Food vans coming to a street near you.
Mobile food vehicles are not uncommon. We have all had ice cream from an ice cream van as it was parked at the beach or as it drove down our street on a Saturday afternoon.
However, now there are gourmet foods being prepared, cooked and served from mobile food vans. The menus are understandably limited but these trucks are developing a rapidly growing popularity, especially late at night. People who have been out dancing and partying, are often looking for tasty and relatively inexpensive food late at night and these trucks meet this need perfectly.
The first food truck started in Sydney in 2012 and each of the other capitols are jumping on the bandwagon. Brisbane City Council has a tender process currently underway to license suitable “mobile food facilities” to operate in 11 parks and reserve across the city.
The Bun Mobile, which was Brisbane’s first food truck, started trading in March 2012.
These food operations are a common feature on the streets of many of the world’s big cities and have gained massive attention through social media and some now have cult followings. In fact, there is a phone app now available that will allow Sydneysiders to be able to locate their favourite truck.
The trucks position can be an issue as they can be seen as direct competition to existing restaurants and this is why Melbourne has been slower at the take up of this eating option. There was an issue related to restaurants and competition last year and licences were not reissued as a result.
Food safety is obviously an issue due to the nature of the business and set up, so these food business types must ensure that all requirements are met and are carefully monitored.
Keep an eye out for a gourmet food truck in your area, as this market contuse to grow.
- Published in News
Business fined for product past Use by Date.
During the last month a food business was fined $7500 for selling food past it’s use by date in South Australia. The business was a well known supermarket which says that the issue occurred because of human error and that all staff have been retrained.
The judge could have placed a fine of up to $250 000 for the breach to the Food Standards Code, but ruled that as there were no ill effects from the consumption of the goods and the public negativity to the situation would be a significant penalty on it’s own . No conviction was recorded.
It is Standard 1.2.5 of the Australian and New Zealand Food Standards Code that states the following for labelled goods;
1.Foods must include a Use-by date where the food should be consumed before a certain date because of health or safety reasons. This indicates the date from which the food is unsafe to consume, usually in circumstances where the food becomes microbiologically unsafe for consumption before it is discernibly spoiled.
2.In circumstances where this does not apply, a Best Before date must be used. The Best Before Date simply indicates that the product may have lost some of its quality after this date passes.
All food businesses must ensure that all staff have a good understanding of the principles and practice of FIFO – first in first out – at all stages in the food process.
If followed properly, FIFO will ensure that product past it’s use by date is not on shelves for sale or use.
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The Easter Bunny is going to make the food industry very happy this year
According to IBISWorld, we will each spend around $132 over the four day Easter break. That is a small increase from the $130 of 2012.
I don’t know about you, but that is more than will be spent in my house, so there must be some big spenders out there, as IBIS World is predicting a total spend for Easter of more than $3 billion.
Of that huge figure, there will be around $185 million spent on chocolate alone, which is a five plus percentage increase on 2012. The biggest chocolate items are expected to be dark and organic. Dark chocolate is being considered by many to be a healthy option and so there will no doubt be a lot of dark eggs happening this Easter.
The other increasing interest in chocolate is the fair trade issue and buying a product that has not involved child or poorly paid labour.
The price of cocoa is expected to rise, so IBISWorld suggests that people will be paying more for their visit by the Easter Bunny. It is also expected that the premium brands will do well due to better economic conditions and low interest rates.
Although Good Friday is traditionally the day for eating fish and other seafood, IBISWorld expects that because Easter 2013 is outside of most state school holidays, there will mostly be celebrations at home, with seafood all weekend. This will generate sales that exceed last year by 4.9 percent.
It sure sounds like the Easter Bunny will be making the food industry happy this Easter.
- Published in News
New Australian Coffee Competition
Entries to the first Australian International Coffee Awards (AICA) will open on second April (closing on 24 April), with judging at the Melbourne Showgrounds from 7 -9 May 2013.The winners will be announced on 23 May 2013.
