Do you want fries with that, should just be fries and not a contamination bonus
In the last week there have been two very significant product contaminations.
One was a cleaning cloth in a fast food restaurant product and the other was a contamination in another chain’s product. A cleaning cloth was somehow coated and then deep fried before being given to a customer in the UK. The customer who had bought the “chicken” for her stepson, was understandably not very impressed.
The second incident has a slightly unusual twist as the contamination was a small packet of marijuana found tucked in with the fries when a customer ordered a burger and fries. Although some are saying that the customer actually got a bonus and not a contamination, it is certainly not something that should be in a food product. The mother who bought the offending fries and pack, is screaming very loudly about the possibility that her kids could have got it or it may have been a packet containing other types of drugs.
Many food businesses will most likely end up with a contamination that makes it all the way out to the customer. This is immensely embarrassing for the business, as well as causing significant money loss through loss of trade and possible recalls and fines.
The two contaminations described above are not really that rare, but what makes these and all contaminations a major problem now is that everyone has a camera in their pocket and access to social media. This spreads your small contained incident across the world and does almost irreparable damage to your brand internationally.
The old rule that one person tells ten, no longer applies as it really comes down to how many connections or likes or friends they have in the cyber world and where they all are. This absolutely cannot be considered lightly.
Food safety controls and programs are, if possible, even more important now that they ever were, due to this instant ability customers have to complain about your product / service/ quality or contaminations to the whole world.
Contaminations happen because something went wrong and usually it is because staff were not doing what they are supposed to. This means good procedures,training and follow up as the basics. A business that has a public contamination like these two examples, must do everything possible to firstly prevent it happening again, or anything like it, and then market like crazy to show what it has done to prevent it. Hopefully it is enough to gain sales back – at least that is what the owners, directors and managers pray for.
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.
- Published in News
New method for detecting gas leaks in refrigeration systems.
Gas leakage in a refrigeration unit can have a significant impact on a food business in terms of costs, food safety and sustainability.
Loss of gas will mean that the gas needs to be replaced, which is an extra expense to a business, it may also reduce the efficiency and effectiveness of the refrigeration. This could mean that food safety may be at risk and the gas being lost goes into the environment and reduction of system life which are significant sustainability problems.
Until now the only ways of truly identifying a gas leak and it’s actual site are visually or using gas sniffers after the system has been degassed. The coldrooms and freezers will need to be shutdown during that time. This is a major inconvenience.
Even then, it is almost impossible to identify all the leakage sites.
A new method is now available – thermal imaging cameras.
The cameras can easily identify a leak of any size, whilst the equipment is still operating. This removes the necessity for degassing and shutdown.
The method can identify the leaks as well as any places where insulation is not as good as it should be. It can also be used on pumps, motors and all refrigeration equipment.
The other major advantage of the thermal camera method is that it may not only be used for identifying problems but for ongoing preventative maintenance as well.
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.
- Published in News
Getting the label right saves money and reputation
We have all heard in court cases on TV the words” You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. Whether that is exactly what is really asked in actual courts or is just a great sounding statement for TV is beside the point. The basis of the statement is something that very much applies to food labelling.
There are three reasons for the information that must be shown on food labels; legal, customer and business.
Not only is a legal requirement according to both the Food Standards Code and the Trade Practices Act that labelling must tell the truth, it is also essential that it be understood by the average person.
Customers need to be able to make informed decisions about the food they are buying, so having good and understandable labelling is essential. The best example of this is the food allergens, if the label does not clearly and correctly show what allergens are present in a food, a consumer may eat a food that may cause an allergic reaction and even anaphylaxis. Many of the legal requirements for labelling are intended to protect the customer and consumer.
Businesses want to put to put certain information onto their food labels to encourage people to buy that product. This includes pictures, descriptions and recipes.
The actual design and colours used on a label can change the buying patterns of people, so businesses spend a lot of money trying to get it right. Sometimes this means that the legal and customer information may not always be right. This can result in a significant expense to the business in terms of product recalls and the inevitable loss of sales.
If the information on the label is not correct, it can also result in major fines being imposed by courts. This has recently happened with a large supermarket in this country, when bakery products stated that they were “freshly baked”. However, some of the baked goods had been partially baked in another country some months previously. The final baking was done on the day of sale but this is not how most people would interpret the label, and that is the basis for the court findings.
A potential fine of around $ 1 million may be imposed by the court for each of the three breaches to Australian Consumer Law.
So getting a label right is not only essential to encourage sales, but to prevent huge fines, product recall and significant damage to a business’s reputation.
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.
- Published in News
More food myths busted!!!!
