Food Magazine September 2011

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Foodmagazine SEPTEMBER 11

INGREDIENTS | PROCESSING | SAFETY | PACKAGING | EXPORT

INFORMING FOOD AND BEVERAGE MANUFACTURERS

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INSIDE

SAFETY

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New era of product recalls

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The end of the line

READY MEALS

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More options than ever before

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AUSSIE FACTORIES

MOVING OUT OF TOWN How the strong Aussie dollar is impacting our factories

INGREDIENTS Coffee the new cancer cure?

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WELCOME

Foodmagazine www.foodmag.com.au PUBLISHER – Michelle Graves E: michelle.graves@reedbusiness.com.au

The blame game Australians are getting fatter and one in four children is overweight. Does the responsibility rest with manufacturers, advertisers, retailers, or most shocking of all, with the individual?

EDITOR – Jessica Burke P: 02 9422 2862 F: 02 9422 2722 E: jessica.burke@reedbusiness.com.au ACCOUNT MANAGER – Mark Ryu P: 02 9422 2151 M: 0404 803 356 E: mark.ryu@reedbusiness.com.au

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EDITOR: Jessica Burke food@reedbusiness.com.au

hose job is it to make sure the food a person is putting in their mouth is the right choice?

Probably the hand that’s putting it in there, one would think.

It seems these days we’re forever hearing about who is to blame for the obesity epidemic, the increase in child pester power and the advertising of unhealthy food options.

The problem is that the blame fingers are pointing in all different directions, because it seems few people are willing to turn it back around to themselves and take the responsibility for their choices.

This month, there was a study out of the US showing children will nag their parent more for a product if it uses cartoons to advertise it.

Well, that’s not really surprising, nor is the correlation between more sedentary lifestyles in front of gaming consoles and the increase in obesity rates.

(There I go, blaming gaming companies. It’s just so easy!)

But you make the choice about what to put in yours, or your young child’s mouth.

No matter how good the advertising is, nobody can be

forced to eat that greasy, saltand-sugar filled meal, even if Dora the Explorer is adamant that you should.

Three years on from KFC stopping advertising their products to children, they’ve pulled toys from their kids meals, and now the Australian Medical Association wants a ban on advertising junk food to children.

But are all these measures further increasing the Nanny state we already exist in?

Or do we secretly like having others tell us what to do, so we don’t have the burden of doing it ourselves?

Choice has again called for a traffic light labelling system on foods sold in Australia to allow consumers to see what kind of choice they’re making in the blink of the eye, after a study found some brands of muesli have more fat that a Quarter Pounder, not to mention the sugar content.

When companies are deliberately misleading consumers about their ‘healthy’ options, it is definitely wrong, but then again, Australian products legally require nutitional information on all products, so shouldn’t people be

able to figure it out anyway?

Instead of this food censorship so many people seem to want, wouldn’t it make more sense to educate people about how to read those labels and make good, informed decisions, rather than eliminating those ‘sometimes’ foods altogether?

Victoria thinks that’s the answer, and have spent $40 million on a program to be rolled out in key communities offering families practical advice and classes on healthy eating, grocery shopping and lifestyle choices.

If we unveiled something like that around the country, maybe we really would have nobody to blame but ourselves.

Then where would we be?

I would also like to take the chance to farewell our lovely previous editor David Stone, who has fled the coop back to the Mother Land to enjoy some tea and scones with his Mama and Papa.

I wish him all the very best, and hope you enjoy the first edition of Food Magazine I have put together, because I have certainly had a lot fun with it.

Until next time…

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Food Magazine’s I grew up in... Castle Hill in Sydney NSW In high school, I was passionate about...

Sport

Richard Roberts, Supply Chain Director, Unilever Australia New Zealand

My current role involves... Running the Supply Chain for Unilever in Australia and New Zealand. This includes planning, customer service, warehouse and distribution, safety, quality and our strong focus on environmental efficiency. I also have overall responsibility for our four Unilever factories in Australia and New Zealand which together manufacture more than 70% of the products we sell in these markets.

Before my current role, I worked in/as/at... I ran our North Rocks factory in Sydney and before this worked in our Petone factory in New Zealand. During my time at Unilever I have also been the Customer Supply Chain Director, looking after Demand Planning, warehouse and distribution and customer service. Unilever has given me plenty of opportunities to move around.

Studies/training that have helped me in my current role include.... I am a Mechanical Engineer and have been fortunate enough to receive extensive additional training throughout my 20 years with Unilever.

My work is helping to better the food industry by... Protecting and promoting great Australian manufacturing by building

two strong manufacturing sites, one at Minto where we make our ice cream products and one at Tatura where we make various savoury products as well as Lipton Ice Tea. We have invested heavily into those sites over the last five years and will continue to do this so that they can become world class operations for us.

The variety of work that I get involved in – there is certainly no time to get bored or stale!

The most challenging part of my role is... Being on top of such a broad range of challenges and issues that come your way in a large, global supply chain that we at Unilever are a part of.

The best part of my role is... The variety of work that I get involved in – there is certainly no time to get bored or stale!

My favourite food is... Being a son of a butcher, I must say that I love the so many

different varieties of meat that we have the chance to eat at a good price.

The thing that gets me out of bed in the morning is...Wanting to be the best that I can be and make a positive difference in the things that I get involved with.

The food industry needs to change... By constantly looking for ways to improve to make Australian food manufacturers better than any other country at growing and manufacturing food products for the Australian market place.

The current food/brands that we will be eating in 50 years time are... I wish I was that clever. There must always be a place for good quality foods and products that are good for you that are offered at a reasonable price.

In 50 years, the food industry can look forward to... Adding value to people's lives in all sorts of ways.

The World of

Our goal as the world leader in intralogistics: to provide efficiency-increasing solutions for our customers.

P: 1800 SCHAEFER E: info@schaeferssi.com.au www.ssi-schaefer.com.au 4 Foodmagazine | September 11 | www.foodmag.com.au

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Foster’s remains optimistic despite biggest slump in 20 years Foster’s Group has posted its most significant decline in beer sales in two decades, with profits down almost 9 per cent from the previous financial year and beer sales down 6 per cent by volume.

“Last year was probably the toughest market conditions we have seen in nearly 20 years,” chief executive John Pollaers said.

Foster’s reported an underlying profit of $494.9 million for the last financial year.

There are now rumblings from within the industry that the company may finally accept SABMiller’s $9.5 billion takeover bid, which it has rejected twice before.

Foster’s brewing division, CUB, had its first fall in ten years as profits fell from 38.7 per cent to 38.

“Clearly, it's a year where more volume has gone through on promotion, but we are being very disciplined and have stayed within our own promotional guidelines,” Pollaers said.

The company made heavy discounts to products in an attempt to overcome the difficult financial environment, keeping it with a large share of the market.

By volume it has a 47.8 per cent share in Australian beer sales by volume.

“Our market share in both on-premise and off-premise has declined substantially over more than five years and up to 10 years,” Pollaers said, referring to the decline from 51.5 per cent four years ago.

“We are going through a period of economic uncertainty right now, but we will come through that. We have been though it before; we have seen the beer category affected in this way under these kinds of recessionary circumstances in the past, and we’re confident that we'll come through this a hell of a lot stronger than we went into it.”

