Australia’s leading airline Qantas has apologised to one of its passengers after live maggots were found in the passenger’s on-board flight snack food. According to reports, Victorian woman Victoria Cleven had begun eating a pack of trail mix, supplied on-board a Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne, when she realised the pack had live maggots crawling around inside. Qantas announced yesterday that it has compensated the woman for the incident. The Herald Sun newspaper in Melbourne quoted... ...Read more »

Australia’s leading pie manufacturers are the latest to have “voluntarily” agreed to reduce salt levels in thier products over the next two years as part of the Australian Government’s Food and Health Dialogue. The Food and Health Dialogue, which comprises leading manufacturers and retailers as well as the Australian Government, met in Canberra on 23 March 2012 to discuss plans to reduce salt content in their food products. Savoury Pies Impacted The Dialogue is currently engaging the savoury... ...Read more »

Food Standards Australian New Zealand (FSANZ) has called for submissions on three proposed sets of changes to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. Nutritive Substances and Novel Foods: New approach FSANZ has released a consultation paper on a proposed new approach to regulating both ‘nutritive substances’ and ‘novel foods’. Under the current Food Standards Code, ‘nutritive substances’ are “foods that are not normally consumed as food on their own or used as an ingredient”,... ...Read more »

Just days after it was launched, Australia’s new Alcohol Advertising Review Board (AARB) has come under fire from the Brewers Association of Australia and New Zealand, an industry group representing Australian manufacturing brewers. The AARB, which was launched on Friday 16 March 2012, was developed by the McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth and Cancer Council WA, in association with several other support organisations. Today, the Brewers Association said the AARB is an “unnecessary... ...Read more »

Australian Food & Grocery Council’s (AFGC) push for a Supermarket Ombudsman and a Fair Trading Code of Conduct to be established in Australia is gaining momentum. The AFGC has long supported the introduction of regulatory mechanisms on the supermarket industry. It has previously said that there is an “urgent need” for an ombudsman in Australia, especially during the recent supermarket price wars. This week, the AFGC announced that it is finalising proposed draft legislation for the establishment... ...Read more »

Australian-based multinational packaging company Amcor is waiting for the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) to give its approval for its AU$238 million takeover of the privately owned Aperio Group. Last week, Amcor announced that it had settle a price with Aperio, and that the transaction is now subject to other conditions, including ACCC approval.  Amcor Flexibles currently has 20 manufacturing operations in seven countries. It appears that Amcor is the largest supplier of... ...Read more »

New research by the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research (CAPR) shows that 95 per cent of Australians are unable to correctly identify safe drinking levels. The research has been released ahead of a meeting of health experts in Melbourne today which will explore the role of the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol. The study, ‘Perception of low-risk drinking levels among Australians during a period of change in... ...Read more »

A national independent consumer survey released today has revealed the raging price war on grocery staples is unlikely to extend to the snack food market. The majority of consumers surveyed indicated they prefer to eat premium snack food products with a higher price tag because of the superior product taste. The independent survey was undertaken by Australian retail research company Canstar Blue, in conjunction with market researchers Colmar Brunton. Canstar Blue commissioned Colmar Brunton to survey... ...Read more »

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) of Australia has today called for greater investment in agricultural education after a study by the Primary Industries Education Foundation (PIEF), the peak body for primary industries education in Australian schools, found that student and teacher knowledge ofAustralia’s food and fibre sector is “alarmingly low”. NFF President, Jock Laurie, said the study, which found that 75 per cent of students believe cotton is an animal product and 65 per cent do... ...Read more »

Unibic, the maker of Australia’s iconic ANZAC biscuits, has been placed in voluntary administration. Production of biscuits at Unibic’s Broadmeadows plant has come to a stop, potentially endangering the jobs of 170 people in Melbourne. The administrators, insolvency law firm Lawler Draper Dillon, suggested the rising cost of raw ingredients and the pricing pressures applied by Coles and Woolworths may have been the cause of the insolvency. Unibic has been producing biscuits, cakes and pastries... ...Read more »