It is no longer the big cheese!!!!
Roy Morgan research shows that people are buying less cheese and that this downward trend is continuing from previous years.
According to the findings, 89 percent of those grocery buyers surveyed had bought cheese during the 12 months to March 2013, compared to 92 percent for the 12 months to 2009.
It is the young buyers under 35 years old where the biggest difference is being made, with a decrease of six percent since 2009. Although 85 percent of this age group are still purchasing cheese, although much less block, sliced and soft types than previously.
The research findings show that the younger group are purchasing less cheese for health reasons, and this also applies to other dairy foods with some saying in the study that they “avoid dairy foods whenever possible”. There is however, still a large proportion choosing to purchase cheese and other dairy foods to get enough calcium in their diets.
Angela Smith, Group Account Manager Consumer Products, Roy Morgan Research, said; “… interesting to see is how different kinds of cheese have sold over the last five years. Block cheese, sliced cheese and soft cheese (for example, Brie and Camembert) have lost the most ground, with only cheese snacks and ricotta or cottage cheese remaining stable.”
The reduction in sales of the soft cheeses may well be linked to increasing concerns about the food safety issues that can be associated with them.
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
So what is the most popular vegetable in Australia?
I remember when I was a kid growing up in the north of Tasmania, dinner usually involved a meat of some type and three vegetables. The vegetables were always potato, carrots and something else. Sometimes we would have peas, beans, corn, cabbage, cauliflower or even brussel sprouts (they were definitely not a favourite on my plate).
The interesting thing is that regardless of what other vegetables were happening, there was always potato (in different forms) and boiled carrots.
Now 40 years later (and it was weird writing that!!!), carrots are still big when it comes to dinner in this country. In August AusVeg commissioned a survey to be done to determine what vegetables we are purchasing.
It found that 94 percent of the 800 consumers surveyed had purchased carrots, making it the number one vegetable purchased.
However, as the survey only asked consumers and did not consider the food industry, potatoes were not found to be the highest purchase. When the chips and other products in restaurants, cafes and other food businesses are taken into consideration, it is widely recognised that potatoes are the main vegetable crop in this country.
This is a monthly survey and will be run over the next three years.
The top 10 vegetables purchased in august 2013 were;
- tomatoes – 92 per cent
- potatoes – 83 per cent
- broccoli – 80 per cent
- cauliflower – 79 per cent
- celery – 78 per cent
- capsicums – 76 per cent
- white onion – 76 per cent
- cabbage – 74 per cent
- zucchini – 74 per cent
The choice of vegetable is personal but it definitely includes the belief that some are healthier than others. Carrots are believed to be good for the eyes and are easy to handle, making it a popular vegetable across time
Andrew White, AusVeg Manager of Industry Development and Communications, said; “This consumer research provides valuable insights to the Australian vegetable industry that will assist growers in understanding consumer’s preferences over a three-year period. Insights include not only which vegetables are being purchased the most, but also what the triggers and barriers to purchase are and how these might be overcome in order to see growth in purchasing.”
My family would never have had zucchini, broccoli or capsicum on our dinner plates back when I was a kid, but these vegetables are a regular part of meals in my house now. Times change but some things like potatoes and carrots will always be important to us, but it is interesting to see that even now brussel sprouts don’t make the popular list.
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
Beer down and wine up – Australia is not drinking as much.
Although, according to recent figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) beer has the lowest consumption in 66 years, it still makes up around 41 percent of the pure alcohol market. Wine now makes up nearly 38 percent, so we are becoming a nation that is starting to prefer wine to beer.
This is a dramatic change in taste for this country, with beer consumption down by 2.3 percent in 2011-12 (compared to 2010-11) and wine increasing by 1.9 percent..
Spirits make up nearly 13 percent and the ready to drink beverages are currently at around seven percent of the pure alcohol market. Cider is now increasing as well and is now at nearly two percent of the market.