As the 2011 financial year gets underway, sales are still continuing to shrink, leading many to believe takeover bids may get more consideration from companies like Foster’s.

Forster’s has previously rejected two offers from the company, saying the $4.90 per share offer undervalues the company.

But Pollaers remains optimistic, saying yesterday that he did not believe

the weak result had strengthened SABMiller’s position.

“We've had great support from our shareholders,” he said.

“Everybody’s fairly much in support of the Foster’s board’s decision to reject that proposal. The short-term market conditions do nothing to change the fundamentally bright future we see for the beer and cider categories.

“What we are dealing with is a temporary circumstance brought about by a downturn in consumer confidence.”

Foster’s declared a final dividend of 13.25c a share, below the 15.25c limit that SABMiller has made a condition of its hostile takeover bid, The Australian reports.

The company has also pledged to return at least $500m to shareholders this financial year through either a share buyback or a capital reduction, the latter of which would require shareholder approval and breach one of the conditions of the SABMiller bid.

Banning NZ apples could hurt innocent farmers Following the approval from Biosecurity last week that New Zealand apples would be allowed into Australia, there has been warnings from the NZ government our trade reputation would be damaged if imports are blocked.

Opposition agriculture spokesman John Cobb will introduce a private bill to parliament on today that aims to overturn an import clearance by Australia's biosecurity and quarantine authorities.

Agriculture spokesman John Cobb told the ABC the move is a warning for the government and authorities that it should not put trade before quarantine and there

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NEWS

needs to be better protection against foreign pests and diseases.

“They [New Zealand] don’t care about whether we get fire blight, they just want to get their apples into Australia,” he said.

“Now what you have to remember is we are not saying what the protocols should be, we are forcing the minister to say are you doing what you're legally entitled to do, or are you doing what will make New Zealand happy, rather than protect your own industry.”

NZ Trade Minister Tim Groser, said blocking NZ apples would seriously damage the international trade reputation and believes the opposition’s proposal will fail.

“This is essentially much bigger than just an issue around apples,” he said.

“For Australia to go all the way and not implement a finding of the international judicial system would cause a serious question about Australia’s credibility.

“And I've got enough confidence in the Australia political leadership to

believe that there’s no way they are going to go all that distance.”

Groser said there is an understanding that the Australian government has to accept the apples under international trades rules, and he's not expecting a trade war.

“We have a great relationship and I don't really think we are going to get into the absurdity of retaliation against what would be an internationally astonishing move,” he said.

“Certainly retaliation is legally possible under those circumstances, but I do not believe for a minute we will get to there.”

Trade Minister Craig Emerson also warned MP’s the move is in breach of world trade rules and he is demanding Opposition Leader Tony Abbott deny the move because it is in breach of World Trade Organisation.

“If he supports the bill or sends it off to committee, Mr Abbott will cement in place his anti-trade, isolationist credentials,” he said in a statement.

Emerson continued that Parliamentary

Two to face court over attack on modified wheat

Two women will face court for their part in a Greenpeace attack on a genetically-modified wheat trial in Canberra in July.

The women aged 47 and 34, from Sydney, used bush cutters to damage the crop being grown at the CSIRO experimental station in Ginninderra.

They will be charged in the ACT Magistrates Court with offences including trespass and damaging Commonwealth property.

The charges come after ACT conducted extensive inquiries into the incident and obtained search warrants in New South Wales.

The Greenpeace headquarters in Ultimo was one of the places police searched and uncovered evidence still being reviewed.

Police believe more people were involved in the incident.

Investigations are continuing. approval of the bill would put Australia in breach of the world trading rules, which could lead to retaliation against innocent Australian farmers.

Biosecurity Australia found the risks associated with fire blight can be managed and overturned the ban on NZ imports that had been in place since the

discovery of the disease in the 1920s.

Shane Hetherington, research leader in horticulture with the NSW DPI, said the issue was part of a risk assessment of New Zealand imports.

While the scientific evidence for infection is not compelling, the circumstantial case is, he explained.

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“Circumstantial evidence is that we are probably going to get fire blight.

“In the great majority of cases where countries have imported apples form countries that already have fire blight, they develop fireblight themselves.”

Choice again calls for traffic light labelling The debate over the simple traffic light system on food packaging has ramped up again, with Choice calling for the practise to be mandatory.

With labels on foods more confusing than ever before, the red, green and amber colours on the front of packaging would make it easier for consumers to know the amount of the main nutrients, such as fat, sugars and salt in products.

The calls from Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group follow the report recently released about misleading claims on muesli, with some found to have double the fat content of a Quarter Pounder.

“A spoonful of muesli may be a mouthful of sugar and fat,” the Choice report said.

Of the 159 types of muesli available to consumers in Australia it tested, Choice found only ten brands met Australian food regulator FSANZ’s definition of “low fat”, defined as no more than 3 per cent fat.

Only 11 brands met FSANZ’s definition for “low sugar,” which is no more than 5 per cent sugars.

More time to consider redundancy for SPC workers The amount of time SPC Ardmona workers will have to consider voluntary redundancies has been extended.

Earlier this month it was announced the Australian-based food processor will cut 150 jobs and close its Mooroopna manufacturing plant due to a slump in trading as a result of the strong Australian dollar.

Initially, workers only had a week to volunteer for redundancies.

But after consultation with unions, SPC confirmed it has extended that period until August 31.

The company told the ABC it will know in September how many workers will be taking redundancies and whether forced lay-offs will be necessary.

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) has disagreed with the traffic light system, saying it is too simplistic to work.

“Traffic light labels categorise foods as good and bad – but all foods can form part of a balanced diet, “AFGC chief executive Kate Carnell said.

“Industry rejects traffic light labelling on the basis that it’s badly understood by consumers and the system has been

rejected by countries around the world including in Europe.

“The Daily Intake Guide (DIG) is the labelling system preferred by the European Union and Canada.”

“Daily Intake Guide labels – which appear on more than 4000 supermarket products in Australia – outline the amount of energy, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt in a standard portion of the food and how that translates to average daily intake.”

In June the AFGC welcomed the move

by Woolworths to add DIG information to the foods it produces.

In the same month the European Parliament decided not to implement the traffic light labeling system, saying it was too unclear.

It was decided to focus more on clearly defining how much fat, carbohydrates, and sodium each product in European supermarkets contains.

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MEAT

Turkey Trouble The recall of 36 million pounds of turkey in the US has caused many to wonder if it could happen in Australia. Jessica Burke reports

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n one of the largest product recalls in history, US food giant Cargill recalled more than 36 million pounds of fresh and frozen ground turkey in August because of a possible salmonella contamination.

One man was killed by the strain of salmonella, and 79 others were taken ill.

Food advocates in the US are calling for changes to recall rules after it took regulators months to warn the public about the salmonella threat.

A government agency that tracks antibiotic-resistant pathogens found evidence of the contamination in Cargill ground turkey in early March, but it took five months for the recall to be announced.

In August the company admitted that Salmonella Heidelberg was detected at the Springdale plant even earlier than the March discovery.

Lorraine Belanger from Food Standards Australia New Zealand told Food Magazine while the incident happened abroad, Australian companies also had to be across the issue.

“Through FSANZ’s monitoring systems we are made aware of all significant international food safety events and recalls,” she said.

