The US Senate has passed the Food Safety Modernisation Act of 2010. This bill directly enlarges FDA’s legal and regulatory authority over food in nearly every sector.

Work by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA), with input from the honey industry, has seen a revision to a honey food standard that will better manage the risk of anyone suffering from tutin poisoning. Bees collecting honeydew from insects that feed on the tutu plant can contaminate honey with toxic tutin. The Food (Tutin in Honey) Standard 2010 replaces the one issued in 2008 and comes into effect on 1 January 2011. The risk period for tutin in honey is in late summer.

Metcash has signed as a national donor to Foodbank.

New Zealand Prime Minister the Rt Hon John Key will officially open O-I New Zealand’s new US$85 million glassmaking furnace.

The South Australian food industry’s association, Food South Australia, is quickly taking shape and readying to connect and service the state’s food producers.

The AOA has announced that it has appointed Lisa Rowntree as its CEO. Lisa is well known to many in the industry and was appointed after an extensive process in which over 30 applicants were considered for the position.

With less than five months to go until AUSPACK PLUS 2011, exhibitors like Viscon Australia are signing up to be a part of the biennial multiplatform exhibition of packaging, processing and plastics machinery, materials and associated technology.

DuPont and the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics have extended their long-standing research collaboration and commitment to increasing productivity in leading production crops.

Top performers were recognised at the 5th Annual Australian Bulk Handling Awards Night held in Brisbane.

NIST researchers have developed new certified reference materials for measuring amounts of organic acids in dietary supplements formulated with Vaccinium berries - cranberries, blueberries and bilberries.

Baldon was nominated at the 5th Annual Australian Bulk Handling Awards Night held in Brisbane.

A partnership has been finalised between SSI Schaefer and Crown Equipment to provide the marketplace with complete packaged material handling solutions.

Grundfos Pumps has hosted an event to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Grundfos in Australia and the official opening of its new Queensland Office.

With selenium deficiency prevalent in South-East Asia, University of Adelaide researchers are studying the best biofortification for lowland rice production.

Consumer packaged goods trend predictions for 2011 have been released by Mintel.