Are bananas in trouble?
Cavendish bananas are the main banana type in Australia. They are a common part of many lunchboxes and if these bananas were affected by a disease it could devastate the industry. The Tropical strain 4 of Panama Disease is a real problem for this banana type.
The Northern Territory government has recently lifted the restriction on Quarantine areas in that region. These were believed to be effective barriers for the spread of Panama Disease.
The Australian Banana Growers Council’s (ABGC) President, Mr Dour Phillips, said “The decision by the Northern Territory’s Department of Resources to abandon the quarantine areas is outrageous and totally unacceptable. The quarantine areas were protecting the nation’s banana industry from the spread of Panama Tropical Race 4. This opens up a totally unacceptable threat to the $450 million national banana industry and banana farming in Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales. This disease can easily be spread through the movement of soil carried on clothing and boots and on equipment, machinery and trucks,”
The ABGC is not the only one calling for the quarantine areas to be reinstated.
The Agriculture Minister for Queensland, Mr John McVeigh, said “This decision could crush Queensland’s banana industry. I’m calling on the Northern Territory Government to change its mind and reinstate the quarantine for the sake of common sense.”
The Director of Biosecurity for the Northern Territory government, Dr Andrew Tomkins, says that it believes that the disease has been spreading regardless of the quarantine areas and therefore has lifted the restriction. The Government says that the best defence against this disease is the breeding of resistant banana strains.
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New obesity control method
With obesity rapidly becoming perhaps the biggest health related issue in western countries, there is massive research going into all sorts of methods and foods that can reduce consumption.
A recent development at the University of Tokyo has gone to new levels in this quest.
Virtual Reality (VR) is a process that uses specially designed googles or glasses, linked to a computer and program, to create any world or place we like.
Now we have “diet googles”. The researchers at the University have used the world of VR to develop a method that makes people not want to each as much as they may normally.
It makes the food appear to be 50% bigger and can distort food to make it look like something else. It seems to not only reduce the amount people eat but also makes them want to eat food they may not know they are eating. If someone doesn’t like vegetables, this can make the food look like something the person likes, eg; chocolate.
So it has the potential to reduce food consumption whilst also increasing the consumption of healthier foods.
It all relies on the human being’s preference to believe what their eyes are saying than what their stomach may be telling them.
It makes you wonder, what next?
Further testing is being done. For more information – http://www.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/research/profiles/002/
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GS1 Recallnet strongly supported
In a previous article, we discussed a Recall notice system, released in August 2011 by GS1, called Recallnet.
It is a system that manufacturers, retailers, distributors and importers can join to spread information about product recalls. It includes a phone application and on line portal that allow recall information to be spread more widely, as well as providing a brilliant link for recall co-ordination. It is a simple and effective system.
There is a comparatively small joining fee of $120 and then a charge to recover the costs for using the system. It is a relatively inexpensive system to support a business’s recall program.
It already has quite a few members.
Four of the largest supermarket groups have now asked all their suppliers to join the system. This was done in an open letter to all their suppliers, which include the following; “We are pleased to announce our support of GS1 Recallnet, our industry’s tool for the effective management of recall and withdrawal notifications. We are now encouraging all of our partners to work with us by registering to use the portal. When you issue recalls and withdrawals today, it’s hard to know whether the right information is delivered to the right people at the right time; which is why we’re proud to be joining this industry-wide effort to improve and standardise recall and withdrawal notifications.”
Information about GS1 Recallnet can be found here.
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An apple a day…….
As a kid I remember being told that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Coming from the Apple Isle, Tasmania, I religiously ate at least one daily. Then I heard that there was research showing that apples were bad for you because of some chemical that was being sprayed on them to stop insects. I stopped eating them.
I now know that you should always wash all fruit and vegetables before eating them, so I’m now eating apples again – every day.
I am now really happy to find out that the saying I heard when young actually has some scientific backing.
Apples have now been called a miracle fruit by the researchers at Florida State University, who have just finished a study showing that they are very beneficial to postmenopausal women.
By eating two apples a day the test group of 45-65 year old women were found to have 25 percent lower cholesterol than when they started the study.