“The first thing we do is check whether we import the product into Australia.

“In this case, we checked the Import Conditions Database on the AQIS website and then followed up with a call to the AQIS Biologicals unit which confirmed that fresh turkey cannot be imported into Australia - it can only be imported properly canned, which of course means commercial sterilisation.”

Belanger explained that unlike many other countries, Australian recalls are generally a preventative measure and very few products reach consumers that may be unsafe or cause illness.

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“In Australia action like a food recall is taken to remove from sale, distribution and consumption, any foods which may pose a safety risk to consumers,” she said.

“Most recalls are precautionary in nature and are initiated by the food companies to ensure that potentially hazardous or unsafe foods are not consumed.

“FSANZ coordinates food recalls on behalf of the ACCC and recalls occur in consultation between State and Territory Authorities and a sponsor who is usually the product's supplier.

Unlike Australia, the United States ranks all recalls, not only those involving food, according to the level of hazard.

Food advocates in the US are calling for changes to recall rules after it took regulators months to warn the public about the salmonella threat.

Of the three levels, Class one is the highest, and are defined as dangerous or defective products that predictably could cause serious health problems or death.

The mid level is those products which may cause temporary health problems, or pose only slight threat of serious issues and the lowest is those that are unlikely to cause an adverse health reaction, but are in violation of FDA labelling and manufacturing laws.

When asked the most pressing question, about whether this situation could have happened in Australia, Belanger told Food Magazine there is always the possibility for error, but enough systems regulations are in place here to make it unlikely.

“We have the same question asked of us about the E Coli incident in Europe.

“Technically speaking, anything is possible, particularly with bug stuff.

“But the important thing is we have amazingly safe food in Australia and the industry, generally speaking, have really good processes in place to ensure things don’t happen.”

She said FSANZ is always examining new ways to ensure the health and safety of consumers, especially when incidents such as the one in the US arise.

“The Food Standards Code contains a standard for meat safety and FSANZ is currently examining the whole of the meat supply chain in Australia to develop a national food safety standard covering meat and meat products,” she said.

Cargill announced in a statement that is has resumed production and will take all steps to ensure a similar incident does not happen again.

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MEAT

Plastic fantastic Leftover meat could one day be stored in containers made from…leftover meat, after scientists in Canada made some interesting developments. Jessica Burke writes.

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n a move that could forever change the packaging and food industries, a clever professor in Canada has come up with a practical use for leftover beef products, by turning them into heavy duty plastics.

Bringing new meaning to the term “using all parts of the Buffalo,” scientists at the University of Alberta in Edmonton have been developing the technology and are in talks with industry and manufacturers, as well as the government to use it to create everything from car parts to CD cases.

The University announced the new technology via its website last week, detailing how the facility is the only postsecondary facility to be approved by the Canada Food Inspection Agency to conduct research involving turning highrisk proteins into safe, sustainable materials.

“They look a little like fake cookies, the kind you’d find in a child’s toy oven, but the chocolate brown plastic discs created by University of Alberta

researcher David Bressler and his lab represent the future of ingenious recycling,” it says.

The team used the throwaway parts of beef carcasses after bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, devastated the industry in 2003.

Bressler has been joined by Phillip Choi, from the university’s engineering faculty to work on the developments they hope will “divert tones of protein waste from landfills across North America, shift

to using renewable resources instead of petrochemicals to make plastics, and boost flagging profits in the cattle industry.”

The university says the beef industry took a huge economic hit when the disease was discovered in Canada and byproducts and bone were regulated out of the rendering process amid fear the deadly disease remained.

“If we can get more fundamental value back into the rendering process, it will

help the livestock industry more than any government policy,” Bressler says.

A patent has been filed on the thermal process used to create plastics from the protein of the bovine byproducts, which uses high temperatures to break the proteins into small pieces which are then cross linked to other protein molocules to create a network that forms a rigid structure.

Bressler says the bio-friendly plastics could revolutionise the manufacturing industry.

“The plastic industry is under pressure to increase the renewable content in its products,” he said.

“As a result, this project offers the opportunity to do just that, and at the same time help send value back to rural Alberta and the beef sector.”

While the common use of meat carcusses to make plastic is still a long way off, the developments could significantly impact the amount of wastage the modern world creates.

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FOOD SAFETY

Popping the cork for better recall systems The pop of champagne appropriately signalled a new era of food safety in August at the launch of GS1’s internet based recall system in Sydney, as Jessica Burke reports In the wake of the E Coli disaster in Europe and the salmonella contamination in the United States, Australia is marching ahead with its new technology to ensure safer and more effective recalls with GS1 RecallNet. The national product recall system aims to remove all potentially harmful grocery, food liquor and other products from the supply chain.

Maria Palazzolo told the conference Australia has one of the best recall systems in the world, and most recalls are done prior to products reaching the consumer.

She said that while “recalls are a fact of life,” the industry works well to eliminate the impact on consumers and said most recalls are the result of a food allergen not being included on the packaging.

Palazzolo, along with the chief executive of the Australian Food and Grocery council (AFGC) told Food Magazine at the conference that the process has been long and arduous, but they were pleased to see so many companies getting on board.

The audience was filled with representatives from all areas of the food industry, including exporters, factory operators, manufacturers and packaging companies.

Palazzolo told Food Magazine the introduction of a simpler system for recalls will revolutionise the way the industry deals with the issues.

“Often, the most simple solutions, and the most obvious solutions, are the most effective,” she said.

“And that’s what this is.”

She said they hope the system will be rolled out to various sectors and processors, once the benefits of it are realised, comparing it to the introduction of barcodes and the amazing success they have seen.

GS1 Recallnet allows companies to manage recall and withdrawal notifications online, and makes the process of issuing notifications simpler and more effective.

It will significantly reduce the risks involved with recalls and contribute to the wellbeing of Australians, the organisations said.

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Safety in cyberspace

Online systems for recalls will forever improve the safety of food and beverages in Australia, but only if all of industry commits to it. Kate Carnell, chief executive of the Australian Food and Grocery Council writes.

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roduct recalls and withdrawals pose a significant challenge and risk to Australia’s food and grocery manufacturers.

However this complex process has become faster and safer for Australian manufacturers and retailers following the launch of the new world-class GS1 Recallnet™ product recall system on August 11.

Using the innovative GS1 Recallnet, launched by Parliamentary Secretary for Health Catherine King, GS1 Australia and the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) the recall process is now more efficient and automated through an industry-driven, webbased portal.

The standardised communication tool enables manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and importers to easily and more securely share “real-time” product recall and withdrawal notifications with trading partners and regulators.

The whole-of-industry solution led by industry in collaboration with GS1 Australia helps food and consumer products organisations reduces errors, reduce the amount of time taken to respond to a recall and mitigate costs associated with managing the recall.

This user-friendly, streamlined service, which is far more efficient than the previous paper-based system – is supported by all major retailers and FSANZ, many of whom attended the GS1

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7HERE RELIABILITY COMES AS STANDARD

Recallnet™ launch in Sydney, involving 120 guests and 12 speakers.

It will help to ensure the food safety of all Australians as it’s designed to remove potentially harmful food, grocery, liquor and other products from Australia’s long supply chain.

Importantly, GS1 Recallnet™ allows industry and retailers to rapidly and more consistently respond to a decision to recall or withdraw a product. It also provides accurate and up-to-date information and is a communication medium with regulators.