It is a roasting competition open to both national and international businesses, and has been created by the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV).
It is being held as part of the 2013 International Coffee Expo (MICE) and World Barista Championships.
The CEO of RASV, Mark Sullivan, said; “The RASV is pleased to invite local and international entries into the new AICA, building on the success of the coffee category of the Royal Melbourne Fine Food Awards. Melbourne is renowned for its world class coffee. The AICA will award excellence in roasted coffee blends from around the world and provide trophy and medal winners with unique marketing opportunities.”
For more information about just how important coffee now is to Australians and how much we now drink, have a look at the article at How Safe Is Your Food.
This article was written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
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World’s best restaurant in trouble.
According to at least two of the most recognized food lists, the two Michelin star, Noma is the world’s best restaurant, and has been for at least the last two years.
At a price of around $250 per person, it is also not a cheap dining experience.
It is currently in a large amount of trouble due to poor communication and methods allowing staff to work whilst ill. As a result, according to a recent article in Hospitality Magazine, 63 people have ended up with Norovirus.
Itt will indeed be interesting to see if this will have an impact on the restaurant’s rating in next year’s best restaurant lists.
Norovirus is typically associated staff or visitors being ill and not washing hands properly. It is not usually linked to food but is related to poor hygiene. It is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in the USA and is often linked to aged care homes.
For more information about Norovirus, there is a great page set up by Bill Marler, who is a food poisoning related lawyer in the USA.
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Queensland enters the obesity campaign.
Late last year the Western Australian government launched a confronting advertising program and website aimed at reducing the obesity rate in that state. The LiveLighter campaign shows images of fat inside the body. At the time of launch it was considered by many to be confronting rather than encouraging. The website is www.livelighter.com.au
Recently the Queensland Department of Health launched the state’s $7.5 million campaign to shock residents into reducing the obesity rate for the Queensland. The program will continue for three years and includes a telephone information and coaching service called “Get Healthy”. The Government is also thinking about using the advertisements from Western Australia as part of the broad campaign.
The Department of Health for Queensland has figures that show that nearly a third of adults in the State obese or overweight, which has doubled in the last 16 years. The report these figures come from is dated 2012 and also shows that one in five children in Queensland is overweight and nearly one third of the total number of children in the state are obese.
Obesity is a major national issue but advertising and campaigns are not the way that we reduce it, it is people who will reduce it. Ultimately, it is up to people themselves as to what they put in their mouths, so hopefully these dramatic advertisements and campaigns can help make people think twice before they eat and about what they eat.
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Water is the most important ingredient.
Water is just a part of our lives and unless we are put into a situation of not having it, we really don’t think about just how important it actually is. Recently in South East Queensland there was a shutdown of the water treatment plants supplying Brisbane and surrounding areas. With floods everywhere it seemed almost ridiculous that a large part of the population of this state had to go into water saving and reduction.
It highlighted how important water is to all of us and just how much we all take it for granted.
In a food business we use water for three basic functions; ingredient, cleaning and transport. It is also used for staff drinking and in garden maintenance.
As an ingredient, it affects texture, mouthfeel, taste, appearance, shelf life and colour, in other words it makes or breaks a product. It is perhaps the most important of ingredients, but is rarely treated with that level of respect. It is simply just added from the tap, and we expect that it will be there at all times.
The water we use in the food business must meet specific requirements, as per the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. This is to ensure that it adds nothing to the product other than itself and therefore helps maintain food safety. As food businesses we pay for every drop of water we use and then for the treatment of whatever water we put down the drain.
If businesses sat down and truly worked out the cost of each litre of water used, they would probably find that it is one of the most expensive ingredients. Maybe then it would be treated with the respect that it deserves. This is even more important when we stop and think that the amount of water in the world does not increase, what we have is all there has ever been and will always be.
The term “water added” on a food label should mean a whole lot more to a food business than just those two words.
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