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Food focus

UN agrees E-cert data standards

The electronic certification system E-cert – devised by NZFSA to provide government-to-government export assurances – has been given a further stamp of approval by the United Nations Committee for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT).

The international body that sets standards for electronic trade has agreed that the data standards for electronic messaging and exchange of data within E-cert will be the international standard for exchanging data about agricultural products – food, plants and forestry.

These standards line up very well with the customs international data standards work being done by New Zealand Customs Service and, combined, will provide big benefits to New Zealand’s importers and exporters.

Data Fields

The standard works by defining the name and contents of data fields within the electronic certificate. For example, it defines what information goes into a field called ‘document number’, ‘name of country’ or ‘departure date’. It also means that when the certificate is approved it can be easily turned into an appropriate XML Message – and internationally recognized message format – for loading into an importing country system.

Ashley Mudford NZFSA’s Manager of Information Management says: “It’s a significant accomplishment, not only for NZSA and industry, but for New Zealand economy as well.

“NZFSA has led the world when it comes to electronic data exchange and messaging for trade of food and E-cert has been at the forefront of this. The comprehensive list of data standards we defined in conjunction with Australia has been accepted by the international standards setting forum and every country will now adopt them.

“This provides greater certainty for electronic data exchange with other countries, and enables other countries to more easily adopt electronic certification which is great for New Zealand’s exporters and importers.”

• In October 2006, a group of international food safety experts from Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Chile spent a week at NZFSA learning about the E-cert certification system.

New Zealand and EU agree disease outbreak strategy

New Zealand and European Union negotiators have agreed a proposal that is expected to secure trade should New Zealand ever have a serious animal health disease such as Foot and Mouth (FMD).

“This agreement is intended as an insurance policy, to provide New Zealand with the ability to continue trading in animal products and minimize the economic fallout,” says New Zealand Food Safety Authority Executive Director Andrew McKenzie.

“Despite our geographical isolation New Zealand always has to be on guard against the possibility that a serious and costly animal health disease such as FMD could happen here.

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has agreed rules to reduce trade risks in the event of an animal disease outbreak but no one has ever put them into practice.

This proposal was agreed at a recent Joint Management Committee Meeting, co-chaired by Dr McKenzie under the NZ/EU Sanitary (Veterinary) Agreement which covers all trade in animal products between New Zealand and the 25 member nations of the EU. It is now awaiting ratification with the EU Commission.

Pre-agreed conditions

It has been the culmination of nearly two years of talks between the EU and officials from NZFSA and Biosecurity New Zealand (BNZ).

The agreement establishes and pre-agrees the conditions that would be applied to New Zealand exports such as dairy and meat products in the event of a serious animal disease, and would allow trade to continue.

Those conditions, in general terms, provide for a government-to-government assurance that the animal products being exported have undergone certain treatments (such as heat treatments in the case of dairy products) or have been kept separate from other (possibly affected) products during stages of production, storage and transport.

The new conditions would become effective from the moment official notification of a serious animal outbreak was given.

Continue trading

Dr McKenzie explained: “As an example: if FMD were to be found in New Zealand, it would be possible to double pasteurize milk or dry it. As we export a considerable amount of skimmed milk powder, this agreement would allow us to continue trading despite having an exotic disease.

“We would also be able to trade in other products sterilized through heat. It’s good insurance policy. We would have to treat some products but it would not be the absolute disaster that it could be if we had to stop all our exports.”

Up until now, if a serious animal disease was discovered on a farm in New Zealand, planned exports of all animal products – whether in transit, storage or production at the time of discovery – would automatically stop for an indeterminate time. This is because all health certificates accompanying exports have an assurance that New Zealand is free of various diseases, including FMD.

Barry O’Neil, Assistant Director-General of BNZ says: “This arrangement is mutually beneficial to New Zealand and the EU and represents a major step forward in mitigating the trade risks associated with major exotic animal health diseases.”

