Food Industry

Request for trial of NEW I-Phone application

GS1 Australia a not for profit supply chain standards organisation along with Deakin University and Nestle have developed a prototype iPhone application to help support the allergic consumers’ quest for allergen information on their favourite food products. They are looking for volunteers who could trial & evaluate the newly developed application, to substantiate if it provides the information needed to help support product purchasing decisions in the supermarket and identify additional functions or information that potential users would consider valuable.

They are looking for 20 volunteers from Melbourne or Sydney to assist as part of a research trial designed to gather user feedback on the application. You must be over 18 years of age and currently own an iPhone which supports internet access and an existing internet data plan with a service provider. If you are interested in participating please email coordinator@allergyfacts.org.au

At this stage the trial is scheduled to take place over the coming weeks with the final timings and the type of feedback information required confirmed with the volunteers shortly.

AAI Note: As only 20 volunteers are required for the trial, the first 20 individuals from Melbourne or Sydney to email us with name, email address, postal address and phone number will participate. Please place title "iPhone application" in your subject area.

29th July 2010 (postponed)

WA Environmental Health Australia (EHA) Allergy and Anaphylaxis Seminar

“Where will Anaphylaxis leave us?

Severe allergic reactions to foods, insect bites or stings and other seemingly innocuous parts of the environment, present a new challenge for Environmental Health in the 21st century.

Is it time to stop debating whether allergies are ‘real’ or not and to take action against the health impacts?

Environmental Health professionals are limited in what can be achieved in addressing this serious public health issue. This is in the circumstances of a lack of acceptance of the problem by the broader community, the complexity of the science behind allergies, and by a regulatory framework designed to address ‘traditional’ environmental health problems from microorganisms and toxins, from a population-based perspective.

Will applying the ‘precautionary principle’ to protect individuals from the effects of allergies impose excessive limits on the everyday activities of others in the community, such as schools, food retailers and manufactures, and businesses and workplaces in general?

Whilst in the 20th century allergies may have been looked down on as the province of overly sensitive and fussy children, and ‘something they will grow out of’, now many of those children have reached adulthood and the impacts of allergies on an adult individual are far more severe and since the late 1990s it has become clear that more and more children are affected. As we have seen recently in Western Australia the result can be fatal even in young adults, and where food safety is involved, the role of the Environmental Health Practitioner can come into question. While we await the outcomes of the coroner’s inquest, this seminar aims to bring Environmental Health Practitioners in metropolitan and regional Western Australia up to speed with the current issues, facts and legislative responses surrounding allergies.”

Please join EHA (WA) Inc to show your leadership on this important subject.

Date: 29 July 2010 – Thursday
Venue: Mt Claremont Community Centre – 107 Mongomery Ave Mt Claremont

See links below for more information and to register:

  Program (PDF)
  Registration form (PDF)
 Registration form (Microsoft Excel format)

Food Choice for the Food Allergic Individual  

Food choices for the food allergic individual are of the utmost importance. Currently there is no cure for anaphylaxis so avoidance of the trigger/allergen is imperative.

Food allergic individuals and their families often have to place their trust in others including the food industry and the food service industry.

All aspects of food preparation and serving are important to the food allergic consumer. There needs to be ingredient traceability from paddock to plate. Food manufacturers and those in the food service industry must implement risk assessment protocols surrounding the storage and supply of raw material through to the preparation, processing and packaging of food products

Ultimately the food allergic individual relies on the label to guide them when making their decision on whether or not a packaged food is safe to eat.

Team Work  

Anaphylaxis Australia Inc has been working in collaboration with key parties within the Australian food industry for a number of years.

In 2002 AAI welcomed the introduction of the Food Standards Code 1.2.3 which requires mandatory labelling of the top eight allergens which include peanut, tree nuts, egg, milk, sesame, fish, shellfish and soy

Since this time AAI have been and continue to be active members of numerous working parties within the food industry sector to improve labelling and therefore improve safe food choices for the individual with food allergy and to advocate the concerns of the food allergic individuals across Australia.

In May 2005 the Food Allergen Resource Bureau was launched.
The Allergen Bureau is a resource designed specifically for the Australian and New Zealand Food Industry, providing a centralised collection of information about food allergens.

The Australian Food & Grocery Council continue to offer their support to AAI. Their initiative to create the AFGC Guide to Allergen Management and Labelling when the Food Standards Code was implemented was instrumental in alerting the food industry to real issues surrounding food allergens and the management thereof.

