Food Quality Magazine
ISSUE 03 | JULY 2015
Food Industry News
Public attitudes tracker survey
results published
(Source: Food Safety Authority, UK) The
results from the FSA’s Biannual Public Attitudes Tracker for May 2015 have
been published. We conduct this tracking
survey with consumers, in order to monitor changes in consumer attitudes towards the FSA and food-related issues.
The top two food safety issues of total (ie
spontaneous plus prompted) concern for
respondents were food hygiene when eating out (37%), and the use of additives in
food products (29%).
In total, 48% of respondents reported
concern about food safety in UK restaurants, pubs, cafes and takeaways; there is
no obvious trend across waves. Also, 42%
of respondents reported concern about
food safety in shops and supermarkets;
this is similar to Wave 9 but lower than
Waves 6, 7 and 8.
Results show that 80% of respondents
in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
reported being aware of the FSA, which
is in line with variations across previous
waves. As in previous waves, the main issue these respondents reported the FSA
to be responsible for was ensuring food
bought is safe to eat (89%). Of those who
reported being aware of the FSA, 65%
said they trusted, and 7% said they distrusted, the FSA to do its job.
The survey shows that 83% of respondents reported being aware of the hygiene standards in places they eat out at or
buy food from. As in all previous waves,
the most commonly reported ways of
knowing about hygiene standards were
the general appearance of premises
(61%) the appearance of staff (46%). Of
these respondents, 43% also reported
using hygiene certificates and 32% reported using hygiene stickers.
Fieldwork for this wave took place in
May 2015 and a representative sample
of 2,640 adults in the UK was interviewed
via the TNS consumer face-to-face omnibus survey. This is the tenth wave of the
biannual tracker which started in November 2010.
VITAL® Online - COMING SOON to a screen
near you
Inert versus anti-microbial materials
(Source: www.allergenbureau.net) VITAL® Online – the Allergen
Bureau’s user-friendly, web-based update of the VITAL Calculator will go live in mid-August 2015.
(Source: www.euro-inox.org) Stainless steel is a standard material for hygienic applications in healthcare environments.
The fact that stainless steel is inert has been considered an
advantage. Recently, however, actively anti-microbial materials have been suggested as alternatives. A new publication by
the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) compares the two
approaches to hygiene.
Contents:
- Background
- Active antimicrobial solutions
--- Overview
--- Silver-containing coatings
--- Copper and its alloys
- Why statements about antimicrobial effects should be viewed
with scepticism
- Why stainless steel is a preferred option
- Conclusions
- References
The formal launch of VITAL Online will take place on Wednesday
12 August 2015, 5:30 – 6:00 pm at the 48th Annual AIFST Convention, Crystal Palace, Luna Park, Sydney. All Allergen Bureau
members, VITAL stakeholders and AIFST Convention delegates
are kindly invited to join us at the launch of VITAL Online.
To help you join us in celebrating the launch of VITAL Online,
the Allergen Bureau are pleased to announce that the initial
one month access package to VITAL Online will be available on
a FREE trial and use basis.
VITAL Online will be accessible to ongoing users through a flexible range of subscription packages that are tailored to meet the
size of your organisation and the frequency of use.
Members of the Allergen Bureau will receive a very substantial
discount to access VITAL Online – just another great reason for
you to Join Us and become an Allergen Bureau member now.
A presentation from the Allergen Bureau, VITAL Online: taking
VITAL to the world will be included in the AIFST convention
session ‘Allergens in manufactured foods: calculating and communicating the risks’ on Tuesday 11 August.
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The 14-page PDF file can be downloaded from http://www.
euro-inox.org/pdf/health/StainlessSteel-in-Hygienic-Applications_EN.pdf.