The AFGC, Coles and the RED Group have launched the REDcycle Program in Canberra, which recycles soft plastic packaging into furniture. Consumers can drop off plastics at eight Coles stores in Canberra. [ + ]

Avocado Oil New Zealand is using NZ’s only open-access product development spray dryer at Waikato Innovation Park to dry avocado pulp into a high-value powder to be marketed under the Avopure brand. [ + ]

Taylors Wines has won the Australia’s Best White Wine Bottle category for its Promised Land Moscato, which features applied ceramic labelling. [ + ]

According to researchers at the University of Sheffield, cold boiling is a more efficient way to dry products for food manufacture, using tiny, hot bubbles. [ + ]

Don’t compared bottled water with tap water, the Australasian Bottled Water Institute has urged consumers. The institute has rejected recent media reports that bottled water is expensive and environmentally questionable. [ + ]

Following Simplot’s announcement that its Bathurst cannery may close after the 2014 season, the AMWU has urged consumers, supermarkets and the government to take action to save Australia’s canned food industry. [ + ]

Wiley has won the AIB (Australian Institute of Building) Queensland Chapter’s Professional Excellence in Building State Award for Research, Development and Technology for its work on the Primo Smallgoods facility in Brisbane. [ + ]

Dairy processors can now test to verify the authenticity of claims that milk is organic. [ + ]

Arla Foods Ingredients has responded to the ‘acid whey’ controversy, claiming its processes do not produce the by-product.  [ + ]

The Australian Greens have launched a new national independent biosecurity authority that they say will give greater protection against pests and diseases that are threatening Australia’s agricultural sector and environment. [ + ]

A report from the US National Toxicology Program has found “clear evidence” that Gingko biloba caused liver cancer in mice, and “some evidence” that gingko caused thyroid cancer in rats. [ + ]

To help the US dairy industry achieve its goal of a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, University of Arkansas researchers have developed a ‘cradle-to-grave’ life-cycle analysis of milk. [ + ]

A study has found that an omega-3 supplement derived from NZ green-lipped mussel significantly improved lung function and reduced airway inflammation in asthmatics who experience exercise-induced asthma. [ + ]

The Australian Wine Research Institute is hosting a series of webinars covering a range of winemaking, winery management and viticulture topics, from climate change to phylloxera to Chinese consumer insights. [ + ]

While robots on banana farms may sound like a sci-fi movie plot, a University of Sydney robotics expert says this could be a reality in Australia within 10 years. [ + ]