While taste, texture and mouthfeel are crucial to food enjoyment and acceptance, almost invariably the first way a food is sensed is by its smell. If it smells good we are much more likely to eat it. But it seems our sense of smell is much more refined than we realise - we can even detect dietary fat levels by smell! [ + ]

The Queensland fruit fly is a notifiable insect in NZ because it could seriously impact on the country's horticultural industry. So finding just a single male Queensland fruit fly in a surveillance trap has caused the NZ Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to place controls on the movement of whole fresh fruit and some vegetables out of a specific area of Whangarei. [ + ]

Food microbiologist Professor Thomas McMeekin AO, of the University of Tasmania (UTAS), is in the running to be named Australian of the Year for 2014. [ + ]

With a gap as short as 15 minutes between blowing and filling a PET bottle, producing containers of consistent quality is imperative. Container defects can cause serious and costly disruptions that can have a knock-on effect through the entire processing plant. [ + ]

Reducing the plastic component of the overall package is a great environmental initiative; however, in today’s competitive market the opportunity to save money in the actual packaging cost is very appealing.

Leading US soup maker Campbell Soup Company plans to upgrade to the newest version of Terra Technology's Demand Sensing solution. Campbell’s says the upgrade will enable its forecast accuracy to better meet the needs of retailers and consumers. [ + ]

As energy and raw materials become more expensive and consumers become more environmentally conscious, confectionery and snack manufacturers have to adjust. Their products now have to stand out from the crowd without extravagant packaging that drives up costs. Luckily, packaging producers and machine manufacturers can help with material-saving packaging solutions and more efficient production lines.

One of New Zealand's leading poultry processors has nominated Loscam as its preferred pallet provider. Turk's Poultry Farm has signed an agreement with Loscam for managed pooled pallets across the country. [ + ]

While the norm for many years has been for fruit and vegetable growers to put a simple UPC barcode on boxes of produce, these methods are no longer sufficient. Consumers and regulators demand that the entire supply chain be able to trace and account for where fresh produce is grown, where it is going and how long it remains at any point along the way. [ + ]

Aylesbury Walnuts is gearing up for an increase in production. The company chose Wyma's post-harvest equipment over French competitors to aid the process. [ + ]

In a climate of increasingly demanding customer expectations, how does a food business provide outstanding quality without hurting profit and growth? Businesses must focus not just on what they do but how they achieve their outcomes, says SAI Global. [ + ]

The low-calorie sugars mannitol and sorbitol have been used as a structuring agent to transform vegetable oils into semi-solid 'structured oils'. This technique could be used to provide alternatives to trans fats which have been linked to coronary artery disease, obesity and diabetes. [ + ]

Finnish dairy company Valio has increased its production capacity by 20% without increasing its energy consumption, simply by updating its spray-drier controls.

Key Technology has conducted several full-season trials with wineries in North America, Europe and Australia to verify the effectiveness of its VitiSort sorter for red wine grapes.

When expanding its production facilities, Coega Dairy decided to use filling machine technology from SIG Combibloc. Since mid-2013, two CFA 312 filling machines have been in operation, packaging dairy products in combibloc Slimline aseptic carton packs.