I remember my Mother often cutting up pineapple and giving it to us kids before a meal. She believes that it stimulates appetite and helps digestion. We just ate it because it was yummy.

So I was really interested to see that research being done at La Trobe University is showing that pineapple may help with the increasing demand for alternatives to antibiotics.

The majority of antibiotics in Australia are not used in humans, but in animals. The antibiotics are added to animal feed as a preventative to maintain health and reduce the likelihood of illness or death.

Any animals or poultry which die before they are slaughtered reduces the  income of the farmer, so keeping them healthy is just good business senses.

This means however that the amount of antibioticsbeing used is massive and that reduces their effectiveness against bacteria, as they continue to build up immunity.

So all over the world, scientists are working frantically to find alternatives to antibiotics.

An extract from the stems of pineapples seems to stop gastro and diarrhoea in piglets.

Cutting edge DNA technology is being used by Professor Robert Pike in the research.

Professor Pike said; “We hope this will also open up new avenues for natural treatments of gastro in humans – and stop our strong reliance on antibiotics and the rise of superbugs.”

A recent survey by Roy Morgan Research has shown that nearly a third of Australians drinking soy regularly lso drink dairy milk. So it seems that soy is being drunk not just for health reasons but because it is simply another typ of beverage.

The research found that nearly 1.1 million (5.7 percent) Aussies over 14 years old drink at least one soy based drink every week.

Soy seems to be more popular than iced tea, breakfast, energy, and sports drinks with only 5.6 percent drinking energy and sports drinks, and 4.7 percent regularly having breakfast drinks and iced tea.

It is the folk in the Australian Capitol Territory who are the big soy drinkers with 9.3 percent drinking it at least once a week.

Industry Communications Director at Roy Morgan Research, Norman Morris, said; “Many Australians choose to drink soy milk because of the discomfort or adverse reactions dairy products cause them. Consumers interested in health and nutrition are also more inclined to drink soy beverages: for example, people who ‘favour natural medicines and health products’ are more than 50% more likely than the average Aussie to drink soy milk, as are those who ‘look for drinks with added ingredients that are good for my body. However, the fact that almost a third of soy drinkers also consume regular dairy milk suggests that for some people, soy drinks aren’t a lifestyle choice but simply another beverage option. Just as a consumer might drink coffee and hot chocolate, or cola and lemonade, so too might someone vary the kind of milk they consume.”

With the new Health Claim labelling now coming into force for manufactured foods in Australia, recent news of a AUD $10800 fine to two of our major food companies, should be strong reminder to ensure label accuracy.

The two companies were fined by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for misleading use of the “school canteen approved” labelling.

Both companies had disclaimers on their product stating that they met the “amber” (or “select carefully”) school canteen criteria, but ACCC considered that these were small and not obvious enough to prevent consumers being misrepresented by the “school canteen approved” labelling.

A CHOICE report on the number of supermarket sold foods using canteen certifications and potentially misleading consumers, was the trigger for the ACCC action.

The ACCC had the option of taking the two companies to court but in this situation, a standard fine of $10800 was imposed instead.

ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said; “The ACCC believes both companies were using logos to claim that these products were a healthy option for school canteens to supply to children, when they were not.”

Both companies are now adjusting the labels to reflect the requirements in the ACCC Infringement Notices.

Food companies need to ensure at all times that what is on the label is the truth and cannot be seen as misleading at any time. This is always important but with the new health Claims coming into effect, the need is even greater.

Ms Court said; “School canteen managers, parents and caregivers rely upon product packaging and labelling when choosing healthy snacks for children. The ACCC is currently examining consumer protection issues around ensuring that the health claims made by large businesses are accurate and will not mislead consumers.”

The following is from the recall notice from Food Standards Australia New Zealand and is included here with permission.

