Raw milk cheeses – yes or no?
In Australia, the manufacture of cheese (that is not to be cooked) using raw milk is generally not permitted. This is fundamentally due to the risk of food poisoning from Listeria monocytogenes.
This bacteria has the potential to cause spontaneous miscarriages and as such foods that may contain it are either not permitted in this country or are carefully managed to prevent it’s introduction and growth.
Listeria likes cold conditions and enjoys low oxygen environments. As cold temperatures and vacuum packing are two of the barriers used to prevent most food pathogens from growing, managing this bacteria can be a problem.
Raw milk is recognised as a potential source of Listeria and therefore it is not permitted to be sold for human consumption in Australia and many other countries. If this raw milk is then used to make cheese, there is a high likelihood that Listeria and other pathogens will be present. If the cheese is cooked, the Listeria and other pathogens would most likely be killed, so it would be safe for consumption.
There are some people who believe that cheese made from raw milk has more flavour and character. They are trying very hard to get the Code changed. As it is the role of regulators to protect the public, the Code therefore does not permit the use of raw milk in cheese unless that cheese is cooked.
A proposal is before Food Standards Australia New Zealand currently requesting that the use of raw milk be granted for more cheeses and other products. Although a final decision has not yet been made, the lovers of raw milk cheeses may be about to have success in their campaign.
FSANZ Chief Executive Officer Steve McCutcheon said that, “as long as stringent requirements in the Code are met”, cheeses such as blue or cheddars may potentially be made from raw milk. Mr McCutcheon said; “These (requirements) include additional animal health, milking hygiene and temperature control requirements. Businesses would have to demonstrate to enforcement agencies that they are able to meet the requirements.” The UK regulator, the Food Standards Agency, is also going through a similar process and is awaiting it’s decision until December 2014, when it is expected that the European Food Safety Authority delivers the findings on its own review of the raw milk risks.
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.
- Published in News
Why do we have to label foods?
There are fundamentally three reasons why food has to be labelled to help customers, the address legal requirements and to increase sales.
Helping customers
Customers have the legal and moral right to know what is in the food they are buying and eating, so food businesses must give them information to be able to make an informed choice.
Customers want to know; what is in the food, how much is in the package, how to prepare, what nutrients are there for a comparison with other foods, and ideas for how to serve it.
The big thing that many consumers want to know is what food allergens are present in the food.
More and more, customers are also wanting to know just how much of an environmental impact the product has – in other words how “green” it is.
Addressing legal requirements
The Food Standards Code has very clear requirements stated for what is to be shown on food labels and how it is to be presented. These are supported by requirements in other legislation like the Trade Practices Act.
The reason for this legal obligation is to ensure that consumers can make an informed choice and also to level the playing ground between like products.
There are penalties imposed through the Food Acts in each state and territories for non compliance with these requirements. This also includes issues associated with “green washing” – stating green credentials that are not true.
The fundamental premise of all of these requirements is that the statements and information on the package must be the truth or the penalties may be applied.
A further result of non-compliance is the potential for recalls or retrievals, both of which are expensive financially and have the potential to cause irreparable damage to a brand.
Increasing sales
Food businesses want to sell their products to make a profit. Marketing of these products is how this is done.
This marketing includes the what, where, and how of the product’s labels.
The pretty pictures are there to mainly encourage people to buy the product. The colours and design used are specifically determined to maximise the likelihood of a sale now and in the future.
The business spend a lot of money to get the right combination to increase it’s sales, and is why when a design or colour change is made, there is always some form of advertising campaigns to promote it so people will still identify the product.
Business must ensure that both legal and business requirements are met with the product label and it should be checked and double checked to ensure that consumers will interpret it correctly. There was a recent chocolate bar that was imprinted with a specific design and the company has now had to retreive that product due to the shape being misinterpreted badly.
Labels are a crucial part of any prepackaged product and must be done correctly to meet legal requirements and achieve what both the company and it’s customers need.
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.
- Published in News
Is your business doing the rifle or the shotgun?
In the last month I joined the throwaway society (for a brief moment) and bought a new phone for my business. I needed to, as my old one now longer did what I needed it to do and so I prowled through the phone shops until I found the one that would work for me.
I now have an old phone that is perfectly fine for others to use with a good battery and all the bits, so what do I do with it? There are a lot of bits in mobile phones that can be reused and / or recycled, so I am not going to just throw it away.
