Neogen Supports Australian Food Safety Week: Highlighting Label Awareness

The team at Neogen showed their support for Australian Food Safety Week with a presentation led by Food Safety Territory Manager, Melissa Blignaut.

An initiative of the Food Safety Information Council, the theme for Australian Food Safety Week this year is ‘Look Before You Cook’, a reference to the importance of reading food labels to avoid preventable foodborne disease.

Recent research conducted by the Council showed only 30% of consumers said they always read cooking and storage instructions. While most cases of foodborne disease are relatively minor, none are pleasant, and some can result in serious long-term health problems or even death.

Each year in Australia there are an estimated 4.67 million cases of food poisoning, 47,900 require hospitalisation and 38 are fatal. Important safety information such as allergy declarations, storage instructions and date marks are required to be included on food labels by law. For consumers, this is a crucial first line of defence to protect themselves and their families.

To highlight the importance of labels, Melissa gave a demonstration of some of Neogen’s Allergen detection devices. These tools are normally used by food manufacturers prior to sale, but in this case, the team were invited to bring in examples of food from home to check against claims made on the labels.

Reassuringly, Melissa and the Neogen team were only able to find allergens where labels told us they were present.

While it is concerning that such a small percentage of consumers currently read labels that contain potentially life-saving information, it is encouraging that this number has been growing.

This is why Neogen is proud to support the work of the Food Safety Information Council in educating consumers through Australian Food Safety Week and other important initiatives.

Neogen works with the entire food supply chain from primary producers through to food and beverage manufacturers to help them manage the quality and safety of their products, so we can all have confidence in what we purchase.

As Senior Regional Director for Australasia, Bobby Creasman put it, “Knowing that what we do at work each day is helping to protect the people we care about is what keeps us motivated to do more.”

For helpful, consumer-friendly Food Safety advice or more information about the work of the Food Safety Information Council, visit the website foodsafety.asn.au