e1fc3-923884dfc8-310072897

The following is a media release from the Food Safety Information Council for Global Handwashing Day.

The Food Safety Information Council has launched two new hand washing posters for Global Handwashing Day 15 October 2016.

Rachelle Williams, Council Chair, said that although there are 4.1 million cases of food poisoning in Australia each year these can be reduced by thorough hand washing.

‘Unlike other major diseases stopping food poisoning involves simple solutions and one of these is hand washing. We are encouraging every Australian household, school and workplace to download our 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. You might have to use a nail brush
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.

The posters can be downloaded from here together with a range of other material that can be used for Australian Food Safety Week  6 to 12 November 2016.

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

The Food Safety Information Council is Australia’s leading disseminator of consumer-targeted food safety information and a health promotion charity. Australian Food Safety Week is the major activity of the Food Safety Information Council. For further Information and how to donate see: www.foodsafety.asn.au

So everywhere you look in a supermarket , or even in takeaways, now there are prebiotics or probiotics.

So what are they?

Ok, we all know about antibiotics right, they are chemicals which kill bacteria. We use them to stop us being sick and they are also used in the food of many feedlots and chicken sheds to prevent animals / chickens getting sick. Massive amounts are used worldwide.

So the prebiotics / probiotics do the reverse – they encourage bacterial growth. Prebiotics have components which encourage growth and the probiotics are solutions of the good bacteria we want in our gut.

Why are they so good and important to us?

Our gut contains two type of bacteria, bad ones which make us sick and good ones we need to be healthy. The good bacteria help in the breakdown  of the food and generally assist in maintaining our health, without them we do not feel well. Taking antibiotics decreases the gut flora and so probiotics are essential to repopulate the gut.

So why is all of this important to us as Foodies?

Simple, people are now understanding that pro and prebiotics are good for you and this creates an opportunity to have foods providing for this need.

So it brings us back to the supermarket or takeaway and the growing number of these foods and drinks.

Last week, I tastetested a new probiotic product whaih was not based on dairy, like the well known market leader. It was very interesting and will probably be only the start of such products making an appearance in our shops.

It is well known that honey is perhaps the only food which doesn’t go off. Well research has now shown that around a teaspoon a day of a specific type of honey has a significant prebiotic effect. This affect has been suspected for some time and now with the increasing interest in prte and probiotics, it is the perfect time for this amazing product to come on the market – besides which, it just tastes good.

With supermarket brand milk selling across the country at only $1 per litre as a customer magnet into the supermarkets, there has been a lot of  noise about farmers and how much they are being paid.

As a result a new voluntary Code of Conduct has just been agreed to by the key players in the dairy industry.

Some of the components of the new Code include;

• A pricing formula or mechanism is clearly defined within a contract
• Pricing adjustments to farmers throughout a contract are clearly defined and that there will be no retrospectivity
• Suppliers to given adequate notice if step-downs are to occur
• Farmers receive all payments accrued over the term of a contract
• Processor exclusivity does not occur in cases where the processor has a contracted volume limit
• A clearly defined mechanism for giving notice of contract termination
• A clearly defined mechanism for modifying contract conditions, and giving farmers the right to negotiate variation

The following is included here with permission from the Food Safety Information Council – info@foodsafety.asn.au

Food and Fridges

Your food will remain safe in your refrigerator for 2 hours. If it has been more than 4 hours, throw the food out. Don’t open the fridge door during the power cut, unless necessary.

The best option is to keep the refrigerated foods as cold as possible by not opening the door unless necessary to remove food to eat or check the temperature after 2 hours. or place items in the freezer. If this is not possible:

• Remove ice bricks from the freezer and place in an esky.
• Remove all meats, poultry, dairy and potentially hazardous food (for example dips, pâté, ham, prepared and cooked food) from the refrigerator and place in an cooler with frozen bricks or gel packs.
• Salted butter, margarine and hard cheeses will remain safe at room temperature.
• Place the ice or ice bricks throughout the stored food to ensure an even temperature. Make sure the lid of the cooler has a good seal.
• If the temperature of the food stored in an cooler or refrigerator reaches more than 5 °C for less than 2 hours you should find alternative refrigeration at less than 5 °C or, if possible, freeze or use immediately.
• Food stored in a refrigerator or esky at more than 5 °C for 4 hours or more should be thrown out.

