Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to share information about food safety emergency issues that may pose a serious or unacceptable risk or threat to the health of consumers.

Open up a punnet of strawberries and more often than not you'll find a fuzzy berry or two in the mix. A blast of chlorine dioxide gas, however, promises to not only keep those berries fuzz-free, but also to kill off harmful bacteria living on their surface more efficiently than methods currently used by the food industry, say Purdue University researchers.

FoodPro 2005, the Australian International Food Processing Exhibition, will spread across four halls of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, from 10-13 July 2005.

As the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids reach the awareness of consumers eager to improve the functions of their body - from the cardiovascular system to the brain - food makers are scurrying to enrich and fortify products with omega-3s and get them to market. But one major obstacle tempers progress - flavour.

Scientists at Florida State University subjected walnuts, cashew nuts and almonds to radiation, roasting, pressure cooking, blanching, frying and microwave heating in an effort to make them safe for allergy sufferers.

New research on specific sample groups shows some organic produce may have an added health benefit over conventionally grown counterparts, according to researchers presenting at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo. But inherent inconsistencies associated with organic farming make general comparisons inappropriate.

Used plastic wrappings and containers make good fuel if incinerated but are also dumped in huge quantities on landfill sites.

Polystyrene foam is widely used in a variety of applications, including packaging and drinking cups. These different types of foam are all commercially produced from a single starting material - high-density spherical beads of expandable polystyrene (EPS).

Sheep's milk cheese in brine may not sound very appetising, but according to an ANU researcher this is how Australian feta cheese makers could be forced to label their produce, if the European Union pushes new rules through the World Trade Organisation.

Austrade has warned that food exporters need to be aware the US Bioterrorism Act is currently in an enforcement phase and they must comply with new regulations or could face severe penalties.

A team of food scientists at Purdue University has developed a sensor that can detect the potentially deadly bacteria Listeria monocytogenes in less than 24 hours at concentrations as low as 1000 cells per millilitre of fluid. The sensor is also selective enough to recognise only the species monocytogenes.

Within the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) there are a number of provisions that food manufacturers need to be aware of when using flavourings in foods.

Overseas food producers and manufacturers wanting to export to Australia are now responsible for nominating a laboratory for testing their foods and for providing the packaging for samples drawn from their foods.

Drs Christopher Parry, Alfrun Erkner and Johannes le Coutre, scientists at the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, have reported about novel genetic fundamentals of taste perception.

Scientists at the University of Leicester have shown that the textbook explanation of how enzymes work is wrong - at least for some enzymes. Their discovery may explain why attempts to make artificial enzymes have often been disappointing. Industry must now re-think the rationale for the design of biological catalysts and its approaches to drug design.