New app to determine food freshness.
For the most part, it is impossible for most of us to be able to tell if a food will cause us food poisoning just by looking and smelling it. Of course, if a food smells or looks funny, except for some speciality cheeses, we know not to eat it.
We also can’t tell by looking at a perishable product in the supermarket if it has been temperature abused during transport and storage. We can’t see the amount of food poisoning bacteria that may be on and in the food.
A brand new device is now available for the average consumer to use, which will tell accurately just how much shelf life a food containing meat, seafood or poultry has left.
It is called the PERES and when used with the app for your mobile phone, can tell you about the freshness and quality of any meat, poultry and seafood. It is suitable for use on vegetables at this stage.
It is what is known as an electronic nose, and is able to identify various chemical compounds in the air around these protein based foods. It is the presence and level of these chemicals that the PERES using to determine the remaining shelf life of the food.
The hand held device does not look for bacteria but the specific chemicals around the protein based foods that indicate the state of decomposition. It then uses this information to show the remaining shelf life through the app on your mobile phone.
Augustas Alesiunas, CEO of ARS Lab (the creators of the PERES) said; “We have worked with some of the best scientists and developers in the industry to create a working prototype, and are excited to continue developing the product so it can be made widely available later this year.”
Not only does this device have the potential to reduce food poisoning, but will have an impact on lowering the ridiculous amount of food waste we generate each year.
You can find more information at http://www.getperes.com/
Written by Rachelle Williams – the Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
How we buy changes food safety.
Apparently Australian consumers have really taken to purchasing online, with recently released research by Nielsen (the market research organisation) showing that about nine out of 10 consumers buying online in 2013.
Liquor is the big food group being purchased on line with our buying rate across the internet being twice what is being purchased in store, in terms of dollars spent.
The research has also shown that around 60% of people are using both on line and retail stores for making their purchasing decisions. This highlights why many food related businesses are now actively promoting an estore set up on their websites. It is now at a point that if a food business does not have the facility for customers to make purchases on line, that business will be losing trade.
This raises an interesting question in terms of food safety. Does a business put perishable items on it’s website for sale and, if so, how is it going to be delivered so it is safe for consumption?
Companies like Lite n Easy have been delivering potentially hazardous foods for years, with no food safety issues, but it is a matter of being organised and using the right packing materials. It can therefore be done but requires good planning, and should not be done unless food safety can be assured.
It is worth remembering that if a food business chooses to sell potentially hazardous foods through it’s website and delivers that food, then this whole process will need to be included within the scope of all future food safety audits. This will mean; training, procedures and suitable records.
This is another example of how changes to a business model can have significant effects on it’s food safety program, and this is why there must be some form of trigger in place that forces review of systems if a change happens in the business.
The research also showed that people are not just making these purchases when sitting in front of their computer but are now increasingly likely to be using their phones to do it. This is also important in terms of food safety, as these people may not even be home when the food arrives there. This means that the food business must ensure the packaging and processes are strong enough to allow for this.
My local Post Office is in a small country town and the owner was telling me recently that more than 60% of the material being delivered to letter boxes in this area is from purchases made on line. This cannot be the sort of numbers in just this area, it has to be everywhere and it is growing. Food businesses have to find methods and packaging to manage this new way of purchasing and delivery and ensure their products are still good quality and safe.
Written by Rachelle Williams – the Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
New Country of Origin Labelling Guide
This month I wrote an article about the review that is currently underway by a Federal Parliamentary committee about Country of Origin Labelling (CoOL).
To assist food businesses correctly label their food in terms of CoOL, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)has just released a brand new guide to help all food business label their food correctly according to both the Food Standards code and the Trade Practices Act.
The terms; “Product of Australia”, “Made in Australia” and “Grown in Australia” often confuse both businesses and the public. This guide will assist business understand which they can use and when.
It includes explanations and examples to make it easy to understand these important CoOL terms.
It is well recognised that Australians are very parochial when it comes to buying goods, and especially foods, and therefore the correct labelling of these products will influence sales and therefore business profits. Getting it right will increase sales, and getting it wrong will result in fines.
Rod Sims, ACCC Chairman, said; “Country of origin labels are valuable tools that allow consumers to make informed choices and let businesses compete fairly. Many consumers specifically seek out, or are willing to pay a premium for, Australian produce, or products that are made in Australia. This information assists manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, retailers, advertisers and anyone else who may be making country of origin representations, in deciding what claims are appropriate for their products. Any claim that is likely to mislead consumers about the origin of a product will also breach the law. Credence claims are a priority area for the ACCC, particularly those with the potential to adversely impact the competitive process and small businesses.”
Recently, a large supermarket chain was fined over $61000 for alleged misleading representation of the CoOL on some of it’s fresh produce in 2013. According to Australian Consumer Law, the penalties for making false CoOL claims can be up to $1.1 million.
Getting CoOL right on a product is essential and this guidance from the ACCC will be a huge help to all business, and especially those in the food industry.