However it must be remembered that GS1 Recallnet™ is not a substitute for a recall plan.

Businesses still need to have comprehensive risk management procedures designed around the specific needs of their business. It’s a mandatory requirement under the Food Standards Code that food and grocery have a recall plan.

GS1 Recallnet™ will help if your plan determines you need to recall a product.

So far, 50 food and grocery-based and retail companies have signed up to use the highly-secure portal including Coles, Woolworths, Metcash and Costco.

FSANZ and the ACCC have also uploaded details to be able to receive recall/withdrawal information.

It’s crucial that all food and grocery manufacturers in Australia get behind this technology which offers a range of unique benefits, including the ability to target notifications to selected customers with tailored information, two-way communication allows your customers to report progress within a highly secure system that ensures only approved notifications are issued.

It also offers clear handling, disposal and reimbursement instructions to speed the recall process, the ability to extend recalls and withdrawals and navigate between related notifications, as well as the addition of multi-media files to the recall notification including images and lower risks, costs and increased brand

Fortunately, Australia’s food and grocery industry has an excellent food safety track record While the service will initially be used by the Australian food and grocery sector, it’s not only limited to manufacturer-toretailer notifications. For example, GS1 Recallnet™ enables producers to issue recall notifications to distributors and distributors to issue recall notifications to manufacturers. Recallnet™ will eventually be rolled out in the healthcare sector based on requirements currently being developed by representatives from Government health jurisdictions, Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and global suppliers.

For this service to achieve optimum capacity, it needs industry-wide support.

protection in the execution of recalls and withdrawals.

Other benefits of the system include communicating directly with FSANZ, receiving immediate feedback from customers on the progress of the recall or withdrawal, significantly reducing risk in the event of a recall and help to contribute to the improved wellbeing of all Australians.

Fortunately, Australia’s food and grocery industry has an excellent food safety track record and GS1 Recallnet™ provides a tool for manufacturers to ensure we maintain this record.

Innovations such as GS1 Recallnet™

enable Australian food and grocery manufacturers to stay on the forefront of global best practice.

Using this new process, food and grocery manufacturing – which is currently under immense pressure from a ‘perfect storm’ or rising imports, high commodity prices and a proposed carbon tax – will not only remain competitive, but safe for all Australians.

The recent e-coli outbreak in Europe was an illustration of a lack of food safety and a breakdown of communication in the region’s wide supply chain, where food is sourced globally.

Interestingly, the new GS1 Recallnet portal will also link with other similar systems overseas as there are 108 GS1 member companies operating over 147 countries.

I urge you to embrace this technology and register your business with GS1 Recallnet. www.foodmag.com.au | September 11 | Foodmagazine 13

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PACKAGING

Left on the shelf Distributors and consumers are demanding fresher products, and new technology is being developed to ensure they get it, as Pierre Pienaar reports.

T

hose involved in food and beverage packaging know only too well that consumers and brand owners both are demanding increased shelf life from products. The modern food industry has developed and expanded because of its ability to deliver a wide variety of high quality food products to consumers on a nationwide and worldwide basis. This feat has been accomplished by building stability into the products through processing, packaging, and additives that enable foods to remain fresh and wholesome throughout the distribution process. There is a commercial need to allow products to stay fresh on a retailer's shelf for longer.

This extension of shelf life is aimed at slowing down the deterioration of the product using a range of processes. Each of the processes is interdependent on packaging to preserve the product in a suspended state.

There are three principal mechanisms involved in the deterioration of processed foods, firstly the microbiological spoilage sometimes accompanied by pathogen or germ development.

Then you must consider the chemical

and enzymatic activity causing the breakdown of colour, odour, flavour, and texture changes and finally the moisture or other vapour migration which produces changes in texture, water activity and flavour.

To enhance shelf life the focus ought to be on reducing microbial activity and increasing the acidity as well as the addition of additives and reduction of water activity, and finally modifying the immediate environment.

In addition to focusing on the these issues, active packaging active packaging can be of great benefit, as one of its main purposes is to extend the shelf life of products.

Initially this was a supply chain issue but it is now a consumer concern, as freshness coupled with sustainable packaging has become an important buying factor. Recent research has indicated that freshness indicators on packaging will become critical to consumer choice over the next few years.

Furthermore, according to Active and Intelligent Packaging World, active packaging is set to expand at a rate of over 5% a year within the food and

drinks market that will be worth 5.3 billion by 2015, of which the vast majority will comprise active packaging.

Consumer demands for convenience have created new innovations in the food product development and packaging industries and the widespread desire for products to use in the microwave oven has added further to the effort.

Consumers are demanding more sustainable packaging solutions that also perform shelf life-extensions, whilst brand owners understand the commercial advantages that active packaging

technology can deliver to their products.

In supply chain more work is being done on oxygen scavengers, moisture absorbers and barrier films that will enhance the shelf life of products.

Consumers want packaging that keeps products clean, ready for eating, with longer shelf life, product security and value for money. This remains a big ask, but packaging technologists need to rise to these demands.

New packaging strategies have been developed to address the challenges of extending shelf life in storage and

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transport including technology that attempts to manipulate the atmosphere surrounding the produce in order to delay spoilage.

There are different types of modified atmosphere. One method injects nitrogen, carbon dioxide and/or oxygen into packs or containers in order to modify the air surrounding the food. This gas mixture or gas flushed type of system requires that the air surrounding the product be removed and the desired gas mixture is then inserted. The exact concentration percentage of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen used is dependent on the type of food or produce stored or being transported. The mixture is dependent on the packaging material, product and storage temperature. The gas must be inserted into an airtight enclosure.

An alternate and less expensive method incorporates additives directly into plastic films used for covering pallets or lining boxes of produce, a relatively new technology that will be closely observed as more is learned about this technique.

Pallet covers with ethylene absorbing technology delivers a higher quality product by minimising the amount of ethylene present during transport and storage of fruits and vegetables. This technology protects produce quality without the need for expensive gas and/or equipment.

One of the current buzz words in technology is without doubt

nanotechnology. One of the fastest growing areas is the application of nanotechnology in packaging materials.

As the food market has expanded to a worldwide marketplace, it is requiring a longer shelf life. New materials incorporating nano-particles have been able to reduce and in some cases eliminate the transmission of oxygen, and in addition have blocked the transmission of moisture from the product.

With the daily challenges of preserving product and minimising losses, growers, packers, shippers and retailers of produce now have new packaging options that allow them to dramatically increase shelf life.

Various packaging technologies can help food handlers remain competitive by reducing spoilage and delivering consistent quality products on every shipment. The speed of take up of packaging innovation will depend on the pace of the economic recovery.

Innovations in packaging for extending shelf life will be a key driver over the next few years for manufacturers.

Enhanced technical knowledge and input by packaging technologists and packaging engineers through improved performance qualities of materials will be required to fuel market growth.

Pierre Pienaar FAIP National President Australian Institute of Packaging

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T: 1300 479 727 www.foodmag.com.au | September 11 | Foodmagazine 15

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PACKAGING

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Healthier, faster, safer Sustainable operations are essential in modern manufacturing, and Craig Roseman, National Segment Manager Food and Beverage, Industry Business, Schneider Electric shares his thoughts on achieving best practice.

