Archive for April, 2009
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
The top 50 Restaurants in the World were announced this week at a special ceremony in London. The S.Pellegrino World’s Best 50 Restaurants has celebrated it’s eighth year and the top restaurant, El Bulli, has held the position for the fourth year in a row. Number two was The Fat Duck in London.
4185 votes were collected and tallied against 837 restaurants across the world. Considering the huge number of restaurants across the world, and especially the 837 in contention, Australia has done well with two restaurants making the renowned list.
Tetsuya’s, in Sydney, was our top place at 17, a drop of 12 places from two years ago and eight places from last year. Another Sydney restaurant, Quay, was our other in the Top 50, at number 46. This tops off an outstanding year for Quay, with this being just the latest of many awards.
There is an extended list and another Australian restaurant made into this part - at number 94 Sydney’s Pier Restaurant made it into the Top 100 for the first time.
There were some surprise exceptions from this year’s list, including Gordon Ramsey’s flagship restaurant in London, which was number 13 last year. Rockpool, another Sydney restaurant, which was number four in 2002, was missing from this year’s list
Eating out is obviously not just about the food but about the whole experience and it is terrific to see Australian restaurants being recognized for their creativity and passion.
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) invites written submissions on matters relevant to the issues in the Consultation Paper on Proposal P293 - Nutrition, Health & Related Claims, to be made to FSANZ by 6pm (Canberra time) 15 May 2009.
This Paper is related to the Final Assessment Report for this Proposal which includes the draft Standard 1.2.7 (Nutrition, Health and Related Claims). The Final Assessment Report was approved by the FSANZ Board in March 2008 and as a result the draft Standard is now open to public review through the Consultation Paper.The Report proposes changes to the current situation of Nutrition Claims including:
- a revised approach for the regulation of general level health claims; and
- revision of the text and structure of draft Standard 1.2.7 for the purpose of improving clarity.
The Report recommends that the current approach of industry proven general level health claims be changed to an approach where general level health claims are only permitted if they refer to a food-health relationship listed in the draft Standard, and meet other relevant conditions as required.
As this is a dramatic change and is obviously complex, FSANZ is trying to clarify, simplify and improve the ease of use of the proposed Standard1.2.7. The Consultation Paper contains the revised proposed draft Standard 1.2.7 and also the consequential amendments that are necessary as a result of Standard 1.2.7.
There are variations to the material and it is strongly recommended that the Explanatory Notes prepared by FSANZ should be read, as well as these explain the intent of each of the clauses of the draft Standard 1.2.7.
This Standard will affect many food businesses and therefore, FSANZ invites public comment on this Consultation Paper and the draft variations to the Code by 15 May 2009 for the purpose of preparing the First Review Report for Proposal P293.
Questions relating to making submissions or the application process can be directed to the Standards Management Officer at standards.management@foodstandards.gov.au.
If you are unable to submit your submission electronically, hard copy submissions may be sent to the following address in Australia:
Food Standards Australia New Zealand Food Standards Australia New Zealand
PO Box 7186
Canberra BC ACT 2610
The information above was sourced from a Press Release from FSANZ and more information can be found at www.foodstandards.gov.au
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
The Federal Government has just announced an Investment Allowance Package to assist Australian businesses during the current financial crisis.
As part of the package, there will be a one off tax deduction equal to 30% of the capital cost of eligible new equipment and motor vehicles with a cost of at least $10 000. This allowance is in addition to the standard depreciation claimed for such assets. The Package is intended to encourage businesses to upgrade equipment.
Assets eligible for the allowance are new tangible depreciating assets and new expenditure on existing assets used in carrying on a business for which a deduction is available under the core provisions of Division 40 (Capital Allowances) in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
The $2.7 billion Business Tax Break is a key element of the Australian government’s $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan to support up to 90,000 Australian jobs.
This temporary business tax break is especially intended to help small businesses increase economic activity and support jobs, for example:
- A small business that buys and installs a $2000 computer before the end of June 2009 can claim an additional $600 deduction in its 2008-09 tax return.
- A business that buys and takes possession of a $60,000 filling machine by the end of June 2009 can claim an additional $18,000 deduction in its 2008-09 tax return.
Small businesses can claim an additional 30% tax deduction for eligible assets costing $1000 or more that they acquire from 13 December 2008 to 30 June 2009, and install by 30 June 2010.