For a PDF file of this document please visit http://www.afgc.org.au/index.cfm?id=100

Visit The Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology Incorporated to review their position paper on food allergies. AIFST is a national association representing individuals like you from all sectors of the Australian food and allied industries, giving you exposure to all aspects of the agrifood sector.

AAI continue to provide assistance with anaphylaxis awareness and education to the food industry. Information has been disseminated through presentations at seminars and workshops and we welcome invitations to comment on manufacturing practice and food labelling criteria.

Food recalls  

AAI provides information on food recalls to their members. This includes a current update on our website which is accessible to all.

AAI encourages food manufacturers to make contact with AAI as soon as they realise a product has been mislabeled and contains an undeclared allergen. It is often a day or two before information is emailed through to AAI from the Food Authority and notices go in newspapers. The earlier AAI is informed the earlier we can alert members and non-members by listing the recalled product on our Food Recall page on our website. Information surrounding recalled foods is also listed in our quarterly newsletter which goes to members only.

For a small fee from the food manufacturer concerned, AAI can provide direct mail outs to our members as many people fail to see food recall notices in newspapers and do not have access to the AAI website.

Consumer Watchdog
AAI is often the first line contact when consumers experience a food allergic reaction or when consumers need to report labelling inconsistencies. With their assistance in providing the details of the suspect product we are able to refer them to the correct government agencies that assist with product investigation and recall if it is found to contain an allergen that is meant to be labelled no matter the amount.

Consumer link

Industry link

http://www.recalls.gov.au/

Tell us about your product and keep the consumer informed  

Does your company have a food labelling policy?
Why do you label a product with a specific statement?

Let us know and we can discuss placing it in our Thumbs Up section of our quarterly NewsFacts or you may consider placing a link from your website to ours to assist food allergic consumers.

The food allergic individual is constantly on the look out for new products that they can purchase. The purchasing power of the food allergic individual is not confined to them alone but impacts on those around them.

Families with a food allergic child will tend to purchase products that are safe that the whole family can consume in the knowledge that they are not placing their child at risk, making their home a safe environment. Extended families family follow this purchasing pattern too and once the child starts preschool and school the food allergic individual will impact on these institutions purchasing and stock control.

We welcome news from food manufacturers about any changes that are made to packaging, labelling, recipes and ingredients…….. Especially products that have been produced in a dedicated site or an allergen has been added to a food that was previously free of that allergen.

Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Alliance (FAAA)  

http://www.foodallergyalliance.org/

AAI are part of this international alliance group.
The 2005 FAAA Initiatives include a LABELLING GOAL which is as follows:

Goal:

Ingredient labels will provide a reliable and consistent source of information for individuals who have food allergies.

Objectives:

• Major allergens clearly declared on the ingredient label with no exemptions.
• Simple language terms used on ingredient labels.
• Limit the number of precautionary statements and define them in clear terms.
• Encourage the development of criteria for the use of precautionary allergen statements to minimize their use, ensure that they won't be used in place of good manufacturing practices, and that they always appear immediately following, or adjacent to, the ingredient declaration.
• Improve communication between industry and the allergic community regarding product alerts.

Anaphylaxis Australia hopes that the direction of the Australian food industry include those of food manufactured globally and their international counterparts. It is essential to keep pace with the latest allergy research and how it affects food companies. The world market is small and with the large amount of imported goods to Australia, our concerns are that all food companies need to work on issues of allergen labelling at an international level in order to reduce the current inconsistencies in allergen labelling regulation.

Research  

AAI have the largest national database of food allergic consumers. We have conducted in house research as well as organised research in collaboration with other agencies.

AAI Survey of members on product labelling, history of reactions and severity

  AAI Abstract
  AAI Full Survey

AAI have contributed to numerous journals.

Leatherhead Food International –
Food Allergy and Intolerance Volume 5 Issue 3 2004

Editorials
Medical Journal of Australia

“May contain traces of . . .”: hidden food allergens in Australia
Maria Said and John M Weiner

Membership  

AAI provide an important information service to the Australian Food Industry to meet the challenges and problems that arise from life-threatening food allergies.

Food manufacturers are invited to join Anaphylaxis Australia Inc as corporate members and in return they receive regular, current science based, information about allergy and its effects on the food allergic individual, their family and friends including school communities and the impact on the food manufacturer.

Many food companies continue to join AAI each year during Food Allergy Awareness Week held annually in May.

We welcome your participation and support.

To become a corporate member please download a form (coming soon) or contact Maria Said on mobile 0409 609 831