Please find below information on a recent Australian consumer level food recall. This information is also available on our website at www.foodstandards.gov.au/recalls

Date notified to FSANZ – 01/07/2016 

Food type – Muesli bars

Product name – Hillcrest Chewy Choc Squiggle Muesli Bars

Package description and size – 8 bars in a 250g cardboard box

Date marking  – Best Before 10MAY17

Country of origin  – New Zealand

Reason for recall  – The presence of an undeclared allergen (peanut)

Distribution  – ALDI stores  in NSW, ACT, QLD, VIC, SA, WA

Consumer advice

Any consumers who have a peanut allergy or intolerance may have a reaction if the product is consumed.

Consumers who have a peanut allergy or intolerance should not consume this product. The product can be returned to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Contact – ALDI Hotline 1800 709 993  www.aldi.com.au

The following is included with permission from Food Standards Australia New Zealand.

Below are links to four media releases FSANZ has issued today:

• Call for submissions on the use of propionates in processed meat

• Call for submissions on use of L-Cysteine as a food additive

• Call for submissions on the addition of water during wine production

• Call for submissions on irradiation of blueberries and raspberries

This information can be reproduced in your newsletters or journals as long as you mention that it is reproduced with permission of Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Please feel free to distribute this information to others in your organisation who may be interested (or suggest that they may also like to subscribe to this service). If you no longer wish to subscribe you can remove your details via the FSANZ website under the Subscription Service. If you have difficulty doing this contact subscriptions@foodstandards.gov.au

So it seems that all this promotion and advertising about wholegrains really is true.

The latest edition of “Circulation”, the journal of the American Heart Association includes an article about recent research showing one of the benefits of consuming high levels of wholegrains

The research was on 14 studies with over 780,000 participants.

The overall finding was that the higher the consumption of wholegrains the lower the risk of death from heart disease.

Australian Heart Foundation spokesperson for Nutrition, Beth Thomas, said; “In the findings, high vs low intake consistently linked to better health outcomes with a 28 per cent reduction in cardiovascular disease mortality. The way in which wholegrains appears to improve health include reducing blood glucose levels and blood cholesterol levels (total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol), lowering body fat percentage and increasing intake of minerals, antioxidants and fibre.”

So a wholegrain is a grain or flour which includes the endosperm, germ and bran.

Wholegrain is now appearing everywhere, in many foods.

My mother was an RN and time and again she told my sister and I that the bowel is connected to the brain.

Obviously the two organs are not physically connected in the body, but her years of nursing showed her that if there is a problem in the bowel, there was a much greater likelihood of brain issues.

So having a healthy bowel has been found to reduce the potential for things like depression. Eating enough fibre and having regular exercise are the keys to keeping the bowel healthy.

A recent study by Monash University has found that eating a high fibre diet  may actually help the bowel reduce food allergies as well.

A PhD student, Jian Tan, fed mice with a peanut allergy a high fibre diet and their gut and colon microbiota changed. These mice were then found to no longer have a peanut allergy.

The report from the study states; “The microbiota in the gut assist the immune system in resisting allergies through the breaking down of fibre into short-chain fatty acids. This opens up a potential route for drug therapy for allergies by delivering short-chain fatty acids as a treatment.”

The short chain fatty acids apparently boost the production of dendritic cells, which determine if the allergic reaction to foods occurs or not.

The report says; “Effectively, increased levels of short-chain fatty acids switch these cells to stop the allergic response, while a lack of fibre may have an opposite effect. These specialised dendritic cells require vitamin A, another factor which can only be obtained through the diet, and is high in vegetables and fruits.”

So now human trials are needed to find if the mice tests also apply to people. If so, this is significant for thos with food allergies.

The research is published in the Cells Report journal, Volume 15, Issue 12.

I started my food career in product development and there really is a buzz when you see a product you have been involved in developing for sale in a supermarket or in a quick serve business. Some of the products I was involved with are still for sale today. In fact for sentimental reasons, I picked up a packet of crisps from the supermatket this week that are flavoured as one of the products I helped to develop.