What I was particularly impressed with in my new purchase, is that the manufacturer of my new phone packaged it minimally (with no plastic bags at all) and in a cardboard box that had been made from 100% post-consumer recycled materials. Inside was a post bag for me to send my old phone to a mobile phone recycler, at no cost to me.
This large business can quite rightly say that it is trying to be sustainable, even to the point of encouraging it’s customers to recycle their old phones. It makes it look good and will make people more likely to purchase from it again in the future as it is seen as trying to do the right thing.
So why am I talking about a new phone and what that manufacturer did to be sustainable on this food safety related website?
It is this, food safety is vital and without it in control, we will not have a business. It is really that simple, but food safety cannot be seen in isolation. It is only a part (all be it vital) of what a food business must do, and being sustainable, and being seen to be, is now the new reality of business.
Having a system for how things are done in a business with plans, schedules, procedures, training, monitoring and records will ensure that all these essential things and tasks like food safety and sustainability get done when and how they need to be.
I am doing work for a solicitor at the moment helping them prepare a case to defend a client against some breaches to the Food Standards Code. If that business had not just had checks done and recorded, but a food safety program in place, then they may have not been facing what they now are.
Good food safety is not a shotgun approach with a bit here and a bit there, but it should be done by thinking like a rifle. There should be a clear target and a plan for how to get there, including written methods, training, monitoring and consistent good records.
The company that manufactured my new mobile phone is obviously one that takes the rifle approach, does your food business?
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.
- Published in News
So what do consumers really think about food safety?
A food safety related business in Europe recently ran a survey across several major cities of the world to determine the general perspective that consumers have of food safety and it’s importance.
The results were interesting compared to a similar survey done in 2007 as now more than 67percent of the 5000 people surveyed believed that food safety was essential, compared to only 48 percent seven years ago. The company expects that this figure will rise to at least 71 percent by 2017.
Even though the biggest food poisoning in world history to date was from a vegetable source (E.coli in sprouts), it is meat and poultry that is the biggest concern to consumers. Seafood comes in second, with the fresh produce bringing up third place.
The survey asked questions about what the consumer is expecting that business will be doing to ensure food safety, and the three biggest ways that are expected are working with suppliers, doing ongoing testing and making sure that the labels are correct.
With people now able to get a story about a food poisoning or contamination incident around the world in virtually seconds with their social media connections, there is no opportunity for food businesses to hide any longer if something goes wrong. The recent incident at a quick serve restaurant in the UK when a customer found a coated and deep fried cleaning cloth instead of a piece of chicken, and how it was all over Facebook, is just an example.
People are becoming more aware of food safety and are more than happy to tell everyone around the world if it isn’t right.
The company made a great little animated video showing the results of the survey. It obviously also includes a bit of PR for the company. You can find it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaSBm21SMsU
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.
- Published in News
Updated E.coli cleaning and sanitation guide now available
The draft of a new guide for controlling and preventing cross contamination of, and by, E.coli has just been released in the UK by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
It is intended to specifically help those businesses that have both raw and ready to eat (RTE) foods in the same space. It has been well recognised that this situation has a great likelihood of cross contamination causing potentially food poisoning issues.
The guidance document shows clearly that having raw foods and RTE in the same space without specific cleaning protocols has a significant risk of cross contamination. The Guide then describes the recommended cleaning and sanitation methods that will address this situation.
The new Guide is less prescriptive than it’s previous version, which gives each business the opportunity to establish methods that meet the requirements. The disadvantage of it being less prescriptive is that the Guide is open to interpretation and potential legal argument in the event of a perceived breach of the law.
The draft is up for review until 29 August.
For more information here is the FSA link for the Guide – http://www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/guidancenotes/hygguid/ecoliguide#.U84BJ8KKDIU
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.
- Published in News
New very sensitive Halal test kit available for everyday use
Halal is a requirement for food to be eaten by those of the Islamic faith.
It means that the food has been prepared, processed, handled and packaged according to strict requirements.
One of these requirements is that there be no pig meat in any halal certified product.
Until now ensuring this requirement has been met has been done by checking that no pig meat or products are in any contact at all with the halal products. This has been done through checking records and ensuring that procedures are followed correctly.
Now a new test method will potentially make this checking of process and documents, a thing of the past.