It can be found at http://www.accc.gov.au/publications/country-of-origin-claims-the-australian-consumer-law
Written by Rachelle Williams – the Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
Dark chocolate just gets better and better.
So I’ve been reading a lot lately about how good dark chocolate is for us, so am now having four squares each day.
However, it just gets better, as new research is showing that dark chocolate may even help prevent both obesity and type-2 diabetes.
It obviously doesn’t mean that we can all, over this Easter, just sit and eat kilograms of dark chocolate to reduce our weight. It doesn’t work that way – unfortunately!!!
A study done by the Department of Food Science and Technology at VirginiaTech University has found that a specific antioxidant found only in cocoa, tea and grapes prevented mice in their laboratory from gaining weight as well as reducing their blood sugar levels.
Flavanol, the antioxidant involved, has several types, including oligomeric procyanidins (PCs). It is this compound that had the positive effects in the lab mice in this study.
The researchers wrote in the study; “Oligomeric PCs appear to possess the greatest antiobesity and antidiabetic bioactivities of the flavanols in cocoa, particularly at the low doses employed for the present study.”
So not only can the fermentation of specific dark chocolate compounds produce anti inflammatory effects, but eating this type of chocolate can influence weight control and blood sugar uptake.
It is starting to sound like a miracle food. However, it is important to note that research has to be done on human subjects over time to determine if these health benefits are confirmed fact.
In the meantime, eating a little of everything, including dark chocolate, is still the recognised best advice nutritionally.
Written by Rachelle Williams – the Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
Is Coeliac Disease a thing of the past?
Coeliac Disease can be debilitating to those that have it and is a significant food safety issue for all food businesses. The problem is the protein called gluten, which causes severe auto immune reactions in some people. These reactions can range from discomfort to bloating to flatulence to loss of parts of the bowel to malnutrition to potential death.
This is the reason that gluten free food is now considered to be mainstream, and can be seen everywhere in supermarkets in places like restaurants, aged care centres and cafes.
Food businesses must have controls in place to ensure that they meet the Food Standards Code requirement that there be no gluten present in a food if there is a claim that it is gluten free.
So the discovery of a new molecule may be a god send not only for those with Coeliac Disease but for the whole food industry as well.
Researchers at McMaster University in Canada, have found that the molecule, elafin, is significantly lower in those with Coeliac disease than those without it. The researchers at Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute published the results of this study inThe American Journal of Gastroenterology – April edition.
The study has found that Elafin reduces the enzymatic reaction that makes the peptides derived from gluten toxic. This significantly reduces the impact that gluten has on those with Coeliac Disease.
Elena Verdu, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, said; “People who have to strictly avoid gluten for life often find this very difficult due to these hidden sources. There is a great need for a therapy that will protect patients with coeliac disease from accidental contaminations. This would add flexibility to a restrictive lifelong diet, and increase patients’ quality of life and potentially accelerate the healing of coeliac lesions.”
Although this research was focused on coeliac disease, there is potential for the results to be helpful in other conditions, like irritable bowel syndrome
Written by Rachelle Williams – the Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
New European Union organic regulation soon
So what does organic actually mean. People will, and do, pay extra for a food that is branded as being organic. Therefore having a clear, concise and agreed definition of what organic actually means is vitally important to both the food industry and it’s customers.
So the recent proposed Regulation on organic products and labelling of organic products by the European Commission (EC) has been welcomed by many.
According to EC figures the organic market in the European Union has quadrupled over the last 10 years. This is a massive increase, by any measure, and shows the impact that being branded has on the sales of a food product.
Mr Dacian Ciolos, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development for the EC, said; “The future of the organic sector in the EU depends on quality and integrity of the products sold under the European organic logo. The Commission is looking for more and better organic farming in the EU by consolidating consumer confidence in organic products and removing obstacles to the development of organic agriculture. This package is good for consumers and good for farmers. Consumers will have been guarantees on organic food made and sold in the EU and farmers, producers and retailers will have access to a larger market, both within and outside the EU.”
There are three main objectives of the proposed Regulation;
- maintaining consumer confidence
- maintaining producer confidence
- making it easier for farmers to switch to organics
The following are the main aims of the Regulation;
- To strengthen and harmonise rules, both in the EU and for imported products, by removing many of the current exception in terms of production and controls
- To reinforce controls by making them risk-based
- To make it easier for small farmers to join organic farming by introducing the possibility to sign up to a group certification system
- To better address the international dimension of trade in organic products with the addition of new provisions on exports
- To simplify the legislation to reduce administrative costs for farmers and improve transparency.
As change is not something that can happen quickly, in most cases, the EC has approved an Action Plan on the future of Organic Production in Europe. This Plan will assist farmers and other move toward compliance with the proposed Regulation and to encourage organic food use by the public.
The proposed Regulation will be submitted to the European Parliament shortly.
Written by Rachelle Williams – the Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News