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16 Foodmagazine | September 11 | www.foodmag.com.au

mproving sustainability of operations is currently a top priority but with various challenges facing food and beverage manufacturers, it can be difficult to know how to start.

Sustainability is a continuous challenge facing the food and beverage sector, however the trials of the industry are by no means limited to this factor alone. Distributing healthier and safer products, adapting to large variations in the costs of raw materials and energy, adapting processes to meet the constantly changing habits and tastes of consumers, the push for more sustainable packaging and the continual changes in regulations are just some of the numerous considerations for manufacturers.

Knowing where to begin can prove to be troublesome but more often than not, improving the sustainability of operations through better energy management is a good place to start.

The food and beverage sector is an energy intensive industry and at a time when there is an increasing customer trend to become more environmentally friendly, this can be problematic. A sustainable manufacturer is one that is efficient when it comes to the amount of energy expended and utilised in the production process. Having better control over resources, including electricity and waste avoidance, are therefore two fundamental concerns for those wanting to embrace a more sustainable approach.

Fortunately, with the right solution in place, food and beverage manufacturers can reduce energy consumption without compromising the safety and quality of products. By deploying efficient automation technologies for example, food and beverage manufacturers can

achieve energy savings of up to 30 per cent and simultaneously avoid plant downtime.

Schneider Electric has a five step process to achieving the optimal energy management system. This involves measuring and analysing energy use, fixing the basics by deploying efficient devices, automating and optimising performance and embracing a continuous program of monitoring and improving.

The fifth step uses this information as a tool to help change human behavior, making energy management a part of the

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PACKAGING

organisational culture. Those that have followed this five-step process have found they are able to ‘do more with less’ while at the same time achieve significant energy savings.

Conducting a detailed audit into the efficiency of operations at all manufacturing sites to give plant managers complete system visibility, can help solve problems. Inefficiencies such as motors running unnecessarily when systems malfunction, can easily be identified and this insight is most valuable when fed into SCADA systems that present information in an easy-to-digest dashboard. It gives operations managers complete visibility of plant systems and identifies and isolates problems prior to them becoming plant-wide issues.

The next step involves deploying efficient devices that automate and optimise production processes, eliminating the identified inefficiencies and streamlining the entire manufacturing process. Significant results are obtained through the use of packaging machine automation systems; the accuracy and repeatability of these systems means that higher quality and more economical packaging can be produced.

In addition, continuous monitoring of energy consumption is crucial if food and beverage companies are to avoid the negative impact of fluctuating energy prices and maintain sustainable operations. There are many solutions that can be implemented such as optimising supply tariffs for the energy consumption

of equipment and buildings, manufacturing processes and cold stores.

Others include improving the quality of energy and limiting water consumption and waste through a systematic approach to cleaning procedures. This is best achieved by working with energy management specialists that have relationships with automation system integrators and process control specialists. This relationship allows for the sharing of technology and specialist process control knowledge, meeting the end-user’s expectation of a wellcoordinated system, which is needed if organisations want to achieve best practice operations.

Sustainability is just one of the many challenges facing the food and beverage sector and, one that’s inherently linked with energy consumption and utilisation.

Fortunately, there are energy management solutions and systems that once implemented, are able to streamline production processes and in turn reduce energy consumption without affecting the quality of products.

While it’s fair to say that food and beverage manufacturers have a lot on their plates, prioritizing energy management undoubtedly makes good business sense in this highly competitive environment.

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PROCESSING

Controlling real-time efficiency Choosing the right process technology can help food and beverage manufacturers reduce on-shelf product errors and achieve real-time efficiency.

Annie Dang writes.

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18 Foodmagazine | September 11 | www.foodmag.com.au

ECHNOLOGY designed to better control the end-of-the-line manufacturing processes, including coding and packaging, can provide food and beverage manufacturers with a costefficient solution that not only reduces production costs but also product liability.

"In food manufacturing, coding and labelling errors could cost manufacturers dearly because they often require reworking," Matthews' manger for identification systems, Mark Dingley, told Food Magazine.

"Reworking could involve going back and repackaging the defective production or completely reproducing that product.

Either way, both processes would require extra time spent by workers to fix the defect and also extra material to reproduce that product."

However, eliminating coding and labelling errors is about more than just production efficiency and waste management; it is about cost management.

"Manufacturers are now checking for coding and barcoding errors all the way along the production process, from primary through to cartoning or palletisation," Dingley explains.

"The idea is to control wastage costs by checking the product in stages as it comes down the line, rather than checking all at once as it comes off the production line. This allows manufacturers to correct an error without stopping an entire plant's production, and reduces potential costs which could arise as a result of coding or packaging error."

Omron Electronics product specialist for

machine vision, Panfilo Tarulli, says checking for product defects as goods come down the line is definitely the more cost-efficient method, rather than waiting to check the completed products at the end.

"Most food lines operate at very high speeds. Within an hour, if a defect is not recognised, the manufacturers can lose thousands of defective products. At this stage, the product can be reworked, but at a heavy cost to the manufacturer," Tarulli told Food Magazine.

"But once labels are applied to the defective product, the cost of reworking becomes too expensive. The manufacturer is better off disposing of the defective product and reproducing a new batch.

Reproduction however does come at a cost: a new roster for the reproduction needs to be scheduled and more raw materials need to be used, which adds to the cost of production."

A technology that is helping food and beverage manufactures better manage their production costs and reduce labelling errors is machine vision - an imaging-based technology that provides continuous inspection of products on a production line.

"You can install a vision system after each process or after several processes it really depends on where the waste is having the biggest impact on your yield rates," says Tarulli.

"If for example you lose in a year $70,000 dollars in defective products, then a $40,000 vision system fully installed and commissioned has just saved you $30,000 in your first year alone."

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AUSSIE FACTORIES

High dollar, low employment As the Australian dollar continues to rise, local factories struggling to survive and are taking their operations offshore, leaving people out of work and small towns out of people, as Jessica Burke reports.

T

he town of Girgarre in country Victoria is not a very big place.

Residents mostly work on farms, in small shops and in the Heinz tomato processing factory in the town, and participate in community sporting teams and events in their spare time.

But that is all set to change early next year, with the announcement that the Heinz factory will be moving its facilities out of the tiny town and offshore to New Zealand.

According to the Shire of Campaspe statistics, less than 420 people who live in the town are aged between 15 and 64, meaning that the 146 people somewhere in this age bracket set to lose their jobs in January makes up a fair chunk of the population.

Its part of an overhaul by the multinational company that includes two other factory closures in Brisbane and Wagga Wagga that will see 300 jobs lost.

to Fair Work Australia earlier this year, claiming the company unfairly reprimanded workers participating in union talks after it said it woulddock four hours of pay from workers who attended union meetings on 17 June.

Heinz management said it is legally required to dock the pay of participating workers as it was “unprotected industrial action.”

The union accused Heinz of ignoring important questions from the Girgarre workers, including when the site will close, the possibility for redundancy packages and how long-term casuals would be treated if they secured a job earlier than the closure.

“The union understands that Heinz has not liked some of the critical comments union representatives and community members in the Goulburn Valley have made about the company decision to close the

The union accused Heinz of ignoring important questions from the Girgarre workers, including when the site will close, the possibility for redundancy packages and how long-term casuals would be treated if they secured a job earlier than the closure.