Food and Freezers

• Freezers that are in good condition and operate at minus 15 °C or below can keep foods at safe temperatures for between 1 and 2 days. If the freezer door is kept shut, a full freezer can keep food chilled for up to 48 hours, while a half full freezer can be kept food chilled for 24 hours.
• It is important that the doors of freezers are not opened unless necessary. Opening and closing the doors will reduce the time the contents will remain at safe temperatures.
• Foods that have partly defrosted or defrosted but remain very cold (5 °C or less) can be refrozen. Remember that some food types, for example ice cream which will thaw other foods defrost. Although there is no safety issue, some foods become icy or their texture will be damaged when refrozen and may not be usable after defrosting and refreezing.

Note that while there will not be a food safety issue in refreezing defrosted foods, the quality of the food may be slighted deteriorated. You have 2 options for food that has been stored in a freezer where the temperature has reached more than 5 °C for up to 2 hours:

• Find alternative refrigeration at less than 5 °C or refreeze
• Consume immediately.

If your food has been in a freezer where the temperature has reached more than 5 °C for more than 2 hours, but less than 4 hours, it should be consumed immediately.

Food stored in a freezer for more than 4 hours at more than 5 °C should be thrown out.

Food in the process of being cooked

Throw out food that was being cooked when the power failed if cooking cannot be completed properly within 2 hours. If food is already properly cooked, eat it within 2 hours or throw it out.

So Choice has just presented the annual Shonky Awards.

These awards are not what business would really like to receive, as they are recognition of some part of product or labelling which is not what it says it is.

This year there were three food related Shonkys awarded;

•Kellogg’s Pringles: awarded because the price went down by 10 cents which was great, but so did the pack and chip size.

•Nestle Milo: awarded because the advertised 4.5 star health rating only applies if the product is drunk with skim milk – with full cream milk the rating drops to 2.5 stars.

•Camel Milk Victoria: awarded because health claims were made which were not permissable.

These awards are not only a wake up call to these businesses but should be a flashing red light to all food businesses that people are watching.

What is on the label must match what is in the product, otherwise there will not only be public humiliation (like these awards) but potential legal ramifications as well.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), which has overall responsibility for labelling and advertising, does not like it when businesses say one thing on their labels or advertising when the reality inside is actually different.

People must be able to trust what is written on the label or stated in the advertisments about the product. It is a matter of life and death, especially for those with food allergens.

Besides getting the labelling wrong can result in one of the worst things for a food business – the product recall.

Labels are a pain to get right, but getting them wrong has serious implications – financial, legal and moral.

It is well worth taking the time to make sure that what is on the outside of the package or in the ad matches what is in the product. It should be a key part of any product development process and should also be revierwed annually to make sure it stays right.

Never ever forget that people are watching.

11 months ago, the business was abuzz with everyone in some way working toward getting everything just right for the food safety / HACCP / Quality System etc audit.

The day dawned a month later and there were nerves and anxiety by many, whilst others simply just came to work as normal. Those in charge or directly involved in the audit were asking themselves and others “is there anything we have missed?”

The good news was that the business either achieved Certification there on the day or with only minor bits and pieces to be done. Some sort of celebration happened and everyone is happy.

Sound familiar doesn’t it? Many of us have been through this process not only once but several times. It is a feeling of great relief.

But what happens a year later, when the auditor comes back to check that everything is going smoothly?

The problem is that many business sweat blood to get ready for the first audit and then drop the intensity after the Certificate has arrived.

Something that most businesses do not realise or budget in, is that getting the Certificate is only the first step in a process which will now continue forever. The initial cost of getting the Certificate, which may include a consultant, is nothing compared to maintaining that Certification.