Conservative economic estimates show the cumulative loss to the country’s Gross Domestic Product as a result of FMD being discovered here could be as much as $6 billion after one year, rising to $10 billion after two years. Thousands of jobs could be lost and business confidence in the country could plummet.

The 2001 FMD outbreak in Britain saw five million sheep, 76, 000 cattle and 435, 000 pigs and goats slaughtered in a nationwide operation that cost the British government around $6 billion in compensation to farmers. The cost to the country’s tourism in the year following the outbreak was estimated to be around $15 billion.

Milestone

Dr McKenzie says: “We are really please with the results of this work. It is a significant milestone in international trade and trade between the EU and New Zealand.”

Canada and the United States are interested in discussing similar arrangements with New Zealand and it is likely that the agreement with Canada could be wrapped up in the first half of this year. The US may take a little longer.

Bella bellisimo

Winner of the NZFSA-sponsored Food and Beverage section of the recent Top Shop awards, Antonio Cacace’s La Bella Italia has also been voted Wellington’s Top Shop. He talks Food Focus about his successful wholesale, retail, café and restaurant business.

When Antonio decided to open his Italian eaterie, La Bella Italia just off Petone’s foreshore, he had no idea he was realizing the dream of his Italian grandfather.

It wasn’t till his own father, himself a Michelin chef in the family’s Hotel La Primavera restaurant in Massalubrense, showed Antonio postcards sent from Wellington decades earlier by his grandfather in which he talked of opening a restaurant, that Antonio realized he was unwittingly following ancestral footsteps.

There’s no doubt that today his grandfather would be delighted with Antonio’s progress. La Bella Italia, Wholesaler, retailer, café and restaurant opened its doors to an unsuspecting Wellington public just four years ago.

Then he had just three coffee tables, a modest supply of fresh and packages produce – and a tasting table at which he tempted his tentative new customers with tidbits of delicious Parma ham and buffalo mozzarella, made to order and flown in directly from Italy.

Educating customers

“When I got my first delivery of Parma ham, I rushed up to two old ladies in the café and announced, proudly: ‘I have Parma ham’. They thought it was a disease!

“Now those same customers come back time and again an dare as educated about my food as my staff.

“This is what I want to do not just feed my customers, but educate them about out meats, our cheeses, our sauces…what to buy, how much, how best to use it, store it, experience it. I want them to understand the effort and care that goes into making it, and appreciate the tastes and textures.”

Today the café boasts a plethora of tables – all of which are full – and the shelves are bursting with Italian produce. This once-tiny café is now an Aladdin’s cave of Italian delicacies and Antonio supplies a vast array of Wellington’s delicatessens with cheese, meat and produce he has sourced from his personally-chosen Italian-based suppliers.

Satisfaction

Where once he ordered maybe 50 or 60 kilos of, say, fresh buffalo mossarella every two weeks today, his order, placed in Italy every 12 days, exceeds 200 kilos.

“I order the cheese on a Monday, it’s made on Tuesday, delivered to Rome the next day and flown here the day after. It’s air-freighted in temperature controlled containers that provide me – and my customers – with the satisfaction of knowing that the quality and freshness of the foods have not been compromised.

“You can’t cheat with quality; you must be very honest with your customers. For me, I have to know that what I serve in my shop, what I supply to the wholesale outlets and retail customers, is the best that it can be.”

Weekly training

The quality of his product is not the only concern that’s close to his heart. All the 43 staff who work at the restaurant are supplied with a manual on their first day that lists their duties (all packaged produce must be removed from the shelves twice weekly and wiped clean before being returned to dust-free shelves) what must be done in the event of an accident, adherence to health and safety considerations, the requirements when waiting on tables, serving at the till, working in the deli – the list goes on. As well, weekly training sessions are held for all.

“My staff learn everything about working in hospitality: they must be able to wait at tables and serve, assist in the deli, work on the till. They must understand the importance of storing our food, the correct temperatures, where, why. The food we serve is delicate, exclusive and perishable. It costs a lot of money to produce and it must be carefully stored and looked after to be enjoyed at its best. It my staff understands this, they can pass on this knowledge to our customers. It all goes toward providing a unique service.”