Heinz corporate affairs manager Jessica Ramsden told Food Magazine the previously reported figures of 1000 jobs being lost in Australia are incorrect.

“We announced in May that 340 people would be made redundant across 3 manufacturing facilities – 160 at Northgate (Qld), 38 at Wagga Wagga (NSW) and 146 at Girgarre (Vic),” she said.

The Australian Manufacturing Union, who represents the workers, took their fight

Girgarre site.,” Union state organiser Jason Hefford said.

Ramsden told Food Magazine the company is trying to work in collaboration with employees and unions to find alternate employment and training for those who will be out of work as a result of the closures.

“We are working closely with our employees to assist them to find alternative employment.

“State and Federal Governments are also

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www.foodmag.com.au | September 11 | Foodmagazine 19

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AUSSIE FACTORIES

providing assistance with outplacement and retraining programs,” she said.

Hefford said the treatment of workers has led to intense contempt within the company.

Ramsden has defended the company’s actions and said employees did not take the appropriate action.

“We encouraged the union to instead hold meetings with employees in the canteen during breaks. ‘‘They preferred to hold an illegal stop work meeting, despite these implications for employees,’’ she said.

She said workers have been provided with as much information as possible, which included minimum estimates of individual redundancies, adding that some employees could be eligible for early redundancies, depending on final production schedules and shift requirements.

It would also depend on the terms set out in the terms of enterprise bargaining agreements casual employees would receive significant to the hourly rate, Ramsden said.

Many Australians have voiced their intentions to boycott Heinz products if they are no longer manufactured locally.

But not all Heinz employees are supportive of the action of consumers who think they are doing the right thing and supporting Australian production.

An employee at a Heinz baby food

“We'd hate to see any more impact on the Heinz baby food site if people won't buy Heinz products because of this.

“Our jobs could be in jeopardy too.”

The leading industry body has warned of more jobs in danger, noting that in the two months up until September, about 300 job cuts have been announced in the sector, including 150 at SPC Ardmona’s Mooroopna factory and 146 at Heinz’s Girgarre facility.

SPC Ardmona said it would be giving workers more time to consider voluntary redundancies, after initially giving them only one week.

After consultation with unions, SPC confirmed it has extended that period until August 31.

The leading industry body has warned of more jobs in danger, noting that in the two months up until September, about 300 job cuts have been announced in the sector, including 150 at SPC Ardmona’s Mooroopna factory and 146 at Heinz’s Girgarre facility. factory in nearby Echuca told ABC talkback radio more local jobs could be lost if people refuse to buy Heinz products.

“If we lose sales from this site, there may be a chance that this site goes over to New Zealand as well,” he said.

“It could impact on more jobs through the Heinz organisation in Echuca.”

20 Foodmagazine | September 11 | www.foodmag.com.au

The company said it will know in September how many workers will be taking redundancies and whether forced lay-offs will be necessary.

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) warned that the food and grocery sector will also be significantly impacted Bluescope Steel’s

decision to slash 1000 jobs.

It was denied that the move was a result of the carbon tax, and instead blamed on the strong Australian dollar and the leading industry body for the food industry has warned of more job losses and competitiveness in the sector.

AFGCchief executive Kate Carnell said for industry to stay competitive, the government needs to remove unnecessary regulation and duplication, including food labelling changes, and also reduce the costs of doing business.

“We need Government to support a business environment where companies can innovate and value-add to remain competitive,” Carnell said.

“At the moment, many leading food and grocery companies are seriously weighing up their future options for manufacturing in Australia.”

Carnell has called on the government to speed up the National Food Plan for Australia.

“It’s vital that the Government creates a broad-base policy that supports a viable, competitive and robust food and grocery manufacturing sector that will continue to deliver high quality products for Australia and the export market,” she said.

“Australians don’t want to be increasingly reliant on imports for the foods we eat!”

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EXPORT

Expert Export Providing bonds for overseas customers, without exhausting a company's working capital, is paying dividends for Australian manufacturers looking to expand abroad, despite the high Australian dollar. Alan Johnson writes.

D

espite the soaring Australian dollar, local manufacturers are increasingly looking overseas to expand their businesses, especially for those operating in highly-specialised areas where finding customers beyond Australia’s relatively small domestic market can be important to their growth.

Andrea Govaert, executive director, SME at Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC), says that though the exchange rate is one consideration, it is often innovation and service that enables Australian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to win or retain contracts overseas.

“Australian SMEs are incredibly innovative, developing smart new business ideas or finding fresh takes on established ways of doing things. This means they often aren't competing solely on price, but more on the basis of technology, service or quality,” Govaert told Manufacturers’ Monthly.

But as well as the high dollar, she says another challenge of exporting for SMEs can be meeting international customers’ requirements for bonds.

“Bonds are common requirements of international contracts, and in order to remain competitive, SMEs need to be able to provide them to overseas customers,” she said.

A bond is an assurance to your customer from a third party, such as a bank, which you will carry out your contractual obligations - if you default, the customer can make a call on the bond.

Advance payment bonds, performance or warranty bonds are common in international contracts and, to remain competitive, you need to be able to provide them to customers.

However, Govaert warns a bond can be a significant percentage of the contract value.

“The difficulty for SME exporters is often that in order to issue the bond, their bank requires a level of cash security the exporter can't provide,” she said.

“Often a bank demands 100% of the bond’s value, which an SME may not have available in cash or would tie-up working capital that they need to use elsewhere in the business.”

Govaert says in cases where an SME's bank can’t help with a bond, or requires an amount of security that the SME can’t provide, EFIC may be able to assist.

“EFIC has a different approach from financial institutions when it comes to supporting exporters,” Govaert said.

“We don't just look at the SME's balance sheet. Of course we perform financial due diligence, but a key focus is on whether the SME has the skill and capacity to perform the contract. Does it have the technical ability to undertake the contract work? Does it have a track record of successfully completing similar contracts, either in Australia or overseas?

“So the outcome of our technical due diligence is also extremely important. If we're satisfied that the company can perform the contract, the value of the security we require may be less than the amount of the bond.

“This can mean that the SME can meet their international customer's bond requirements - without tying up all their working capital.”

EFIC’s security requirements for a bond are based on an individual assessment of an SME's ability to perform the export contract.

In some cases, the value of the security EFIC requires may be less than the bond amount. This can allow an SME exporter to meet their international customer’s bond requirements without tying up all their working capital.

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READY MEALS

… y d a e R

Australians are spending more time at work and it’s taking longer to get there and back home again, leaving little time for meal preparation.

This has led to many turning away from traditional homemade creations to pre-packaged ready meals, as Rita Mu reports.

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hile there are many that like it complicated, there are others that like it easy. And if the recent figures on the Australian ready meals market are anything to go by – then it appears that more and more Australians are moving to the latter.

With increasingly busy lifestyles, individuals and families are now reaching for the

! o G

conveniently packaged ready meals in the supermarket rather than racing through aisles to find ingredients to make that perfect Sunday roast.

According to figures published by market research group, Datamonitor, in February, the Australian ready meals market has increased at a compound annual growth rate of more than seven per cent between 2004 and 2009, with

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the frozen ready meals category leading the market - accounting for a share of 62 per cent.

