Hazeldene’s Chickens has recently upgraded and revitalised its plant on the outskirts of Bendigo, transforming it into one of the most advanced poultry processing facilities in the world. [ + ]

Whether on labels or packaging or in magazines or on billboards, 2D barcodes are ubiquitous. But they don’t always make a stylish impression.Now there are ways to remedy this. [ + ]

The Winery Engineering Association’s national conference and exhibition will be held in June in the Barossa. It will keep key operational staff up to date with the latest global technological advancements - ensuring that the Australian wine industry retains its competitive edge wherever possible. [ + ]

Consumption of resistant starch leads to positive changes in the bowel and could protect against genetic damage implicated in bowel cancer, according to recent CSIRO research. [ + ]

WNIFT&M reports back from the ‘Closing the Loop on Food Waste’ discussion group at the 2nd National Sustainable Food Summit. [ + ]

Output has increased and waste reduced at Australian sweet and snack distributor Confectionery Trading Company (CTC) of New South Wales since the company installed the tna robag vertical form fill seal (VFFS) bagger to address issues of burst bags and failing seals. [ + ]

Alba Edible Oils Chief Executive Officer and company director Ashley Palmer explains how CHEP’s returnable packaging system - featuring the HACCP certified Unicon Plus - has proven more cost-effective for Alba than a one-way packaging system. [ + ]

When Haigh’s Chocolates identified a logistics issue with its pallets, it turned to CHEP for a solution. CHEP set up an asset management system to reduce Haigh’s administration workload and, in addition, conducts a pallet count every month for the chocolate manufacturer. The new system saves Haigh’s Distribution Centre Supervisor David Elliot hours each week and ensures the company always has enough pallets on hand for its outgoing goods. [ + ]

Food waste in Finland is lower than most European and Western countries but even so this waste is responsible for 1% of the country’s greenhouse emissions. Consumers are responsible for most of the waste but the food processing industry is not far behind. [ + ]

The foods most likely to be affected by deliberate substitution, addition, tampering or misrepresentation for economic gain are olive oil, milk, honey, saffron, orange juice, coffee and apple juice. A new, publically accessible database is now available to help minimise the risks of food fraud. [ + ]

Julian Cribb looks at the future of food and sees giant jellyfish, insects, algae and synthetic sausages - among other things. [ + ]

The 2nd National Sustainable Food Summit took place over 3 and 4 April at Dockside in Sydney. The two days were packed full of stimulating discussion and exciting ideas for changing the way we look at food - from research to production to consumption. Discussion ranged from climate change to synthetic meat to social responsibility - even human waste got a mention. [ + ]

Investing in three Manta 2000 series sorters for processing spinach and green beans has helped Belgian company Pinguin reduce its yield loss to less than 2%, enabling the company to more efficiently handle the 6- to 8-week Belgian spinach harvest. [ + ]

The unholy trinity of bad-for-you food ingredients has traditionally consisted of MSG, trans fats and sugar. Recently, however, a fourth nutrition sin has been added to the mix: salt. As World Salt Awareness Week draws to a close, we look at some of the issues behind the movement and what industry players have been doing to reduce salt in processed food products. [ + ]

Innovia Films’ compostable cellulose-based material, NatureFlex, has been selected by Miss Muffet & Co, to wrap its range of fairytale- and nursery rhyme-inspired premium confectionery. [ + ]