For eligible assets costing $1000 or more that they acquire from 1 July 2009 to 31 December 2009, they can claim an additional 10% deduction where they are installed by 31 December 2010.
To benefit from this tax break a small business must have a turnover of $2 million a year or less.
Other businesses can receive the same deductions for eligible assets greater than $10,000.
This makes it a perfect time to purchase that new Blast Chiller or upgrade the coldroom or processing equipment.
For further information about the Incentive Allowance Package, contact your accountant or www.ato.gov.au
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
Water is a key part of every food business and the quality of that water is obviously essential to food safety.
According to the Food Standards Code (www.foodstandards.gov.au), all food businesses must ensure that the water they are using as an ingredient and for cleaning is Potable, regardless of where the water comes from.
This means that it must be safe for consumption. The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (www.nhmrc.gov.au/publications) provide the minimum requirements that must be met to ensure that water is safe for consumption.
Businesses that have reticulated water should contact their local council’s Water Department to confirm if the water supplied is Potable and meets these Guidelines.
Businesses that have their own water supply must also meet the requirement of Potability and will need to test the water periodically to ensure that this requirement is met. These businesses may require filters to ensure that the water is safe. Rainfall and environmental issues may have an impact on water quality and safety, and more testing may therefore be required. The local council’s Environmental Health Officer is the best person to talk to about water testing and how often it will be required to ensure water safety.
Filters are a tool that is commonly used by food businesses to monitor and control water safety and quality. There are many different types and styles of water filters. The particular filter used by a business is dependent upon the water use and initial quality as well as the pipes and systems in place in the business.
If a business uses filters, they must be included in the Maintenance Program of the business. This is to ensure that the filters are always clean and fit for use. A record should be kept of the maintenance to show it was done according to the required Maintenance Schedule.
Friday, April 17th, 2009
Potentially hazardous foods are those that contain food poisoning bacteria and will allow the growth of those bacteria if they are not handled properly. Temperature abuse will accelerate the bacterial growth, so these foods will usually require cold storage.
Bacteria grow best at the same temperatures that we are most comfortable, so at room temperature it is recognized that bacteria will double approximately every 20 minutes.
Fridge/ coolroom temperatures will slow this down, so the bacteria will still be doubling but will do it much slower. Therefore potentially hazardous foods need to be stored at less than 5⁰C to achieve a reasonable shelf life.
These foods therefore, will generally have a Use by Date. This is because with the bacteria doubling, even at fridge temperatures, obviously after a certain period of time the amount of bacteria is going to be so high as to potentially make a healthy person sick.
This is why the Food Standards Code (www.foodstandards.gov.au) does not allow any business to sell or use any material past it’s use by date. Manufacturers need to accurately determine the use by date of each of their products under the required storage temperatures and then label them appropriately.
Customers of these manufacturers need to then use the principle of First In First Out as their Stock Rotation method to ensure that they do not use product past it’s use by date.
As long as a food has been stored and handled correctly, it will achieve the Use by Date on the label, and be safe for consumption, use or sale.
So, due to the food safety risks and legal requirements, it is not acceptable to sell, consume or use product past it’s Use by Date.
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
According to the latest review from the Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD) 23% of all food and drink launches in 2008 had Natural claims. This is a nine percent increase from 2007. This is the most frequent of all claims on new foods and drinks. These claims included the terms; all Natural, wholegrain, organic and no additives / preservatives.
This demonstrates that manufacturers currently believe that consumers are looking for “natural’ foods and are developing products to meet this expectation. This can create potential food safety issues with specific processing methods or packaging required to ensure that any preservative removal does not affect food safety. This will most likely also require Food or Packaging Technologists to be involved in the Product Development process.
Convenience claims in any form made up only 12% of all the 2008 new food and drink claims, showing that “Natural” is still the major selling point, and is expected to continue by most in the food industry for some time to come.
Claims for “Plus” (eg added vitamins and minerals) took a significant fall in the 2008 Mintel GNPD review going down by 20% since the last review of 2007 launches. Only five percent of all 2008 food and drink launches in 2008 had any “Plus” type claims.
Interestingly, with the increasing awareness and understanding of environmental impacts and issues, only five percent of the new food and drink launches in 2008 had ethical or environmental claims.