A report published by Euromonitor International late last year revealed that McCain Foods Australia was the leading player in 2009 - accounting for 26 per cent value of the market.

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22 Foodmagazine | September 11 | www.foodmag.com.au

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According to McCain, it is not just its frozen pizza that is doing so well. The company’s Red Box and Healthy Choice ranges have grown every year in the last five years. This is mainly because of an increase in consumer interest in easy meal options that support a healthy and balanced diet, says McCain.

In 2010, the healthy segment of the frozen ready meals market generated more than $201 million in sales. McCain made the move to meet this demand shortly after in January 2011 with the launch of three new Healthy Choice Bowls: Mild Indian Chicken Curry, Singapore Noodles and Mexican Chicken.

With food manufacturers such as McCain showing positive growth in the ready meals sector, it was not long before supermarket giants such as Woolworths and Coles decided to tap into the market.

In 2008, Woolworths launched a range of ready-made soups in its stores, and earlier this year, the company went on to roll out a range of ready-made risottos.

“Over the past two years we have seen significant growth in [the ready meals market] as we have worked to grow and improve the range,” a Woolworths spokesperson told Food Magazine.

Today, Woolworths offers a range of “home-style cooked meals,” including curries, soup, pizza, pasta and a private label brand called Emily's Kitchen.

“The idea behind our ready to eat range is to offer our time-poor customers, who may not have time to cook at home, a range of home-style cooked meals without the work that

range has gone from strength to strength… Interestingly, we now have customers requesting much hotter curries.”

Ready for the future?

Euromonitor International projects that consumers will increasingly blur the distinction between home cooking and ready meals, seeking the best of both. “[Consumers] will add extra toppings to chilled and frozen pizza and augment dinner mixes and dried ready meals with their own vegetables,” the market research group writes on its website.

READY MEALS Filling & Packaging Equipment

In 2010, the healthy segment of the frozen ready meals market generated more than $201 million in sales. use quality ingredients and are competitively priced,” the spokesperson said.

Launched in 2010, Woolworths’s Emily’s Kitchen range includes 40 different meal cuisines, including Italian, Indian and Asian. The range is available as single serve meals, meals for two and vegetable side dishes such as scalloped potatoes.

In June 2009, supermarket rival Coles launched a new range of ready-made curries in two of its stores. Today, the company’s Curry Pots are available in 366 stores across the country.

“Coles recognised customers were looking for great tasting, good value and convenient Indian meals and we answered this demand with our now famous Curry Pots,” a Coles spokesperson said. “Since then, the

“They thus benefit from the convenience offered by ready meals, while also being able to ensure a fresh flavour and improved nutritional benefits. This will also enable consumers to eat ready meals frequently without becoming bored by a lack of variety. The flexibility of these product areas will benefit their volume growth during the forecast period, while frozen ready meals will suffer due to its lack of flexibility, seeing considerably slower volume growth.”

McCain has a different outlook on the future of ready meals. The number one player in the market said its innovation plans moving forward include producing meals that contain less additives and preservatives; continue to be convenient and healthy and; consist of new exciting flavours.

• Food Fillers (for difficult to fill products such as rice & pasta) • Thermoforming Machines • Vacuum Flowpackers • Lasagne Lines • Blenders • Homogenizers • Grill Markers

SYDNEY - MELBOURNE - AUCKLAND

Ph: +61 2 8814 3100 sales@hbm.com.au www.hbm.com.au

www.foodmag.com.au | September 11 | Foodmagazine 23

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INGREDIENTS

“Cure to cancer on skim to takeaway?”

Research out of the US indicates coffee could reduce skin cancers, but Aussies are not entirely convinced, as Jessica Burke reports.

A

ustralia is the place for sand, sun and surf. Unfortunately, that results in the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, as Aussies spend their time laying on the beaches, or enjoying a sunny barbeque with a coldie in hand.

But new reports this week suggest that if we exchange that beer or champers with some coffee, our chances of getting skin cancer could be drastically reduced.

Problem is, you would have to apply it directly to your skin, which might not make summer parties the most enjoyable for Aussies, particularly if you didn’t cool it down first.

University of Washington scientists, along with researchers from Rutgers, believe that studies on mice show caffeine applied directly to the skin might help prevent damaging UV light from causing skin cancer.

The study was said to strengthen the theory that caffeine guards against certain skin cancers at the molecular level by inhibiting a protein enzyme in the skin, known as ATR and scientists believe that based on what they have learned studying mice, caffeine applied directly to the skin might help prevent damaging UV light from causing skin cancer.

Previous research indicated that mice that were fed caffeinated water and exposed to lamps that generated UVB radiation that damaged the DNA in their skin cells were able to kill off a greater percentage of their

badly damaged cells and reduce the risk of cells becoming cancerous.

“Although it is known that coffee drinking is associated with a decreased risk of non-melanoma skin cancer, there now needs to be studies to determine whether topical caffeine inhibits sunlightinduced skin cancer,” Allan Conney, director of the Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research said.

In the study, researchers diminished ATR in one group of mice, resulting in the genetically modified mice developed tumors slower than the unmodified mice.

They had 69 per cent fewer tumors than regular mice and developed four times fewer invasive tumors.

But they also found that when both groups of mice were exposed to chronic ultraviolet rays for an extended period of time, tumor development occurred in both the genetically modified and regular mice.

Conney believes this indicates that inhibiting the ATR enzyme works best at the pre-cancerous stage before UVinduced skin cancers are fully developed.

sceptical about the research, and even industry insiders don’t think we’ll be replacing our cold bevvies for coffee to prevent skin cancer.

Definitely not,” Mark Beattie, director of Coffee Roasters Australia told Food Magazine.

But new reports this week suggest that if we exchange that beer or champers with some coffee, our chances of getting skin cancer could be drastically reduced.

“Caffeine might become a weapon in prevention because it inhibits ATR and also acts ad as a sunscreen and directly absorbs damaging UV light,” said Conney.

But it seems Australians are still

24 Foodmagazine | September 11 | www.foodmag.com.au

“Not until you get other institution backing up the results as well.

One study across sample is not really enough to convince people.”

Beattie said Australians would need

more convincing before they would consider coffee a realistic prevention of skin cancer.

“With coffee there’s negative results that come out and then there’s positive, so it’s hard to determine what’s true and not.

Everything now there’s a chance of getting cancer, I believe coffee is not detrimental to health, if it’s consumed in moderation.

“I don’t think Australians generally believe a lot of research, next thing you know there’ll be one damning the effects of coffee or something, so we tend to not believe every bit of information that comes out.

“We need more proof.”

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Let them eat icing Product: Queen’s Royal Icing Manufacturer: Queen Fine Foods Ingredients: Sugar, Tapioca Starch, Egg White Powder, Food Acid (300).

Shelf life: Two years Packaging: Queen Fine Foods Product Manager: Jessica Colacino Website: www.queen.com.au

AM

ON THE

SHELF

Five out of five Product: Weight watchers endorsed Muffin Break muffins- Cranberry/Blueberry and Passionfruit/Pineapple (each contains only 5 Weight Watchers points.)