Since the café has grown in size Antonio has worked carefully to ensure the simplest of food safety practices can easily be adapted and adhered to as the staff go about their work.

“The till is away from the food area. So there are no concerns about staff handling money and food; all our chillers have automatic temperature gauges – if you put these controls in place from the start, then food safety becomes easy to supervise and is second-nature to the staff.”

The business remains a work in progress for Antonio who, as well as having another retail outlet in Auckland, is keen to look at expanding his Petone site and opening smaller delis in the major centers. If you are not yet able to distinguish the difference between Parmigiano Raggiano and Grana Padano rest assured – this is good news.

The Gloves Are Off

It may be reassuring to see food handlers wearing gloves but this doesn’t always mean the food is being prepared hygienically. NZFSA’s latest fact sheet busts some of the common misconceptions about the use of gloves, and emphasizes the need for hand washing.

Wearing gloves is not essential under New Zealand law but hand washing is. The Food Hygiene Regulations 1974 specify that hand washing is the primary method for reducing the transfer of pathogens from hands to food. Food handlers must thoroughly wash their hands, even if they choose to wear gloves.

Improper glove use can just be as unhygienic as inadequate hand washing because:

• Most gloves used for food preparation are permeable which means that any pathogens from the wearer’s dirty hands can escape through the gloves on to food.

• Gloves can harbour pathogens trapped in the wrinkles. These can transfer easily to food, preparation surfaces and utensils.

• Gloves may give the wearer a false sense of good hygiene. For example, after preparing food the handler may carry out the rubbish (which involves touching contaminated objects) and then return to food preparation – all the time wearing the same set of gloves.

• Gloves may cause the wearer to wash their hands less frequently if they can’t feel food scraps/juices on their hands.

• Food handlers continue to touch their face, hair clothes etc, thereby contaminating the gloves.

• Gloves provide a moist, warm environment between the glove and skin for pathogens to multiply if hands are not washed and gloves not changed regularly.

Most foods can be manipulated or served with bare hands provided the food handler has washed and dried their hands first. However, food handlers must avoid unnecessary contact with food to minimize the risk of transferring pathogens or spreading material that could cross-contaminate other foods. Some ready-to-eat food items must never be served using bare hands.

Barrier methods

Extra care is needed to ensure the safety of these foods because they are not cooked after purchase (cooking destroys most pathogens). This means that if food becomes contaminated (for example, from contact with dirty gloves) it’s passed on to the consumer who may get sick as a result. In such cases a suitable barrier method (clean gloves or clean tongs, forks, scoops or similar) should be used to protect ready-to-eat food.

A plastic bag pulled over the hand and used to pick up food (so that only the inside of the bag contacts the food) is also suitable, as are properly used disposable gloves. However, food handlers must still wash their hands before picking up the serving implement or using clean gloves.

Ready-to-eat foods that must be served using a barrier method include:

• Cooked meat

• Cooke or smoked fish

• Cooked poultry

• Cheese

• Bakery products such as cooked pastries and savouries containing meat

• Sandwiches, wraps and other similar ready-to-eat foods

• Unwrapped sweets or sticky substances.

Food handlers must also wash their hands thoroughly after any activity that takes them away from food handling, such as handling money. Whenever possible one person should handle food while someone else handles the money transactions.

Using gloves hygienically combines good hand washing with regular glove changes. If gloves are to be worn they should be put on only after hands are thoroughly cleaned.

Hands should be washed and gloves changes between:

• Handling raw foods and before handling ready-to-eat foods (where there is no safety step of cooking to kill pathogens)

• Handling any dirty item, touching a dirty surface or money, before handling food again.

A word about hand sanitizers

Used with a good hand-washing regime, hand sanitizers are a good way to minimize the transfer of pathogens from hands to food. They are not effective cleansers if used alone when hands are dirty or covered with oil or fat because they can’t penetrate grease.