The figures also have another really interesting result, as a country our consumption of alcohol has decreased for the second year in a row with a 0.8 percent drop in 2011-12.This means that per capita we are consuming 10.1 litres of pure alcohol per person per year, which works out to be an average of 2.2 standard drinks each per day (for people 15 years and older).
The data for this information comes not from actual consumption but supply figures, so may be a slight over estimation due to waste and use of alcohol for cooking and other purposes.
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
So it’s eggs again (or is that still)!!!!!
Whilst most people would immediately say that it is poultry or meat that causes the most food poisoning, in Australia, eggs continue to be the main food source for food poisoning.
Two recent incidents in New South Wales have highlighted the importance of not using raw eggs in foods that will not then be cooked before consumption.
The following is a summary of the two food poisoning incidents from www.health.gov.au
Deep fried ice cream
- S. Typhimurium, three family groups at the same restaurant, 12 of 15 people becoming ill after consuming deep fried ice-cream.
- This restaurant was investigated in March 2012 following an outbreak of the same strain associated with the consumption of a raw egg dessert.
- Another 5 cases from a group of 49 who had eaten at the same restaurant as the outbreak above, but on a separate date. All those who were ill had eaten deep fried ice-cream.
- The outbreak strain was isolated from a sample of uncooked deep fried ice-cream taken from the premises (raw egg batter).
- NSWFA (New South Wales Food Authority) issued a Prohibition Order, prohibiting the use of raw and minimally cooked eggs/egg products.
Bakery items
- S. Typhimurium, 27 cases linked to a single bakery.
- Bakery was also supplied with eggs from the egg farm implicated in the restaurant outbreaks above.
- A NSWFA inspection of the bakery resulted in the outbreak strain being isolated from swabs/samples of re-usable piping bags, machine nozzles and freshly whipped cream.
- The business is now using only disposable piping bags
- No further cases reported.
From www.health.gov.au
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
Western Australia is the place to get a good pie in 2013.
The recent Fine Food Exhibition in Sydney once again saw the presentation of hundreds of pies from across Australia in competition for recognition as the Best Pie for 2013.
Western Australia did very well this year, with not only the Plain Meat Pie winner, but the runner up for the Plain Meat Pie as well, and also four of the eight category winners.
This was the 24th Official Great Aussie Pie Competition and was judged over four days.
The Overall Gourmet Pie was the Seafood Marina by Bremen Patisserie in Umina. The overall Plain meat Pie winner was by Bread Provisions from Wangara, Western Australia, with the runner up from the Denmark Bakery, in Denmark, Western Australia
Other winners include:
Gourmet Game Category Winner
Crocodile Pie – Blackbutt Bakery, Blackbutt, QLD
Gourmet Poultry Category Winner
Sweet Thai Chicken – LA Bakehouse Cafe (High St Pies,) Penrith NSW
Gourmet Vegetarian Category Winner
Ratatouille Gourmet Veg – Pinjarra Bakery & Patisserie, Pinjarra WA
Gourmet Red Meat Category Winner
Rogan Josh – The Miami Bakehouse, Mandurah WA
Gourmet Gluten Free Category Winner
Cheese Cauliflower & Broccoli – Baked in the Peninsula, Sorrento VIC
Gourmet Apple Category Winner
Four Seasons Patisserie Bakery, Kelmscott WA
Gourmet Brekkie Pie Category Winner
Big Brekkie Pie – Rolling Pin Pies & Cakes, Ocean Grove, VIC
Cerebos Asian Gourmet Winner
Thai Spiced Chicken – Denmark Bakery, Denmark WA
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
Food ads should tell the truth, the whole truth, shouldn’t they?
Have just seen an advertisement on TV, which just makes me very angry. It annoys me when a business uses what is not legally allowed in their product as the basis for an ad instead of promoting the benefits and hints that it is the only one doing the right thing. In this case it is a long life milk and the advertising company decided to use the required legal absence of preservatives as the basis for a very emotive and inflammatory advertisement.