I loved apples when I was a kid and would eat two or three a day, then one day I heard on the news that apples were not good for you because of some spray that was used on them. I stopped eating apples.
A few years later I heard found out that it was not true and apples were fine after you gave them a wash – which you should do anyway.
Stories, or myths, like the one with the apples are common. We have all heard the classic – it is ok to eat food if it has been on the floor for less than five seconds!!!!! We all know that this myth is not true as it doesn’t matter how long a food is on the floor it is going to pick up some of whatever is there, including; dirt, bacteria, dog/ cat hair, your hair, bits of your skin (as we shed a layer a day and some of that has to get on the floor), bits of the animal skin, bits of insects and the list goes on. So why would we eat anything that has been on the floor at all?
One of the stories in the media for a long time has been that white bread is not good for and nor is butter nor are eggs. A whole industry, margarine, grew out of the idea that butter is not really good for you and you should eat margarine instead. Well, recent studies have now shown that butter is not the baddie it has long been made out to be. There are now stories across the media showing that reasonable consumption of butter is not bad for you and in fact has health benefits. We are not talking about eating huge quantities but reasonable amounts during a week. A recent article on this website, showed all the amazing benefits for most people to be eating eggs several times a week. The whole eggs will raise cholesterol thing is not necessarily true for most people, in fact there are nutrients that are best sourced from eggs and so should be eaten regularly.
The latest of the long term bad foods to be found to be Ok for you is the infamous white bread.
Researchers from the University of Oviedo in Spain have found that white bread may actually encourage the growth of Lactobacillus species in the gut. These bacteria make a major contribution to gut health and if it is healthy, it helps us generally. It is well recognised that a healthy gut has a major role to play in us being healthy as well.
It was only a small study of 38 healthy adults. Each was asked about their diet and samples were collected to determine the bacteria present in their gut.
The findings showed that a good all round diet has the greatest effect on helping us be healthy and that focussing on just one food or nutrient will not be beneficial.
So, I guess it comes down to that old and good piece of advice – a little bit of everything in moderation.
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.
- Published in News
The Fresh Produce Safety Centre
Australians are not eating enough fruits and vegetables, and there is much research and promotion happening to reduce this potentially huge nutritional problem for our country.
This is one of the motivators and reasons behind the recent launch of the new Fresh Produce Safety Centre.
It’s goals are;
- To call for and manage food safety research projects that are highly relevant to industry
- To provide food safety information, news, education and outreach to the industry
- To engage with regulatory, and other organisations, for effective and efficient food safety management leading to enhanced food safety outcomes.
The new Centre is a jointly funded project by the University of Sydney and the Produce Marketing Association of Australia and New Zealand (PMAANZ), and is located in Sydney. It is also funded by a group of 20 fresh produce related organisations, as well as Horticulture Australia Limited and the Australian Government.
The Centre’s Board of Directors said; “The Fresh Produce Safety Centre has been established to address an important gap in our industry: to promote research, outreach and education on fresh produce safety throughout Australia and New Zealand.”
The Centre will be working with; growers, input suppliers, processors, packers, transport, wholesalers/agents, retailers, through to peak industry bodies, quality assurance, compliance and training organisations, researchers and research institutions, extension and outreach personnel and others, to promote and encourage the safe fresh produce in this country.
The Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Environment at the University of Sydney, Professor Mark Adams, said; “The University of Sydney is delighted to host the new Fresh Produce Safety Centre: we see the Centre as the embodiment of the University’s desire to reach out to industry, identify research gaps and address research priorities in fresh produce safety.”
The Centre’s Board has seven members from across the industry and country, and it elected Michael Worthington as the interim Chair of the Board.
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.
- Published in News
So can I sell food after a blackout?
So can I sell food after a blackout? Unfortunately the answer is not a simple yes or no.
The answer depends upon what food we are talking about and how long the blackout lasted.
Potentially hazardous foods should be stored below 5C (41F) to achieve the use by date on the labels, and any time over this temperature reduces this shelf life. The Food Standards Code in Australia and New Zealand (and similar law in other counties) requires that any potentially hazardous foods that have been above that critical temperature for four hours must be thrown out. This is because the amount of bacteria present in them is likely to be above the legal allowable amount, and will most likely make people sick.
So if a fridge has not had power for more than four hours, it is essential that the food temperature be checked and if above 5C (41F), the food must not be sold or used. If a fridge is operating well and the door is left closed during a blackout, it may keep food below the critical temperature for four or more hours but it should be checked before sale or use.
This is why after a recent day long power blackout in South Australia, Health Inspectors were surprised to find nearly 40 food businesses either selling, or prepared to sell, potentially hazardous foods.