The way to look at it is that it’s all very well to create a beautiful garden, but it will fall to ruins if it is not maintained – a food safety / HACCP program / Quality System / Environmental System / WH& S Program etc is exactly the same.

Unfortunately it happens many times, the auditor comes back and there are problems everywhere. The main reason is simple, the focus has moved elsewhere in the business. The Certificate is now at risk.

When a business decides to become Certified, it is a commitment which goes for as long as the business functions. The focus can never be lost from that and clever businesses make it a part of everyday operations as they build it into it’s fabric.

The usual reason for the loss of focus is simple – people leave. When the driver of the system / program moves from the business or their usual position, so the focus changes.

The solution is simple but most busineses don’t do it and then they have to go through the rescue of the system / program. When the system / program is created and implemented, a system must be included to ensure that it does not matter who is in what role, the system / program will be maintained and, in fact, grow and improve.

No food safety etc program will survive for long if it revolves around a person rather than managed by a system.

For those businesses with a system, you can hear them say “Audit – anytime, bring it on”. For those who have lost focus, you can hear something like “****”.

As a Food Safety Coach and the Chair of the Food Safety Information Council Ltd, I have at least two slightly different interpretations of what food safety actually means. This is because the target of my discussions and involvement is different in both situations, depending upon whom I am talking with..
For the consumers, who are the focus of the Food Safety Information Council Ltd, it is about not getting sick or making anyone in their family getting sick from food they have cooked / prepared.
For food business, who are my clients, it is about following the law and ensuring that their products are not likely to make anyone sick.
Even in a food business food safety is going to have a different meaning, depending upon what role a person has in that business. To the accountant it is about the money that is spent to protect the business, to the Quality Manager, it is about making sure that there is compliance with all audits and no problems, and to the worker on the floor, it is about doing the temperature checks etc.
For community groups, which I often help, it is about doing things the right and simplest way to stop anyone getting sick from any food they make.
The fundamental belief is that food safety is essentially about having food that will not make people sick. On this everyone would overwhelmingly agree, but the difference in definition comes down to who is involved.
The other problem with the term “Food Safety” is that it is just boring. Food Poisoning evokes an emotional response because nearly every one of us has experienced the “joys” of that experience. We as industry professionals know that it is food safety that determines if food poisoning will happen, but this is not a natural link for consumers.
We also have to remember that a food will only be safe if all those influencing it are doing what has to be done; the legislators, the industry and the consumer. Each of these has different needs, understanding and expectations when it comes to food safety.
When we, as food industry professionals, are talking about food safety, we absolutely must put it in ways that work for the group / person to whom we are talking, or it will just bore them even more or even fly right over their head as they think about what is on TV that night.

You would think that if there are a certain number of recognised food allergens in Australia, that the words used for them would be in simple to understand English.
Not so, according to a report released by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ).
The Plain English Allergen Labelling report makes several recommendations for changes to labelling on products and within the Code and other places.
FSANZ did a review of the regulatory management of food allergens in 2010 and this report shows the recommendations coming from it.
It highlights that just because the food industry understands what a word means, doesn’t mean that the public does, as an example sodium caseinate is derived from milk and although shown clearly on a label, the consumer may not know it is from dairy.
Considering the complexity of allergens, the report shows that there were four significant word issues.
The first is – what does “may contain” actually mean? And does it mean the same thing on all labels and foods? There needs to be standardisation across all foods and labels to ensure that everyone knows what it means when shown on a label.
Second – what does “cereal containing gluten” and “tree nuts” mean, because they are collective terms and not specific to a species or individual food.
Third – gluten is recognised as a food allergen but when declaed on a food label it doesn’t show if a specific cereal is involved.
The fourth finding relates to fish, molluscus and crustaceans. It seems that there is confusion on how to actually declare these food allergens and it is important because different people will react to different seafoods and knowing what is in the food is essential.