Guest Column
Journalist Jess Halliday believes the benefits of fortification are overwhelming. So why, she wonders, are consumers so concerned about folic acid?

When the idea of fortifying staple foods with vital nutrients is raised, the battle cry goes up from industry groups and advocates of consumer choice: “Why should we bear the costs?” and “Educate and let people make their own decisions.”

But when evidence for the benefits is overwhelming, neither the state not the individual can afford to let their interests be shouted down.

Food fortification is nothing new. In the 1940s the US introduced the fortification of milk with vitamin D, resulting in an 85% reduction of rickets incidence in children. More recently in 1998, the US and Canada introduced the mandatory fortification of grain products with folic acid in a bid to reduce incidences of Neural Tube Defects (NTDs) in babies.

Several other countries have been weighing up whether to follow suit for some time. In New Zealand and Australia, where the baking industry has been resisting with all its might, proposals are on hold while the food standards agency FSANZ takes another look at “technical considerations”.

The UK’s Food Standards Agency launched its final consultation on mandatory fortification in December, after the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition took an additional six months to review the latest evidence of the risks and benefits, particularly the levels at which folic acid may mask detection of vitamin B12 deficiency in the elderly. The consultation is expected to conclude in March.

Successful measures

Statistics from North America point to the success of the measures there. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the incidence of NTDs has declined by 26% since 1998, and now affects around 2000 pregnancies each year.

But the issue is complicated by B12 deficiency which, if unaddressed, can lead to dementia. Particularly prevalent in older people, it has identical symptoms to anemia caused by folate deficiency – but while folic acid will remove these symptoms, it won’t address the lack of B12. If folic acid impedes diagnosis, it could result in neurological damage.

It would be easy to sit on the fence over this one. I don’t envy the food standards agencies the judgment call they have to make between looking out for the interests of unborn babies and elderlyt people. It’s like playing eeney, meeney, miney, mo with people’s wellbeing.

But at the risk of being called an advocate of the nanny state, my mo comes down on the side of fortification.

Screening programmes

I am not saying forget the old folks. But disease prevention and disease management are not the same thing. Whereas for a foetus, the damage is often done before a women even knows she is pregnant, vitamin B12 deficiency can be identified with a simple blood test. The emphasis here should be on stepping up screening programmes to identify sufferers and treating them accordingly.

You can tell women of child-bearing age to take extra folate until you are blue in the face. Some will do so. Some won’t, and neither they nor their children will suffer any ill-consequence.

Yet still around 1200 pregnancies in the UK alone are affected by NTDs – every one a tragedy and the majority preventable.

There are clearly many women out there who, although they may be planning their own families, still need a nanny of their own.

There comes a point when, if the individual is not taking responsibility for their own health, it stops being a matter of personal choice and becomes a public affair. When the emotional aspect of babies born with NTD is put to one side, at the bottom line level it is better to invest in interventions to reduce incidence when we can, than to do nothing and carry the costs of sufferers’ specialist needs for a lifetime.

Why not keep some unfortified products on the market for those who make a conscious decision to avoid additional folic acid?

But please, there’s no excuse for poor nutrition in the Western world today. Until every woman of childbearing age is looking out for her folate intake, someone else has got to do it for her.

Jess Halliday is editor of award-winning website NutralIngrediants.com and NutralIngrediants-USA.com. Over the past decade she has worked in print, broadcast and online media in both Europe and the United States. If you would like to comment on the issues raised in this article please email jess.halliday@decisionnews.com

Each issue our columnist gets to air their personal views on a subject close to them. These views do not necessarily represent those of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, but they are published here to encourage debate on issues of current interest.

Conference 2007

‘Food into the Future’

Duxton Hotel

Wellington

26-27 September 2007

Further Details will be available on our website soon

86 Jervois Quay

PO Box 2835

Wellington

New Zealand

Telephone 04 894 2500

Facsimile 04 894 2501

Website: www.nzfsa.govt.nz

Food safety concerns: 0800 NZFSA1 (0800 693 721)

Email: info@nzfsa.govt.nz