The University of Selangor in Malaysia has developed a brilliant test kit that will allow Muslims to very quickly test for the presence of non-halal ingredients in their food. Tests like this have been around for some time, but this new version will not only detect pig DNA but other materials as well. This makes it probably the most advanced Halal test kit available.
The new kit uses nano-sensor technology to a detectable level of 0.001 percent, in a small pack which will allow people at home to use it easily and within only 10 seconds.
The University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Doctor Anuar Ahmad, said “Although it is small, it can save costs compared to laboratory tests”.
The kit will be relatively cheap to be accessible to the public, but as with all test kits it is the repeatability, effectiveness and accuracy that will need to be tested to ensure it is still applicable.
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.
- Published in News
We can now know the exact proteins that cause an allergic reactions.
A food allergen has the potential to kill someone within only a few minutes if treatment is not given to them immediately. This is the reason that food businesses all over the world must do everything to prevent unintended allergens being in any of their products.
If an intended allergen is present in a food, according to all food laws worldwide the packaging must contain accepted information about it. This is to give the purchasers and consumers an informed choice.
It is the unintended food allergens that are the big problem. These are the ones that get into the food, primarily through cross contamination, and should not be there as they are not in the recipe or ingredient list.
Having various controls in place, like cleaning, training, separation etc, will go a long way to preventing these unintended allergens from being a problem.
However confirmation can only really be done of the effectiveness of these controls by testing the food and the contact surfaces.
So food allergen testing is a major issue for all manufacturers and most other food businesses.
The original testing method was using a special method known as ELISA. However it did not provide an immediate result, so much work has been ongoing around the world to produce a rapid read test that is accurate and effective at all concentrations.
A new method has been developed that is a twist on the testing of foods. In this method, the actual proteins that cause individual allergic reactions in people can be identified. This will allow these people to know exactly which foods that must avoid. If the manufacturers then have good controls in place with regular testing, these people will most likely avoid having an allergic reaction in future.
The huge potential of this new method is that once the exact proteins that cause an individual’s allergic reaction are known, a program of de-sensitising them can be attempted.
This new method was published recently in the journal Analytical Chemistry Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland used a well-established technique called immunoaffinity capillary electrophoresis (IACE) to test the blood of a sample of people allergic to cow’s milk.
The results showed that the method can accurately and rapidly identify the specific proteins that caused the allergic reaction to cow’s milk in those tested. The conclusion from this research is that the same method can be used to identify the exact proteins in the other food allergens that cause allergic reactions in specific people. Effectively it seems that it will be able to provide a map of the exact proteins that a person is allergic to.
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.
- Published in News
Health Star rating finally approved for use.
The Health Star Rating shows a series of up to five stars that show how healthy a food is based on a set of test results. It was designed to be shown on packaged foods in Australia. The intent is to give customers and consumers information about the nutritional value of a packaged food.
In late June, the Legislative and Governance Forum of Food Regulation signed off on the Rating after literally years of argument and discussion. The Forum is comprised of all food regulation minister around Australia and New Zealand and is chaired by Australian Government Assistant Minister for Health, Senator the Honorable Fiona Nash.
The Rating can now be added to food packaging voluntarily over the next five years, with a review of progress and effectiveness in two years. At this stage the Forum has not made the Health Star Rating mandatory.
An education program for the system is nearly developed and will be implemented to explain to the public what the rating means. The rating system will also apply in New Zealand.
AFGC Chief Executive, Mr Gary Dawson, said; “The improved design of the Health Star Rating scheme, flexibility around its introduction and acknowledgement that it can coexist with existing front of pack schemes such as the Daily Intake Guide and the Heart Foundation Tick, are significant improvements. In addition there is acceptance that it can be expensive for cash strapped companies to adopt major labelling changes and therefore a voluntary approach with an extended five year implementation period has been adopted. Ultimately it will be up to food companies to assess the scheme and determine whether or not they adopt it.”
CHOICE CEO, Alan Kirkland, said;“CHOICE is today calling on food companies to ditch the dodgy Daily Intake Guide and embrace the Health Star Rating to help consumers make informed decisions about what they eat. Now that ministers have given the final sign off to the Health Star Rating Scheme, responsibility shifts to food manufacturers to start rolling out the star ratings on their product ranges. There is a great PR opportunity waiting for the early adopters, as we’ve seen with Monster Health Food Co which rolled out the first star rating in April.”
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.
- Published in News