Dr. Bahram H. Arjmandi of Florida State University said “They experienced a 23% decrease in LDL cholesterol, which is known as the “bad cholesterol.I never expected apple consumption to reduce bad cholesterol to this extent while increasing HDL cholesterol or good cholesterol by about 4%.”
There were 160 women of that age group in the study and half were randomly given 75 g of dried apples per day for a year and the other half were given the same amount of prunes. Blood was taken at three, six and 12 months and tested for cholesterol and other components.
The women consuming the apples showed a marked improvement in cholesterol at the six month stage. This group also found an average weight loss of 3.3pounds (approximately 1.5kg). Dr. Bahram H. Arjmandi believes this was due to the pectin in the apples having a satiety effect.
Although this is the first study to look at the effects apples might have on cardio health, it is not the first to study the health benefits of this common fruit.
It has been found that some apples, and particularly Granny Smiths, contain salicylic acid, which has been linked to blood-thinning and cardioprotective improvements. Another recent study has shown that the polyphenols in apples have health benefits.
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Enviroveg
Ausveg is the primary body and representative for the Australia vegetable growing industry.
It has just launched a new website that will help it’s growers, and others, monitor and reduce the impact their industry has on the environment.
The new website is called Enviroveg and has a great self assessment to help growers work out what their current impact is on their environment and from that an Action Plan can be developed using the Manual from the site. They will also be able to compare their performance to averages of other growers in their specific product type and farm size as well as to state and national figures.
The data from the self assessment will also be collected anonymously by the website to start painting an overall picture, for Ausveg, of what is happening in terms of environmental controls in the industry.
The Enviroveg program was originally launched in 2000 and currently has 300 members with 50,000 ha of farming land.
The new website will make the program more accessible to not only Ausveg members but to other growers as well.
“The EnviroVeg website gives Ausveg the ability to analyse the environmental performance of growers in areas such as energy management, water use and soil nutrition. Our new website will collect data from the self assessments and present detailed results showing how participating growers are performing at the national and State levels, or even by crop type and farm size.”
said Jordan Brooke-Barnett, Environment Coordinator for Ausveg.
The new self assessment can be found at http://ausveg.com.au/enviroveg/self_assessment.htm
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New Centre for Food Integrity
Australians are well recognised as being cynical when it comes to any type of claims on food or other items. We are a nation of people that generally need to have someone prove something or have someone we trust validate it, before we believe it.
Well known sports stars are often in advertisements because it encourages us to believe that the product is everything that is being said.
Recently I had solar electricity put onto my property and I used a company that had done the same thing for a neighbour and friend. I had done some checking on prices previously but did not get a second quote because the price was reasonable. The thing that made me go with that company was the recommendation from my friend.
I am not alone in taking the recommendation of someone I know. This is one of the most common ways for businesses to do business – referrals. It immediately establishes a level of trust that would not exist without it.
A Centre for Food Integrity is being established in Australia. It is based on a model of the not for profit Center for Food Integrity in the US. It will be launched in October 2012.
Like the one in the US, our Centre will be focussed on building trust and confidence in the food we produce and our food industry.
The Centre will hopefully have representatives from all food sectors and the plan is to assist each sector improve communication to consumers about the food and industry. It will also work on collaboration between business sectors and types. It will not be working for, or on behalf of, individual businesses
The Center for Food Integrity (CFI), a U.S. not-for-profit organisation established in 2007 to build consumer trust and confidence in the food system, is to be launched in Australia in October 2012.
The US Center uses it’s five websites as the key tools in spreading the message. One of these, Farmers feed us, has an average time spent on the site of 11 minutes per person.
Representatives from the National Farmers Federation, Australian Pork Ltd, and the Australian Wheat Board are on the Foundation Board of the Australian CFI. It is expected that interest, which is already high in the food industry, will continue to increase.
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Maximum Residue Limit review
The Maximum Residue Limits are the top level of specific chemicals permitted to be in certain types of foods. It is a requirement in Chapter One of the Food Standards Code.
The following is information from of Food Standards Australia New Zealand and is included with permission. You can find this and other information through subscribing to the Subscription Service at subscriptions@foodstandards.gov.au.
For more information please call the FSANZ media phone on 0401 714 265 or email media@foodstandards.gov.au.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) today invited submissions on proposed changes to maximum residue limits (MRLs) in the Food Standards Code.