The interesting thing about product development is the huge number of projects which involve hours and days of work, which do not end up for sale. A lot of money is spent doing PD and it is only the projects with the greatest likelihood of good sales which make it through the process. If a company does it well and is more than a bit lucky, the products released will go on, like some that I was involved with, to be stayers and long term money earners.

Product Development is essential to all businesses. It expands product ranges and keeps customers comning back for more. It is intended to ultimately increase sales and profits. The crisps I bought this week are a simple example for why businesses do PD. There are old favourites in the crisps, eg; Salt and vinegar, plain, Chicken and BBQ, but in a world where we are wanting to eat healthier, these companies have to keep coming up with new flavours and products to keep up sales and to generate new customers.

It involves many steps and a lot of people, from the designers, to the packaging experts, to those doing taste panels, shelf life and other testing, engineers, scientists and then the marketing and sales team. At any point the project could be stopped or changed.

Innovation is the key, in terms of new products, packaging, processes, ingredients and equipment. Doing it well will make money and grow the business, even if it costs a lot to achieve it, and may well set the business up as a market leader. Being a market leader has a huge amount of value to a company.

A recent survey by UBS and the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC)found that those companies supplying the supermarkets have product development as a top priority.

A new joint survey from UBS and the has found Australian supermarket suppliers are investing in new product development as a top priority.

AFGC Chief Executive Officer, Gary Dawson, said; “The survey reflects the difficult domestic trading conditions, with a modest outlook for both sales and profit growth for Australia’s food and grocery manufacturing suppliers. It confirms retailer profit margins in Australia are compressing but they remain well above international peers. For suppliers the opposite is true – after years of declining profit share there has been some claw back of margin in the last twelve months, but profitability of Australian suppliers remains well below international peers.”

The following is from the recall notice from Food Standards Australia New Zealand and is include here with permission.

Please find below information on a recent Australian consumer level food recall. This information is also available on our website at www.foodstandards.gov.au/recalls

Date notified to FSANZ – 16/06/2016 03:00 PM

Food type – BREADS AND BAKERY PRODUCTS

Product name – Eleman Bakery Authentic Lebanese Date Biscuits

Package description & size – 450g plastic bags

Country of origin – Australia

Reason for recall – the presence of undeclared allergens (egg and wheat)

Distribution – NSW only

Consumer advice

Any consumers who have an egg or wheat allergy or intolerance may have a reaction if the product is consumed. Consumers who have a egg and or wheat allergy or intolerance should not consume this product and should return the products to the place of purchase for a full refund (if applicable).

Contact – Eleman Bakery   0433346175

From the 01 July we will see the progressive rollout of the new Country of Origin labelling.

Information about the new labels is available on http://www.foodlabels.industry.gov.au/?utm_source=Food+Standards+News&utm_campaign=9d489f00ad-Food_Standards_News_June_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71d71e1fc3-9d489f00ad-310072897

The following is a recent media release from FSANZ and is included here with permission.

Date: 16/06/2016

Page Content

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) today called for submissions on a proposal to require the mandatory declaration of lupin as an allergen.

FSANZ Chief Executive Officer Steve McCutcheon said FSANZ is proposing to add lupin to a list of allergens that must be declared, either on labels or via information accompanying or displayed with the food, if they are present.

“Like some other legumes (e.g. soy and peanut), lupin has the potential to be an allergen,” Mr McCutcheon said.

“Historically, most of the Australian sweet lupin crop has been used for animal feed or exported. However, because of its high protein and fibre content, it is increasingly being used in food for people. 

“Due to the increase in use in food and some cases of allergic response, FSANZ was asked to investigate whether lupin should be one of the allergens that require mandatory declaration.”

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

The closing date for submissions is 6pm AEST Thursday 28 July 2016.

More information 

Proposal P1026 – Lupin as an allergen

Current allergen labelling requirements

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