A young girl, glowing bright green, is seen in various situations where she is obviously being shunned by those around her. It ends with a picture of her on a park bench and the words “preservatives have consequences” across the top.
Businesses working in the food industry are obviously trying to make money and the vast majority follow the rules and aim to make a product that is safe for the consumer and makes them happy to buy again. There are cowboys but they are in the minority. The media generally portrays food businesses and the industry in general as baddies only interested in making money.
This ad only promotes this negative view of the industry that employs more Australians than any other and it is not highlighting the good things of the product but the fact that it does not contain preservatives. The thing is that none of the long life milks are allowed to contain preservatives and if the process and packaging are right, there is no need for them.
Why a well known brand allowed this ad to go to air is beyond rationale explanation and it would not be surprising if it is pulled from our screens very quickly. It is sneaky and not going to help the product sales in the long run.
So the marketing question is this – is it acceptable to hint in an ad that it is only your product that does not contain something that causes concern to the public, when in fact none of that product type are allowed to contain it?
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
2013 HACCP Awards
The HACCP Awards are presented by Advancing Food Safety, SAI Global at the Australian HACCP Conference.
2013 marked the 20th Conference, and the Awards this year included the Inaugural Ross Peters Award Memorial Award. Ross was a strong and passionate advocate for food safety in our industry and was an auditor and business owner as well as being a well known and popular personality. He passed away recently and in recognition of his outstanding contribution to food safety, and especially HACCP, in Australia, a special award has been set up to be presented at the Conference.
The Awards are aimed at recognising the contribution that both individuals and organisations have made to food safety both in Australia and New Zealand.
Damian James, General Manager – Assurance Services Australia – Advancing Food Safety, SAI Global said; “The HACCP Awards set Australasia’s food industry professional standards. This year’s winners have demonstrated both excellence in advancing safe food practices and passion to share their knowledge with the industry.”
2013 HACCP Awards winners:
Outstanding Individual nominated by an agri-food industry company – Allan Dall, general manager NSW, Barden Produce.
Outstanding Individual working as a registered food safety auditor- Troy Arnold, SAI Global.
Outstanding Company – Single-site – Hazeldene’s Chicken & Kez’s Kitchen
Outstanding Company – Multi-site – Sanitarium
Inaugural Ross Peters Award Memorial Award – Glen Neal, Manager – Food and Beverage, Ministry for Primary Industries New Zealand.
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
Norovirus outbreak in SE Qld and ways to control it
Norovirus is a virus that causes gastrointestinal issues and is not killed by antibiotics. The symptoms last around three days in a healthy adult and may be longer and more serious in the High Risk Groups.
It is a huge problem in the US and is regularly the most common cause of food poisoning in that country.
It is increasingly an issue in Australia and is now being seen as an issue in the aged care industry. Although Salmonella is perhaps the biggest cause of food poisoning in this industry, Norovirus is becoming more commonly the reason for these centres to be in Lockdown.
It is a pathogen that is regularly associated with winter and early spring, so it is not surprising that we have at least 100 cases currently in an outbreak in South east Queensland.
The following are some ways of controlling or preventing Norovirus being a problem in food businesses;
- Wash hands carefully with soap and water, especially after using the toilet and changing nappies and always before eating or preparing food.
- Wash fruits and vegetables (potentially in a chlorine based wash), and cook all shellfish thoroughly before eating.
- People who are infected with Norovirus should never prepare food for others as long as they have symptoms and until three days after recovering from illness.
- After an episode of any food borne illness, such as vomiting or diarrhea, immediately clean and disinfect contaminated surfaces with food grade cleaners and sanitisers
- Immediately remove and wash clothing or linens that may be contaminated with vomit or faecal matter. Use food grade detergent and wash at the maximum available cycle length and then machine dry.
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News