Both Australia and New Zealand have built a “strong self-contained” soft drinks industry, with specific product, brand and packaging preferences, according to research from global beverage market research organisation Canadean. Energy drinks in particular are a growing sector in Australia and New Zealand. Canadean said that energy drinks volumes have more than quadrupled across Australia and New Zealand in the past ten years, and continue to expand, albeit it at a lesser rate. According to Canadean,... ...Read more »

Australians are buying less cheese, and there has been a shift in preferences, with supermarket-brand blocks overtaking some old favourites in popularity, according to findings from market research organisation Roy Morgan Research. According to Roy Morgan Research, in 2012, 48 per cent of Australians aged 14 and over bought blocks of cheese in an average four-week period, down from 52 per cent five years earlier. Supermarkets-brand cheese blocks have increased their market share over the past five... ...Read more »

The mandatory addition of iodised salt to the majority of bread sold in Australia since 2009 has had a positive effect on the iodine status of Tasmania’s population, according to research published in the May 2013 edition of the Medical Journal of Australia. The introduction of iodised salt in bread has returned the iodine status of the State’s population to “optimal”, reversing a history of iodine deficiency in Tasmania. Various iodine strategies have been tried in the State since the 1950s,... ...Read more »

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) has accused the environmental lobby group Boomerang Alliance of being misleading. The Boomerang Alliance has been campaigning with an online petition for the Federal government to create a national Container Deposit Scheme. According to the AFGC, the Boomerang Alliance petition failed to mention that to get a 10 cent deposit back consumers would need to “hand over up to 20 cents at the cash register”. “The environmental lobby advocates a system... ...Read more »

A new certification body for genetically modified organism free (GMO-free) foods has been launched in Australia. GMO-ID Australia, a subsidiary of accreditation body HACCP International Pty Ltd, which has specialised in product certification for the food industry since 1998, will use the ‘Cert ID Non GMO’ (Cert ID) certification system in Australia and the Pacific region. The Cert ID system will offer a range of third party certification schemes aimed at the food industry, including farmers and... ...Read more »

The proposal by the Australian Greens Party to make amendments to Australian Country of Origin (COO) labelling laws has been met with mixed reactions by the food industry. The legislation from the Greens would simplify COO labelling to three claims: Product of or Grown in Australia, Manufactured in Australia, and Packaged in Australia. Australian vegetable and potato growers’ representative body AusVeg said it is backing the Bill, which was introduced into the Senate on 16 May 2013 by Greens’... ...Read more »

Australian Treasurer,Wayne Swan has disappointed food growers, producers and retailers with little new being offered them in the latest Federal budget, which was released by Mr Swan on 14 May 2013. Some in the Australian food industry are hoping that the forecast deficits of $19.4bn this financial year and $18bn next financial year underline a weakness in the economy that might trigger a drop in the Australian dollar. Some food manufacturers are now pinning their hopes on a predicted decline in value... ...Read more »

In the month leading up to this week’s Federal budget, a number of announcements have been made about Federal government funds being available on a selective basis for food-related projects. Recently,  the Australian Research Council announced that the Tasmanian-based sensory-monitoring technology company, Sense-T, would receive a significant funding injection from the Federal government for Sense-T’s Pathways to Market project. The Sense-T project would receive $2.5 million funding under the... ...Read more »

The Australian Government has launched a new website portal that provides links to best practice information on managing food allergies. The launch coincides with Food Allergy Awareness Week, which runs globally from 12-18 May 2013. The portal is a result of collaboration between Government, industry and consumer representatives and Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). Shayne Neummann, Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing launched the new website portal, saying that it would provide... ...Read more »

Places are still available for an upcoming series of intensive workshops from leading food compliance consultants FoodLegal. The workshops will be run in both Sydney and Melbourne. 1. ‘Swim between the flags’ workshop  This workshop covers the best practices to identify when and how a non-compliance risk exists in any food marketing. This includes illustrations of non-compliance under Australian Consumer Law and what options can be considered. Choose your session: Friday 24th May: The... ...Read more »