Health Authority chief executive Michael Livori said; “It’s a combination of lack of appropriate knowledge in relation to what they should do in those sort of circumstances and the economic issue about having to throw that food out if they’ve been without power for an extended period. It seemed incredible to us, there was one particular business where we ended up making four visits before we got all of the food that we thought was suspect removed from the premises.”
Only potentially hazardous foods are the issue when it comes to blackouts, as shelf stable foods do not allow for the growth of the food poisoning bacteria.
Throwing food out is not something that food businesses really want to do as it is an economic issue, but if that food is not going to be safe for sale or use, then it must be disposed of. Food lost in blackouts is usually covered in business insurance, so even if it is a short term cost to throw the food out, it is a long term investment in protecting the business, with insurance usually covering the loss.
Written by Rachelle Williams – the Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
New flour may reduce food allergies.
Gluten free was not a term that was in common use either in spoken language or on food packaging even five years ago, now it is so common that everyone knows at least one person who is eating only gluten free food.
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, oats, barley and rye, and every food that contains any of these grains. It can cause major health issues for some people and therefore food free of gluten is now considered to be mainstream in the food industry.
Gluten is only one of the recognised food allergens. These are also proteins found in different foods that can cause significant reactions in some people, to the point of anaphylaxis and potential death. The recognised food allergens are different in different countries, but gluten is universal.
Those that have a food allergy spend much of their time trying to ensure that the food they are eating does not contain the food that is involved in that allergy. Food businesses also spend an enormous amount of time and money ensuring that unintentional food allergens are not present in any of their products. It is a major issue for both the food industry and for those with the food allergies.
There has been a huge amount of research at both ends of the food chain to try and reduce the impact of the food allergens. Researchers have been working on vaccines to help those who have food allergies and other researchers have been developing foods that do not contain the specific proteins that cause the allergic reactions.
Scientists at the University of a North Carolina have been experimenting with a special type of flour that may eventually help people improve their tolerance of the food allergens. Peanuts are recognised as causing some of the worst food allergic reactions, so the researchers started with the proteins from peanuts in this special flour. They believe that the same process can be adapted to the proteins of the other food allergens.
The research was published in April 2014 in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The findings show that allergic reactions could be reduced by plant polyphenols. The researchers bound polypenols from cranberries with the allergy causing proteins from peanuts into a special flour. It is expected that this flour will de-sensitise those with the food allergy and reduce their allergic reaction. So it could be used in food based therapies to reduce the food allergy in people.
At this point, whatever can be developed or done to reduce the huge issue that is food allergens will be truly appreciated not only by those suffering the allergies but by all of those in the food industry as well.
Written by Rachelle Williams – the Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News
Are deli meats safe?
Research recently done by the University of Adelaide found that of the 174 ready to eat deli meats sampled in Adelaide, 134 contained bacterial levels that did not comply with the Food Standards Code. Even though E.coli and other food poisoning bacteria were not found, coliforms were found on around 15 percent of the samples. The presence of coliforms is a possible indicator of faecal contamination. This reinforces the obvious finding from the research, that there were likely hygiene problems in the businesses where the samples were taken.
Veterinary Public Health Professor Michael Reichel said; “The presence of coliform would indicate really poor hygiene such as people not washing their hands after going to the toilet. These levels of bacterial counts tell us that storage conditions, product handling and turnover should all be investigated.” Sample sizes of between 100 and 200 g were taken of each meat, and 90 percent of the samples came from the delis in large chain supermarkets. 35 supermarkets were visited during the study, but were not specifically identified in the report.
The research was actually done late in 2013 by final year veterinary science students at the University. The main culprits were sliced salami, fritz and roast pork. Interestingly the chicken and ham samples showed lower levels of bacteria.
So are deli meats safe? Due to the nature of the process in delis, the meats are more likely to have higher bacterial levels and this research reinforces this. The increase has three potential reasons;
- these products are handled more than most foods and this increases the bacterial load,
- if hygiene including good and regular hand washing is not well maintained, these bacteria can grow easily.
- if temperatures are not carefully managed at all stages during the deli process, any bacteria on the meats will grow rapidly.
Good staff training is also vitally important to ensure that they not only know what the requirements are but how to do them when required.
Like all potentially hazardous foods, these deli meats will allow pathogens to grow rapidly if they are contaminated and poorly handled. Good food safety controls will prevent this as long as staff are following them.
So at the end of the day, are deli meats safe? Yes, when there is good food safety.
Written by Rachelle Williams – the Green Food Safety Coach
- Published in News