The government of the Australian Capital Territory has released the results of a recent survey it commissioned about its retail ban on lightweight plastic bags. According to the government, the survey revealed that most Canberrans want to see the ban of lightweight plastic bags continue. The retail ban on lightweight plastic bags was implemented by the ACT government in November 2011. The government’s survey was conducted by telephone and carried out on 600 primary shoppers in ACT households. It... ...Read more »

Recyclable plastic tables and chairs will be making their way into Australian schools through an Australian-first recycling initiative run by Coles and Australian recycling company RED group. Over the new few weeks the REDcycle program will be rolled out so that Coles’ shoppers can hand plastic bags and soft plastic packaging back in to dedicated in-store bins instead of going into landfill.  RED Group then collects and processes the plastic before sending it to Replas to melt the plastic down,... ...Read more »

Queensland-based Hans Continental Smallgoods has recalled its cocktail franks sold loose in the delicatessen sections of Woolworths, Food For Less, Flemings and Thomas Dux stores in NSW, ACT and QLD. The product is being recalled due to the possible presence of foreign matter (blue plastic) that may cause injury if consumed. The Hans cocktail franks were sold loose in Woolworths delicatessens between 18 and 30 April 2012 inclusive. The recall applies only to product sold during this period. It does... ...Read more »

While Australian environment ministers reported on December 15, 2011 the substantial costs of a national Container Depositing Scheme (CDS), Australia’s leading recycling company Visy is advocating against a similar scheme for Victoria. As previously reported by Australian Food News, the Northern Territory (NT) has now implemented its own “Cash for Containers” recycling scheme, modelled on South Australia (SA)’s Container Deposit scheme, which has been operating since 1977. Although there... ...Read more »

EU researchers believe that whey protein’s future potential as a packaging material could reduce or replace the use of petrochemicals in food packaging. Researchers working on the EU’s “Wheylayer” project have developed a whey protein layer to replace a petrochemical-based polymer layer in packaging. The natural ingredients in the whey extend the shelf life of food products, and the whey protein layer is biodegradable. Currently, transparent multilayer films, in which each... ...Read more »

Green Monkey Ltd has recalled throughout Australia all five varieties of its Green Monkey Organic Baby Food from Woolworths, Safeway and Thomas Dux Supermarkets due to the presence of small plastic pieces. Green Monkey Ltd, which is a New Zealand-based company, said the contamination is the result of a packaging fault. It has recalled the all flavours of its organic baby food, which is sold in a tear-top 100g pouch. The products in question all have Best Before dates up to and including 22/05/2013. A... ...Read more »

Davies Bakery Ltd is conducting a recall of its Bakers Life Multigrain Sandwich Sliced Bread. The bakery has said that some of the bread may be contaminated with fragments of plastic. The product in question, sold exclusively in Aldi’s Victorian-based stores, comes in brown and white plastic packaging and weighs 650g. Davies Bakery Ltd is recalling all loaves with a Best Before date of 12 October 2011 (today). Davies Bakery Ltd said, “Food products containing plastic may cause injury if consumed.... ...Read more »

The Northern Territory Government’s proposed container deposit legislation (CDL) will have a significant cost for consumers, according the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC). AFGC Chief Executive Kate Carnell said the idea that the Territory Government’s proposed CDL legislation – the Environmental Protection (Beverage Containers and Plastic Bags) Bill 2010 – is a “free option” is completely misleading. “The NT CDL scheme will have enormously high... ...Read more »

A US study has conducted an analysis of BPA levels in American food, revealing that almost two-thirds of foods tested contained traces of the chemical, but at levels 1000 times less than accepted limits. Researchers measured BPA levels in 105 human, cat, and dog foods from a variety of grocery stores around Dallas, Texas. They detected BPA in 63 of these samples. However, the levels were significantly lower than 50 micrograms per kg of body weight, the limit used by America’s EPA and the European... ...Read more »

UK department store Marks and Spencer is introducing packaging for its Swiss chocolate range that can either dissolve or be put on the compost heap. The tray is made out of Plantic, a corn starch-based product that breaks down when it becomes moist. Once outside, the Plantic tray will take around three weeks to totally break down, the UK retailer said. It can also be put under water, where it will dissolve in a matter of minutes. Helene Roberts, head of packaging at M&S, said: “This is... ...Read more »