Food Safety Australia
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Food Safety Australia
Based in Brisbane Qld, Food Safety Australia is a leading food safety education organisation that delivers cutting edge online food safety programs for individuals and organisations …Read More
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It is all in the words.
I was recently reading an article in Food Australia which discussed how the words we use everyday may not mean the same thing to everyone.
The word “milk” would represent a specific thing in the minds of most people born in Australia, but is likely to mean something entirely different to those born overseas. Milk in this country is assumed by most to be the product that occurs from milking a cow and is white. Now is that milk or is it the stuff that comes out of the plastic bottles from the supermarket that has been heated, cooled and pressured?
I grew up on a farm and was fortunate enough to be able to drink milk straight from the cow, but there are people in this country who actually have no idea that this is where milk comes from.
Milk is just an example, but when we stop and think about it, this word will mean different things to different people. To someone from Asia, milk may actually be the white liquid produced from squeezing soy beans and for others it will be what results when camels are milked.
This also applies to many of the foods we eat, so we have to be very careful what we call our foods and how we label them.
Although it is not a food, a brand new perfume highlights this perfectly. This new perfume is called Si and has a beautiful as on the TV with Cate Blanchet. This word means Yes in Spanish. It seems like a terrific name for a new perfume from a very large perfume company.
The problem is that this word, when pronounced a specific way, can mean “death” in Mandarin.
So this huge company has effective set this product up to not be purchased by a large percentage of the world female population. All because it did not make sure that the words used were clearly understood by all. That is just bad business.
So when using words to describe a food or even a process, ensure that they are easily understood by those you are talking with, regardless of whether it is on a food label or it communicating with your staff or other stakeholders.
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
Call to review allergen labelling.
The Allergen Bureau developed an allergen assessment and labelling tool quite a few years ago and it has since been reviewed into it’s second version. The tool is called VITAL (Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labelling) and sets a method to be used to determine the levels of the recognised food allergens in a product and then includes a system for labelling of those foods.
The revision was based on the results from a recent international study, which has developed reference doses of 11 recognised food allergens, based on the results of 55 clinical food challenge studies.
According to Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia, in Australia, food allergies affect 10 per cent of infants, 4-8 per cent of children aged between 5 and 13 years, and about 2 per cent of people over 13. Most allergies in children disappear over time.
Hen’s egg, cow’s milk, peanuts and tree nuts are the most common triggers for food allergy. Seafood, sesame, soy, fish and wheat are the less common triggers. Life-long allergies are usually from peanuts, tree nuts, seeds and seafood.
Interestingly, the international study was originally implemented as a result of the original VITAL system.
The study was done as a joint project by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Australia, the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program (FARRP) of the University of Nebraska in the US, TNO in the Netherlands and Unilever in the UK
There are some businesses in Australia that already utilising VITAL as their tool for allergen assessment and labelling. As a result of this recent study, the call has now gone out to have utilisation of this, now well recognised, dose based system into the Food Standards Code, and other world legislation, as the method for labelling of all allergen containing foods.
Professor Katie Allen, lead author of the study and Director of Population Health at MCRI, said; “Establishing a reliable labelling system that is informed by evidence and is practical to use will not only enhance the safety and credibility of precautionary labelling but also enable manufactures to minimise its overuse through a formal risk assessment tool. This in turn will provide increased consumer confidence in their legitimacy and enable allergic consumers to eat a wider variety of food with safety and confidence. The majority of the allergic population would have access to a wider variety of foods if the reference dose concept were adopted by the food industry and used to guide labelling decisions.”
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
Shoppers do want food safety in their supermarket, but it varies.
With Australian Food Safety Week 2013 only weeks away, it is interesting to see that in recent research, more than half of the shoppers surveyed consider food safety to be important when shopping.
This year’s theme is about shopping and food safety, so this result is of particular interest to the supermarkets.
However the results show that it is generally only 57 percent of shoppers who consider food safety to be the most important factor when choosing a supermarket to use. The question that really needs to be asked is why the other 43 percent of people don’t?