FSANZ Chief Executive Officer Steve McCutcheon said FSANZ periodically reassessed MRLs for agricultural or veterinary chemicals that may be present in food.
“This is a routine process, both to allow the sale of food with legitimate residues and to remove limits that are no longer required,” Mr McCutcheon said.
“This Proposal includes consideration of MRLs gazetted by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority for carbendazim and dimethoate. It also considers MRLs requested by other parties, to align the Code with Codex (the body that develops international standards) or trading partner standards.
“FSANZ’s dietary exposure assessments indicate the limits set out in this Proposal do not present any public health and safety concerns.”
The closing date for submissions was 13 August 2012.
For full details about approvals and other standards matters see the latest FSANZ Notification Circular
Media contact: 0401 714 265 (Australia) or +61 401 714 265 (from New Zealand) or email media@foodstandards.gov.au
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Healthy Bones Week.
It is well known that we all need calcium in our diets to have good strong bones. However you also need Vitamin D and a well balanced diet, as well as regular exercise.
Dairy Australia launched Healthy Bones Week in 1994 and the 2012 one was in late August
This year the focus was on trying to get Cafes involved through the “Free Shake Days” promotion, The aim was that Cafes will give away free milkshakes and smoothies as a way of encouraging people to drink more milk and eat dairy foods.
It was hoped that the Mass Milkshake Giveaway would highlight the importance of keeping bones healthy.
The Cafes taking part were promoted for free on a special webpage, as well as on Facebook and Twitter. To get more information go to the Dairy Australia website.
Schools were also encouraged to take part through a dance related competition. Details can be found at Milkshake
Healthy Bones Week is a little controversial however. Although the aim is to help highlight the importance of healthy bones by making sure that we all consume calcium in our diets, it can also be seen as a way of getting people to drink more milk and eat more dairy foods.
Some have argued that as it is run by Dairy Australia it is in fact not a promotion of calcium as a healthy nutrient but a campaign to encourage more milk consumption.
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So are oats really that good for you?
Even three years ago there was not as much food or advertising about oats and wholegrain as there is now.
So is there anything to this whole thing about oats being good for you?
Recent studies published in the journal, Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, from Germany have reinforced that oats have the ability to lower bad cholesterol (Low Density Lipo-proteins – LDLs) by binding up bile acids.
Oats also have an anti-inflammatory effect against the inflammation that can be caused by high cholesterol levels.
On top of this, the anti-oxidative capacity of oats can lower hypertension (high blood pressure), obesity and diabetes.
Of the hypertensive patients in the study, 73 percent of them could have had their blood pressure medication reduced after eating meals containing oats. Only 42 percent of those eating the control cereal meals were able to have their medication reduced. This shows convincingly that consuming oats does reduce blood pressure when compared to other cereal types.
Oats are of particular interest to researchers because they are easy to prepare and eat. Little processing is required to make them both edible and easy to use. Rolled oats are both easy to produce and easy for consumers to use.
It is this unique property that makes oats the cereal of choice at the moment for food manufacturers. This can be seen by the sheer number of advertisements now out there for products that contain oats and other wholegrains.
A simple indication of this is the number of quick porridge products and wholegrain foods that are now available.
So oats are good for us and food businesses are now developing and selling product to meet this increasing customer requirement. It is just another example of how the market is an important driver of the food industry.
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When is a fillet not a fillet?
A recent customer complaint about a chicken fillet has been upheld by the Advertising Standards Board (ASB).
The case was upheld because the ASB found that the public perception of a fillet is that it is a whole piece of meat with no bone and not made from processed meat.
It was found that the fillet in question was not a whole fillet, and as such cannot be called a fillet.
Unfortunately there was no clear definition of chicken fillet in the Food Standards Code or Cuts of Chicken Meat from the Australian Chicken Meat Federation, so the ASB had to rely on what the public believes.
The company has been found to be using false advertising and is required to change the name of the product and make no reference to the word “fillet”. The change will be effective across all stores and the website by the end of July.
If the complaint had been made to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) instead of the ASB, there would have been potentially massive fines as well as the name change requirement.
This case really highlights the absolute importance of a business making sure that it uses the right words to describe products on both labelling and in advertising. There are penalties, both financial and to reputation, if a business does it wrong, especially if it is done deliberately.
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