The Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST) Convention will be held in 2015 in conjunction with the 15th Australian Microbiology Conference. [ + ]

This year's 48th Annual AIFST Convention will be bigger than ever - two conferences in the one place - as it will be joined by the Australian Food Microbiology Conference at Sydney's Luna Park. [ + ]

Fresh food packaging supplier LINPAC has appointed a new CEO, Daniel Dayan. Dayan commenced the role on 9 March. [ + ]

Coles has been slapped with a $2.5 million fine for promoting its par-baked, store-finished bread as 'Baked Today, Sold Today' and 'Freshly Baked In-Store'. [ + ]

How do you make salty, fried food healthier? By manipulating its porosity, two food scientists from the University of Illinois have found. [ + ]

The global food encapsulation market is expected to reach US$5464.6 million by 2020, according to a new report. The increasing demand for natural flavours and clean label products has prompted development of novel products, which will drive this growth. [ + ]

A US food technology company has developed a magic mushroom with a twist. Rather than causing hallucinations, these mushrooms remove gluten from wheat - a mind-bending concept in itself. [ + ]

Despite a difficult year, Tetra Pak has posted net sales of €10.9 billion, up 1.7% from 2013. The company saw strong growth in capital equipment and technical sales, offsetting a disappointing year for packaging material. [ + ]

Rising electricity and gas costs have hampered the competitiveness and profitability of the domestic food and grocery manufacturing industry in recent years, with more pain expected due to a forecast tripling of gas prices, AFGC CEO Gary Dawson said. [ + ]

Online supplier platform RANGEme has announced its entry into GS1 Australia's Alliance Partner Program. Targeted at SMEs, RANGEme enables FMCG suppliers to pitch their product range to leading Australian retailers more efficiently. [ + ]

In light of the recent hepatitis A outbreak that was linked to frozen berries from China, it's no wonder that the proportion of Australians who are more likely to buy food labelled 'Made in Australia' increased from 85 to 88% over the last two years.

Pesticide residues in food have been linked with lower sperm counts and reduced sperm morphology in men's semen in a new study published in the journal Human Reproduction. [ + ]

Consultations and consumer research are underway to deliver clearer and more consistent country of origin labelling (CoOL) for food sold in Australia, the government has announced. [ + ]

Almost two trillion food packaging units were sold in 2014 - a global increase of 3%. The increasing popularity of stand-up pouches has been significant in this increase, according to Euromonitor International. [ + ]

While some might argue there's no good time to eat junk food, researchers have discovered that there are two crucial points in a person's life when exposure to junk food has the biggest impact: in utero and during adolescence.