Chicken meat has maintained its place as Australia’s most popular meat, ahead of all red meats, and its popularity is expected to continue, according to a recent report from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES). ABARES found that Australians ate more chicken meat in 2012-13 than the combined total of beef and lamb. In 2012-13, Australians ate an average of 44.6 kg of chicken meat per person, compared to 32.8 kg of beef and 9.5 kg of lamb. Chicken consumption... ...Read more »

Canada has warned that it may impose tariffs on a large range of food products if the US does not change a meat-labelling policy that Canadian beef and pork industries say is costing them more than CA$1 billion a year. Canada’s Agriculture and Agri-Food department released a long list of agriculture and other products that could be affected by Canada’s retaliation in an ongoing dispute over US Country of Origin Labelling (CoOL) rules. The potential retaliation list includes US cattle, pigs, beef,... ...Read more »

With cooler weather on the way,  Australian pie franchise, Pie Face, have introduced a new winter range. The new Classic Pie Range will include three new flavours: Classic Mince Beef, Mince Beef and Cheese, and Bacon, Egg and Cheese (also known as The Breakfast Pie). The Classic Mince Beef pie is made with Australian Angus beef and comes with a homemade gravy mixed with onion and fresh garlic. The Mince Beef and Cheese pie is also made with locally-sourced Angus beef, with added tasty cheese, onions,... ...Read more »

Nestle Australia-owned Jenny Craig has assured its Australian consumers that there is no need to worry about horse meat in their ready-made weight loss meals. Jenny Craig Managing Director Amy Smith told Australian Food News today that there was no horse meat in its products, following news earlier this week that Nestle had found traces of horse meat in some other pasta brands sold in Italy and Spain. “In Australia and New Zealand, Jenny Craig sources 100 per cent of its red meat from Australia,”... ...Read more »

Australian consumer group CHOICE has called for clearer labelling on beef products sold in supermarkets and at restaurants, following new research that 91 per cent of consumers “do not have enough information” about the “ethical production of food products” in Australia. CHOICE has called for consumers to be better informed about the terms “grass-fed”, “grain-fed,” biodynamic beef,” “free-range beef” and “hormone-free beef” when choosing a steak. CHOICE Food Policy Advisor... ...Read more »

The Japanese government has released plans to ease controls on beef imports in early February 2013. This is likely to impact Australian beef exporters adversely. Japan previously banned the importation of American and Canadian beef in 2003 in response to an outbreak of mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The ban was lifted in December 2005 but up until now, the ban applied to allow cattle aged up to 20 months. The Japanese import conditions will now ease the age... ...Read more »

 Prices of beef in Indonesia are skyrocketing and the effect of an earlier Australian live cattle ban is being debated in Australia. However, Australia may be merely the “meat in the sandwich” in a battle for supremacy in Indonesia’s meat industry. The Indonesian government quotas on beef imports  have worsened the crisis, says Flora Chrisantie from the Jakarta Beef Committee, which wants the import quotas eased. It was reported on December 14th December 2012 by the Australian Broadcasting... ...Read more »

Government officials, livestock leaders, scientists and peak industry stakeholders met in Sydney this week to review Australia’s preparedness and response capacity for any foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Participants at the National FMD Stakeholder Forum agreed that FMD poses one of the single greatest threats to Australia’s livestock industries, and that collaborative government and industry action and investment must be ongoing to ensure Australia is adequately armed against this disease. Australia’s... ...Read more »

Australia’s total goods and services exports soared 10.2% in 2011 to AU$313.3 billion – the first time exports have reached over AU$300 billion during any 12 month period, according to ‘Composition of Trade, Australia 2011‘ statistics, released by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade recently. The report shows that wheat, beef, other meats, and alcohol were in the top 25 export categories. Wheat, at number  8, had rose by 16.9%  during the five-year trend. Beef, at number... ...Read more »

After the recent detection of mad cow disease in California, combined with bad press that has been looming over the US beef industry from ‘pink slime’, chicken might be making a resurgence on the US foodservice industry, according to market research company Mintel. New data from Mintel Menu Insights, published this week, suggests the number of US menu items with poultry as an ingredient has climbed an average of 12 per cent in the past three years and is expected to continue to increase... ...Read more »