Aussie Food Safety Net

I cannot overestimate how good our food chain system is in Australia is.
We have state and national regulatory bodies as well as active farmer organizations.

Many international countries do not have regulatory food bodies as we are accustomed too.
One of our hidden strengths is the Aussie worker.

We underestimate how important it is to have people of the same nationality and same principles, culture and same lifestyle attitudes as we do to process our foods.

If an Aussie worker found a malpractice or was concerned with some food process he would open his mouth and approach someone about his concerns.
If there was no satisfaction he would go to an appropriate regulatory body or even go to the Press, newspapers or TV.
International workers on subsistence income earners would not take the appropriate action.

Recent serious international foodchain problems that have effected us Aussies:

MELAMINE Contamination of dairy products in China

Many Aussies would not realize that they had high probability of eating a popular food bar that was made with melamine contaminated dairy products.
The contaminated products were shipped all over the world to Japan ,Europe, Asia,USA,Australia.

It is interesting how long it took for us to be aware of this problem.
Was it days ,weeks ,months?
I think it was more likely years of small amounts melamine inclusion on the
foods until level was detected.

In fact US authorities traced melamine tainted feed from gluten wheat from China in 2007.
Even in 2006 pet foods from china were found to be contaminated.
But you were eating contaminated products from companies like Nestle for years.
Yes 1-2 years later it only surfaced as an issue.

This is insane that it took so long for us to be aware of this contamination,

So what other behind the scene malpractice is happening now in overseas food processing companies?

Updates coming soon !

Reference

http://asianfoodworker.net/?p=440

INTERNATIONAL food workers

The above issue is precisely why I like to have Aussies prepare my foods
A Chinese worker had to add melamine to these foods.
And we estimate it was added in hundreds of food factories and hundreds of products.

Are these workers so uneducated that he would know what he is doing?

Yes ,most Chinese workers can not read Chinese and average wage is US $5.00 per day.
It costs that just to survive so even if he could read he would not say anything.

Food process workers in Brazil only make US$3500 per year.
They also have no intent of speaking up as they are at survival level also.
International foodchain companies employ workers who are mostly illiterate, who are on low subsistence level income, and have no interest in the consumer’s health or lifestyle.

MAD COW DISEASE (BSE)

How many years did it take for this issue to come to light?
In 2005 BSE was detected in USA, but BSE was first reported in 1976.
UK identified BSE it in 1986.
Spain detected BSE in 2009.
In March 2010 Australia has now lifted bans on importing beef from these countries.
I can only imagine the political pressure our politicians must have been under to approve this.
I bet the bureaucrats in Canberra who passed these amendments will feed their families Aussies beef.
This new policy for BSE is simply that other countries have to demonstrate that they have the controls and process in place to monitor beef exports to Australia.

So Aussies need to have confidence in another countries’ regulatory bodies that have FAILED miserably in the past ?

I love Aussies’ home grown beef.

Today’s population explosion of nearly 7 billion people on earth and increasing pressure on our food chain by Asian power houses of China n India will give rise to increases in food contamination from the simple laws of supply an demand

Wayne Sedawie 23-3-2010