The other issues that were considered important were; proximity, value, trading hours, quality and range, usable / clean trolleys, weekly specials and everything in one place.
Even though the large chains are now offering petrol discounts to bring in customers, the research found that only around 25 percent of the shoppers over 14 years old thought this was important enough to help determine where they shopped.
The research also found that the results were different depending upon which supermarket was involved, with both Coles and Woolworths shoppers having a higher food safety expectation. Aldi rated highly with price and value and IGA was primarily about convenience. This will obviously help set the growth strategies for each of these businesses.
The research was done by Roy Morgan research.
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
BMI may be controlled by regular meals
Although there are some issues with the measure of Body Mass Index (BMI), it is the commonly accepted method for determining if someone is overweight or obese. It is a measurement of a person’s weight in kilograms divided by their height in metres.
If the result is less than 18.5, the person can be considered to be underweight, in other words they are not carrying enough weight on their frame. The normal weight range is between 18.5 and 24.9. If a person is possibly overweight they will be in the range of 25 to 29.9. Those who are considered obese have a BMI of 30 or more.
It is well recognised that missing breakfast will result in a lower metabolism as it has not been stimulated at the start of the day. This has been shown to contribute to increasing weight. Therefore people who miss breakfast regularly may have a higher BMI.
S recent study in Finland has shown that establishing and maintaining a regular eating pattern will encourage a person’s metabolise to function properly and assist in reducing obesity. The study focussed on adolescents and had more than 4000 participants.
It was found in the study, that having five regular meals a day, even for those who are predisposed to obesity, will not increase BMI in those taking part. The five meals were; breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner.
The study followed the male and female participants from pregnancy to16 years old, and found that the increased food intake over the years did not result in a higher BMI.
The study results have been published in various journals, including; International Journal of Obesity, the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disesase, and PLOS One.
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
Printed food????
So how do you feel about eating food that has been made just for you by a printer?
NASA has recently funded a study in Texas in the USA to investigate the potential of specially developed printers that will make food to recipes specifically set up for individuals.
There are already 3D printers being used for art and manufacturing, so this is really just a natural progression.
NASA is hoping that a 3D printer can be developed with the supporting materials to supply astronauts with their dietary intake on long space travels in the not too distant future.
Chocolate printing is already being done by a company called Choc Edge and the printer is now available for around £3000.
The current study is working on printing a pizza. The machine will make the base first and then a tomato sauce will be added and finally a layer of suitable protein. This protein may not be from traditional sources, but rather insects, and algae. This, in itself, will make people look carefully at this food.
It is adventurous and unusual, but work such as this is essential to ensure food security into the future. This is particularly important, as the earth’s human population continues to increase and our food supply is likely to not meet those demands.
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
Do you want beetles with that?
When I was at University, I had to try different foods in one class. I still remember eating chocolate coated ants. They were actually very tasty, sort of chocolate with a bit of an acid bite.
Eating of insects is not done in most western countries, it is, in fact, almost a sort of taboo for most people in these countries. People still look amazed, and with some distaste, when I tell them about the chocolate covered ants.
Insects are commonly eaten in Asian, African and South American countries and form an important part of the nutritional intake for those people. According to a guide (“Edible insects; future prospects for food and food security”) recently published by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), at least two billion people eat insects daily around the world. Beetles are the most popular but other insects are also part of the diet. They are served in multiple ways, including; whole, ground to a paste or in other foods.
Insects have high levels of protein, fat, fibre and minerals. It simply makes nutritional sense to have them as a food source. They also are a much better food source from an environmental perspective than the animals we currently consume.
Insects use far less water and land to produce them and with similar nutritional benefits. It simply makes sense on all levels to include them in our diets.
So why aren’t we all sitting down to a plate full tonight? It is because the idea of eating insects has to be sold to those of us in the west and this will take time. There are already restaurants in Australia doing insects as part of their menu but this is far from being in the mainstream.
