January, 2010

US Flavour Trends

January 29, 2010

A market research business in the US, Mintel, has predicted some interesting flavours to look for in 2010, with some new ones marking an appearance. It will be interesting to see if any of these are also worth looking at in Australia.
Lynn Dornblaser, Mintel’s leading new products expert, said “As the economy recovers, we expect …

Continue reading ...

Number of food poisoning cases increase in Albury

January 29, 2010

According to The Border Mail, as of 25 January 2010, there are now 111 cases of gastro like illness in the NSW / Vic border city of Albury.
Around 20 of those cases have now been confirmed as salmonellosis. The cases have occurred since 10 January and it is expected that there will be an increase …

Continue reading ...

Preventative Health Agency

January 27, 2010

The National Preventative Health Agency Bill was introduced into the Senate in November 2009, and is designed to set up the National Preventative Health Agency to co-ordinate obesity, alcohol abuse and smoking public health campaigns, as well as act as an advisor to Governments on these and other related public health issues.
The Government’s National Preventative …

Continue reading ...

Safety of sliced meat in NSW

January 25, 2010

The following information is from Food Surveillance Australia New Zealand (Summer 2009) and included here with permission from Food Standards Australia New Zealand.
The Food Standards Code defines ready-to-eat (RTE) meat as meat products (including poultry) intended to be consumed without further heating or cooking, and includes:
• cooked or uncooked fermented meat
• pâté
• dried meat
• slow …

Continue reading ...

Australians eating healthier

January 22, 2010

A recent survey by an independent market analyst, Datamonitor, has shown that more than 75% of Australians are concerned about the importance of their health and maintaining it. Around 71% of those surveyed are also making a deliberate attempt to eat healthily “most” or “all of the time”.
This also applies to alcoholic purchases, according to …

Continue reading ...

Supermarket Guru’s 2009 predictions

January 20, 2010

The Supermarket Guru, Phil Lempert, is a specialist working with the large supermarket chains in the USA by analysing trends. He has made some predictions for what will happen with the retail food industry in the next year in the USA, and these are of interest in Australia as well.
Consumers want simple, cost effective foods …

Continue reading ...

Food Safety changes in the US

January 19, 2010

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act has been approved by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
This sets the stage for this important piece of legislation to go to the full Senate for final debate and, hopefully, approval. However the bill will most likely have to wait until early 2010 to face the full …

Continue reading ...

Junk Food tax

January 18, 2010

It is well recognised by health authorities and governments across the world that in general, humans are getting fatter, especially in western countries, like the USA and Australia. This has emerged as a significant health issue.
There are many government programs being developed and implement across the world to try and reduce this growing problem. Much …

Continue reading ...

2009 Franchisor Awards

January 16, 2010

In October the Franchise Council of Australia presented the eight awards of the MYOB Excellence in Franchising Awards at a ceremony in Perth at a Gala Awards Dinner. The awards recognize the important role that franchisors have in the food industry and reward those who demonstrate excellence in what they do.
The Franchisor Social Responsibility Award …

Continue reading ...

Latest Food Safety Survey Report

January 15, 2010

Information in this article has been provided by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and is included with permission.In 2001 FSANZ undertook a Benchmark Survey of Food Safety. The results were significant and it was agreed that there would be periodic surveys done to determine what improvements had been implemented since that key survey.
In 2007 …

Continue reading ...