Professor Jim Hardie has been appointed as the Director of the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (NWGIC) at Charles Sturt University.

The demand for bottled beverages in China is expected to increase beverage container growth to 298 billion units/year by 2012. Plastic milk containers are leading the charge.

The first meeting of the ISO project committee that will develop an International Standard providing a code of good practice for establishing, implementing and managing efficient, flexible and responsive consumer product recall programs including corrective actions has taken place.

Potential speakers and sponsors are invited to express their interest in FoodTech Connect 09 — an exciting new food industry conference that will take place in Sydney on October 22 and 23.

A novel and severe allergic response, called delayed anaphylactic shock, has been found to be triggered by an IgE antibody that binds to a sugar molecule known as galactose-α-1,3-galactose (alpha-gal). So far, evidence strongly suggests that tick bites are triggering the production of alpha-gal antibodies.

The Australian government is introducing a new R&D Tax Credit system in 2010–11 which will replace the current R&D Tax Concession scheme. Both small and large food businesses will be able to participate.

A technology based on crossflow microfiltration membrane separation to improve the microbiological safety of liquid eggs has been patented in the US.

Orders must be placed prior to 30 June if you want to benefit from the government's 30% Investment Allowance.

The thirteenth meeting of the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council considered a number of strategic policy and food standards issues.

A study has compared different hand drying techniques — warm air hand dryers, paper towel and jet air dyers.

GS1 has extended the deadline by which retailers must be able to scan GS1 DataBar from 2010 to 2014.

HBM Plastics & Packaging Technologies now represents IntraVis Vision Systems in Australia and New Zealand.

Technology leader in the food and meat industry, IBEX Technologies has changed its name to Veron Technologies Intl Limited.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published an opinion on the public health significance of MRSA in animals and foods.

The United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business has released an international electronic certification standard built on work by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service. The electronic certification will provide government-to-government assurances about the safety of imported and exported food, replacing the paper certificates traditionally issued to help clear products at borders.