There is a saying “it will happen, but not overnight”. Things like food safety and related issues need to be considered as well, as this inevitable food source becomes commonplace in our homes.
Someday, hopefully in the not too distant future, it will not be unusual to hear ”do you want beetles with that?”
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
Perception is everything with food and food safety
We all know that to be healthy we should eat the right amount of fruit and vegetables and that we should enjoy a variety of foods, and that a little bit of everything is good and a lot of any single food is bad. We have all heard these sayings and recommendations and, without realising it, they and other related health recommendations do influence how we buy food and eat it.
However, we may have these recommendations and beliefs in the back of our minds when we purchase and eat, but it is our perceptions that decide for us. The thing about perception is it is individual, but can be influenced by media, what we hear and what we see, as well as how and where we were brought up.
There are some foods out there that people perceive to be good for them when compared to others in that group, and we are just wrong. A really good example is vegetable chips. Potato chips are generally fried to get the crispiness and then the flavour is added. With vegetable chips the process is much the same, but because they are vegetables and sold in the health food section of the supermarket, the general perception is that they are better for us.
Muffins are a wonderful treat and many believe that they are better for you that many other related foods. The truth is that they are basically just small cakes and the blueberries and other fruit makes little difference. It is just perception and the reality is that the really big muffins can increase your calorie intake for the day by around 600 calories.
We now know that having regular probiotic bacteria in our diet is good for us and there are now many foods that will help us achieve this. However the perception that frozen yoghurt will always do this is not necessarily so, as some of the bacteria added to some of these products will not even survive the freezing, so have no benefit to us.
These are just three examples of foods that have the “halo effect” and because of our perceptions make us think that they are always healthy and better for us.
There is a very true saying that “we eat with our eyes” and this is what helps develop our perception. When I was a university studying taste panels as part of my Food Technology degree, we ran a session using vension. It was sliced exactly the same size and was cooked identically, however when put under a blue light, it was found to be unacceptable compared to standard room lighting. The panellists were eating with their eyes and allowing their perceptions to decide on the quality of the food.
When we are preparing or serving food for customers we absolutely need to consider perception in our work. A single hair in a food will stop that customer, and at least 10 people they know, from ever eating at your place or your food ever again. It may have been an accident or even have blown in from outside, or even be the customer’s own hair, but it was in your food and the perception is now that your place is dirty, regardless of how good your food safety is.
See, perception is everything
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
So what does free range actually mean, again????
The whole “free range” or not thing has been raised again, this time in NSW by the consumer group CHOICE.
Producing eggs in a free range manner is more expensive than using the traditional cage approach. This is due to higher losses and less controls being in place, so less systemisation. So in the supermarket, Free Range labelled eggs will have a higher price tag. Consumers generally understand that there will be a slight price increase to be able to have this choice and accept it, but it should not be a ridiculous increase.
However the problem is that if producers are packing and labelling caged eggs as free range, and charging accordingly, this is just plain wrong. It is also against the law to claim that a product is something that it is not, and even worse to make money from that untruth.
CHOICE has just asked NSW Fair Trading to do an investigation in this type of situation. The group has provided evidence that this situation is currently happening in NSW and that it “appear to be a major rip-off for consumers”.
The difficulty in this investigation will be around the actual definition of free range.
This has been ongoing for years and will continue until there is a national agreed definition. Once that is determined and accepted, the labelling of these eggs will be consistent and the ability of authorities to investigate and prosecute those breaking the law will be much easier.
The definition will involve setting out the number of birds in a specific area as well as other conditions. It will also have to work for each state, egg producing representative group (like the Australian Egg Corporation), and consumer group. Ultimately the consumer may not even fully understand what the final definition actually means, but as long as producers follow it and label accordingly, it will not really be an issue.
There is a model code definition but since it’s development various states have implemented other requirements, until we now have no nationally agreed definition, and this will continue to create the current NSW situation as well as in other places.
This article has been written by Rachelle Williams – The Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News