Manufacturer: Muffin Break Ingredients: Wheat Flour, Sugar, Sweetener Sorbitol (420), Dextrose, Thickeners [1422 (From Maize), 1412 (From Tapioca), 415, 466], Egg Powder, Raising Agents (541,500), Milk Solids, Emulsifiers [477,435,471,340,472(E)], Salt, Vegetable Oil, Oat Fibre, Flavour), water real cranberries, blueberries, passionfruit seeds and pineapple pieces.

Shelf Life: One day (3 when refrigerated) Product Manager: Susan Darwiche Website: muffinbreak.com.au

Little tin with a big mission Product: Skipjack Tuna Manufacturer: Fish 4 Ever Ingredients: Sustainably-fished Skipjack Tuna, water, salt.

Shelf Life: December 2014 Packaging: Santa Catarina Industria Product Manager: Raffaella Scorretti Website: www.fish4ever.co.uk

727$/ )22' 3$&.$*,1* 62/87,216 >ŽĐĂů ĂŶĚ ŝŵƉŽƌƚĞĚ ŐůĂƐƐ ĂŶĚ ƉůĂƐƟĐ ďŽƩůĞƐ͕ ũĂƌƐ͕ ĐŽŶƚĂŝŶĞƌƐ ĂŶĚ ĐůŽƐƵƌĞƐ EĂƟŽŶĂů ^ƵƉƉůLJ tĂƌĞŚŽƵƐĞ Θ /ŶǀĞŶƚŽƌLJ DĂŶĂŐĞŵĞŶƚ ƵƐƚŽŵ WĂĐŬĂŐŝŶŐ Θ 'ůŽďĂů ^ŽƵƌĐŝŶŐ ƵƐƚƌĂůŝĂŶ KǁŶĞĚ Θ KƉĞƌĂƚĞĚ ƐŝŶĐĞ ϭϵϴϳ WůĂƐĚĞŶĞ 'ůĂƐƐͲWĂŬ ŝƐ Ă EĂƟŽŶĂů ŝƐƚƌŝďƵƚŽƌ ĨŽƌ KͲ/

͞zŽƵƌ WĂƌƚŶĞƌ /Ŷ WĂĐŬĂŐŝŶŐ͟ ^LJĚŶĞLJ ƌŝƐďĂŶĞ DĞůďŽƵƌŶĞ ,ŽďĂƌƚ ĚĞůĂŝĚĞ WĞƌƚŚ EĞǁĐĂƐƚůĞ

WŚ ;ϬϮͿ ϵϳϳϯ ϴϲϲϲ WŚ ;ϬϳͿ ϯϮϱϲ ϲϭϬϬ WŚ ;ϬϯͿ ϵϰϴϬ ϯϮϮϮ WŚ ;ϬϯͿ ϲϮϳϮ ϴϯϭϮ WŚ ;ϬϴͿ ϴϯϰϬ Ϯϲϲϲ WŚ ;ϬϴͿ ϵϰϱϲ ϱϱϰϰ WŚ ;ϬϮͿ ϰϵϲϴ ϯϳϮϮ

dŽůůͲ&ƌĞĞ ϭϴϬϬ ϮϱϮ ϳϬϵ dŽůůͲ&ƌĞĞ ϭϴϬϬ Ϯϱϲ ϲϭϬ dŽůůͲ&ƌĞĞ ϭϴϬϬ ϲϱϬ ϲϯϮ dŽůůͲ&ƌĞĞ ϭϴϬϬ ϯϯϯ ϳϯϯ dŽůůͲ&ƌĞĞ ϭϴϬϬ ϴϵϲ ϵϵϴ dŽůůͲ&ƌĞĞ ϭϴϬϬ ϳϴϯ ϮϮϮ dŽůů &ƌĞĞ ϭϯϬϬ ϲϱϬ ϬϬϱ

ǁǁǁ͘ƉůĂƐĚĞŶĞ͘ĐŽŵ͘ĂƵ www.foodmag.com.au | September 11 | Foodmagazine 25

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EVENTS Securing Global Food Safety conference 18th Australian HACCP Conference September 26-28, 2011

September 12-16, 2011

The Sebel, Albert Park, Melbourne, VIC

RACV Royal Pines Resort, Gold Coast, QLD

The Safety Show Sydney 2011

AIP Introduction to Plastic Packaging

Sydney Showground, Olympic Park, NSW

St Kilda, VIC

October 25-27, 2011

Viewpoint Centre

AIP Introduction to Plastic Packaging in St Kilda, Victoria

No flies on me

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Analyse food contents NEXT Instruments has unveiled new instruments for to analyse protein, fat and fibre in foods.

The Velp Scientifica NDA 701 Dumas Nitrogen Analyser was designed to measure protein in food, grains, animal feeds and soil.

It measures nitrogen by combustion and detection using a thermal conductivity detector has a built-in 30

cup auto-sampler that can stack 4 carousels to allow uninterrupted operation for up to 116 samples.

Typical analysis times a three minutes per sample for those up to one gram.

The system has two in line moisture traps to prolong the life of the oxidation tube furnace to reduce operating costs.

Next Instruments (02) 9771 5444 Sales@nextinstruments.net

Cut the scrap!

COLIMATIC have designed their thermoforming machinery to create minimal lateral film trim wastage, saving manufactures up to 75 per cent on lateral film trim wastage.

Their range of Compact Modular Thermoformers have been designed to have only 10mm lateral scrap and only on the bottom film.

Other thermoforming machines available in the market typically have a lateral scrap of 20mm on the top and the bottom.

The compact modular units can handle a wide range of pack sizes and shapes with output speeds of up to 28 cycles per minute.

26 Foodmagazine | September 11 | www.foodmag.com.au

The machines have patented technologies including a gas jet (MAP system) that prolongs the product’s shelf-life and the variable size machine, which allows mould changes simply by pressing a button.

It also has an Integral cutting system, which is able to cut any kind of previously thermoformed shape.

HBM Packaging Technologies (02) 8814 3103 www.hbm.com.au

NECTAR has revealed its INSECT-OMATIC unit to discreetly control fruit flies as well as other flying insect pests, just in time for ‘fly season’ It is the first insect control device that specifically targets fungal gnats to be released onto the market.

Nectar can be used where there is a problem with fungal gnats or flies, including bars, restaurants, deli and butchery counters, bakery counters, salad bars and wineries.

It uses melon scented and pheromone impregnated glueboards to attract the fungal gnats and flies as well as the Synergetic UVA-Green light to attract the insects.

Nectar has two trays designed to hold a liquid to further enhance the attractiveness of the unit to fungal gnats and hence its performance.

The stainless steel design means that customers will not know Nectar is an insect control product.

The trapped insects are kept out of sight of the customer, and make it ideal to be located within or on fresh produce serving counters, behind bars, restaurant kitchens or serving areas.

Insectomatic (02) 9999 5201 www.insectomatic.com.au

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Flavour Makers: Creating a world of flavour New product in mind? Let us do all the hard work for you.

Our Culinary Development Centre (Incorporating: R & D Laboratory; Fully equipped test kitchen; Sensory Laboratory; Presentation kitchen with conference facility) in conjunction with our talented culinary technologists and widely experienced chefs, are guaranteed to bring authenticity and functionality to your new product.

Flavour Makers Pty Ltd 91-97 Woodlands Dve Braeside VIC 3195 Phone: 1800 FLAVOUR www.flavourmakers.com.au

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