A new scheme will provide greater transparency for New South Wales consumers about farm production systems. Terms such as “free-range”, “barn” and “cage” are now more clearly defined on the NSW Food Authority website. Information on the various egg production schemes operating in NSW is now available online to enable consumers to make informed food choices. “The NSW Food Authority has responded to calls for more transparent information on egg labelling and consumers who want to... ...Read more »

A New Zealand beer brand has won silver and bronze medals at the 2012 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which went from 17–23 June in Cannes, France. DB’s advertising campaign, “The Wine is Over”, marketed their Export Dry product as New Zealand’s first premium dry beer, launched in 1987. The campaign noted that the brand had become just one of many over the years, but emphasised that it was the first beer to “save men from wine”. The campaign appears to have been based... ...Read more »

There are several dairy products on the Australian market that are supplemented by phytosterols and marketed as cholesterol-lowering. Phytosterol esters are essentially fatty acids derived from plants, and are said to reduce cholesterol when consumed. Packaging restrictions on products containing phytosterol esters exist because of long-standing concerns regarding the safety of such supplementation. Two nearly identical applications have been made to Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ),... ...Read more »

An international group of public health academics has collaborated in research finding that provocatively describes the role of big companies in low- to middle-income (LMIC) countries as a “manufacturing epidemic”. The article, commissioned by peer-reviewed online publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS) for their ‘Big Food’ series, was published yesterday in the PLoS Medicine Journal. The research suggests that low and middle-income countries are being “targeted” by large processed-food... ...Read more »

The muscular cartoon sailor Popeye maintained his physique by gulping cans of spinach. Swedish researchers, from Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute, have found that nitrate, found in spinach, other leafy greens and beetroot, can actually improve muscle strength. The study, funded by four scientific and medical groups including the Swedish Research Council, involved lacing the drinking water of mice with nitrate for seven days and monitoring the muscles in the mice’s legs and feet. They found that... ...Read more »

After a decade of selling a “Chicken Fillet Sub”, Subway has been accused of false-advertising in a customer complaint that has been upheld by the Advertising Standards Board (ASB). The Case Report states that, earlier this month, a Subway consumer wrote to the ASB saying, “I purchased a chicken fillet subway roll and when I got it home I was disgusted to find after biting it that it is in fact a processed chicken piece. My understanding of a chicken fillet is a fillet of chicken not processed... ...Read more »

Food manufacturers have the opportunity to receive government money if the money is able to be used for replacing “energy-inefficient” equipment with “clean technology”. Major Australian food manufacturers, such as Bega Cheese and Fonterra, have already received funding from the Food and Foundries portion of the Clean Investment Program. The scheme is part of the Federal government’s $1 billion Clean Technology Investment Program and is continuing to encourage eligible manufacturers to... ...Read more »

New South Wales, since February 2012, has had a menu nutrition labelling law, which requires information about the energy content of fast food and snack food from larger chains to be made available on purchasing. To assist consumers, the NSW Food Authority (NSWFA) and NSW Health have launched a promotional campaign called ‘8700 kJ’. The ‘8700 kJ’ refers to the average energy intake of adult Australians. The campaign is now supported by a study found that men are most likely to put on weight... ...Read more »

Australian Food News has surveyed a number of new marketing campaigns being launched by different Australian food groups to coincide with the forthcoming London Olympic Games. The Opening Ceremony of the XXXth Olympiad of the modern era will be held on Friday 27 July, 2012 at the new Olympic Stadium, built during the past three years in London’s Docklands. The Opening Ceremony alone is expected to have an international viewing audience of four billion people, creating one of the world’s greatest... ...Read more »

After Australian Food News reported that the Dairy Farmers and Pura Milk brands had decided to make permeate-free milk, allowing contrast with the supermarket homebrand milks, other milk brands are declaring their milk is permeate-free. Aussie Farmers Direct has joined the fray to declare itself to be “a proud and committed national producer of totally Australian milk, with ‘no added permeate’, since it started processing milk down at its ‘Aussie Farmers Dairy’ in South West Victoria a... ...Read more »