As summer heats up the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) is encouraging people to be cool about food safety in the wake of a new study that shows three out of four Kiwi fridges are not running at the recommended cool temperature range of 2-4°C to keep food safe.NZFSA microbiology principal advisor Roger Cook says keeping your fridge suitably cool is important because not only does it maintain the expected quality of the food but it helps prevent harmful foodborne bacteria from growing as... ...Read more »

Synutra International, Inc, a leading infant formula company in China and a producer, marketer and seller of nutritional products for infants, children and adults, today announced that China’s Ministry of Health has found no link between Synutra’s infant milk powder and premature development of breasts in infants. The MOH announced on August 15th, after investigating claims that Synutra’s infant milk formula was linked to premature development in three infants, that no banned hormones... ...Read more »

Fonterra has been forced to publicly defend the quality of its products amid allegations that Chinese customer and infant formula maker Synutra, whom Fonterra supplies, has sold milk powder that has caused premature breast development in three girls. The New Zealand dairy giant yesterday confirmed it is a supplier to Synutra but said it “remains 100% confident about the quality of its products”. According to reports, parents and doctors in Hubei have voiced fears that milk powder produced... ...Read more »

A new agreement, aiming to reduce New Zealanders’ salt intake, was signed by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority and the Heart Foundation yesterday. The Memorandum of Understandin formalises the relationship between the two closely-linked organisations, allowing the two organisations to share information and avoid duplicating work. “Our organisations are both dedicated to improving the safety and suitability of the food supply, and this agreement provides the framework for working together... ...Read more »

“There’s a peacock in my back yard – can I eat it for Christmas dinner?” This was just one of the quirky enquiries to the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA)’s free consumer helpline over the past year. The answer? We don’t regulate traditional Kiwi activities, like hunting, so there are no food safety rules around killing and eating wild food. But, your catch can still make you sick if it is unhealthy, contaminated or not handled hygienically, so we’ve... ...Read more »

New Zealand’s efforts to drastically reduce the effects of the dangerous bacteria found in chicken have seen it lead global efforts to improve the safety of poultry for human consumption, according to their food safety authority. The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) is taking the lead for the International Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) in developing standards to combat campylobacter in broiler chickens. The highly-regarded Codex guidelines are often used by international bodies,... ...Read more »

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) today released the first quarter results for the Total Diet Study (TDS), discovering that the average diet presents no chemical residue food safety concerns. The five-yearly study tested more than 120 commonly eaten foods to estimate New Zealanders’ dietary exposure to chemical residues, contaminants and selected nutrients.Foods tested for the study are split into two groups – those from the regions and those available nationally. The first... ...Read more »

A new agreement between the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) and the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency (UKFSA) will see the two nations forge closer ties in regards to food safety. The two bodies are responsible for protecting consumer interests in relation to food safety and food standards in their respective countries – the equivalent of FSANZ in Australia. Under the arrangement, NZFSA and the Food Standards Agency will cooperate in areas of mutual interest, such as science, nutrition,... ...Read more »

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) has launched its plan to reduce the incidence of Salmonella in food. There are 1,274 cases reported by Australia’s eastern neighbours to public health units a year, or 30.2 cases for every 100,000 New Zealanders. NZFSA’s Salmonella risk management strategy spells out a specific programme of work aimed at reducing the incidence of foodborne salmonellosis. NZFSA Principal Advisor (Risk Management) Judi Lee noted that foodborne diseases have... ...Read more »

Buying has begun for the New Zealand Food Safety Authority’s 2009 Total Diet Study, which takes a detailed look at the food consumers eat. Every five or six years more than 120 foods commonly eaten as part of a typical diet are tested to estimate consumer exposure to chemical residues, contaminants and selected nutrients. Sampling officers in Auckland, Napier, Christchurch and Dunedin have begun the first round of shopping trips to their local supermarket and greengrocer for the food items... ...Read more »