Food Safety: Government vs. Industry Control

Good morning, fellow food safetyists, and welcome to this episode five of the food safetyists podcast. This podcast has been created, for those who are, I won’t say fully fledged, badge carrying food safety professionals, but, those of us who have sort of been either thrust into food safety or had it hoisted upon us or, are actually having no other choice other than to do food safety. That’s, anyway, episode five. Let’s kick it off with a little bit of a discussion about some of the most recent recalls, at here in Australia where I am located. We’ve had a bit of a concerning one, due to a shiga toxin producing E. Coli in spinach products.

This has hit everyone. If you have a look at the recall list, it’s it’s Coles, it’s it’s Metcash, it’s hit Aldi, it’s hit Woolworths, all relating to, mixed leaf products that includes spinach. Reading the, FSANZ update on it, the use by dates ranging from, 6 March 26 to the April 9. So it was detected in two prepackaged ready to eat spinach products, purchased in Queensland supermarkets. So, it it’s a thing. So far, there’s been no illnesses, thankfully, and the recalls are a proactive measure to protect Australian consumers. Food products contaminated with STC, which is sugar toxin producing e coli.

It says here, Michael’s illness if consumed. So, you know, essentially, if you don’t know anything about it, if you bought spinach products, I’d be returning it as long as it has the best before date. Twenty six months is obviously gone or the April 9. So, you know, if you bought your spinach a week ago and you think, oh, you know, either bin it or send it back for a full refund. Now let’s be honest. This is huge. I’ll include a link to the relevant bits and pieces in the show notes, but, this is pretty big. I would have to say this has to be probably one of the biggest, in the there that I know of.

Something that, yeah, it’s just wow. Plus we’re talking about us, out here in Australia, the food safety information council is in their annual message. They’re talking about mushrooms. You know, we like to go foraging for mushrooms and all that sort of stuff. It’s becoming what is it? Someone passed away after eating a death cap mushroom from our own garden. So it’s the thing. Just be careful of the mushies that you pick. Unless you know it’s fit for human consumption, don’t eat mushroom. I can’t even smoke mushroom, if you find them somewhere.

Yeah. It’s just just be careful, people. Now according to this, from July to 10/20/2432 serious cases of mushroom poisoning. Oh, no. This is in France. So, I thought it was here. Yep. So, anyway, it’s interesting. Gee. Just be careful. Anyway, moving right along. What else are we gonna talk about? Actually, something I do wanna talk about, and I’ll find the article for that. The incoming or the current health and human services secretary, Robert Fitzgerald yeah. Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy? RFK, has decided to slash a number of jobs. Here we go. Health cuts. So there’s an article, April 3 from Food Safety News, talking about food safety.

That’s, RFK’s job cuts are going to be hurting consumers. Hang on. Gotta find it first. Hurting consumers. The article. Sorry. Where do we talk about it? Yeah. Last week, health and human services services secretary, Robert f Kennedy junior, who has vowed to make America healthy again in part by improving American diet. Now seem we would be laying off 10,000 workers from federal health agency, including 3,500 from the FDA. FDA staff began to learn on Tuesday of cuts across the agency. Before I go on to any further discussion on this, I wanna make it clear to everyone or so everyone understands it. I’m a devout anarchist. I don’t think I don’t I do not believe the government should be getting into anything.

I believe that they’re in especially in food safety, I think there is a lot of, government bureaucracy with regards to things. I mean, you have a look at, TGA. You know, any industry funded organization is bound to be, bound to be bound to be bound to be bound to be what? Now That is a good question, Cameron. So let’s just leave it there. I you know, it it but it it’s a thing. Let let let’s just be honest here and say that, you know, some things that the TGA does, people ask questions. Some why? Is that because it’s industry funded, and not so much looking after the best interest of the consumers in Australia as it does the industry that supports it? So, I don’t know. These questions that need to be asked.

So I no. From from that token, I believe that a lot of, health related things should go. I don’t believe that the government actually adds value to any part of the food processing, food manufacturing, removal, RFK Junior’s removal of the, GRIS, you know, generally got it as safe classification for for some of the additives. Yeah. So yeah. It it it’s questionable there. So, anyway, going back to the thing, ideally, I think in, you know, my semi perfect world, everything food safety related would be, run by or sort of controlled by the certifying bodies to start off with. And then the, the businesses or or any, you know, big groups like that. Yeah. So it’s it’s a thing that that the government doesn’t need to have their fingers in everything. And I believe that there’s, instances where government involvement could make things more problematic than anything else.

And if you have a look at it locally, what how is this is the government proactive on anything? Do they get to something and say, oy, no. This is that. You know, you can have a look at the failed food report, and it’s put out by DEF every month and say, oh, but look. They’ve, you know, saved kept Australian consumers safe by kicking this out and keeping it back. Well, it’s the thing is that if there wasn’t the let let’s say, as a consumer, we’re handing over a lot of our responsibility to the government. They oh, you know what? The government will keep us safe. Oh, this will keep us safe. That’ll keep us safe. I mean, okay. Case in point that everyone talks about. So food manufacturing, you’ve got your annual council inspections and everything like that where some go through you, you know, go everything with a fine tooth comb. Others go for a quick walk through, tick a couple of boxes, and then go.

But this is the thing. They’re looking at food manufacturing facilities that have got, SQF qualification, sorry, certifications. They may have HACCP. They may have you know, if they’re supplying to the majors, they’ll have, the major standard, as well as SQF or or BRCGS or the, FSSS users and zeros, and all that sort of stuff. And yet the, you know, local government has to combine and do their little bit due to the state government’s food act that says they have to do it. And yet, you know, you go out and you go to any food court and have a look at any food court at any particular time of day, and you will see practices there that would lead you to, you know, raise an eyebrow or think, oh, hey. Hang on. Maybe I shouldn’t be eating it.

The the classic example, not happening so much these days because everyone’s moving away from cash, but, you know, way back way back when I was a kid, now there’s the the person, they have a glove on one hand for touching the food and everything like that, and yet you go to give them their money or the money to pay for it. And what do they do? They hold the gloved hand out to take the money off you. And then they go back to, you know, touch the register and go back to to doing what they’re doing without changing gloves. You know, practices like that. Money’s not the cleanest thing in the world, and yet here they are.

Even, you know, touching the various touch touchscreens or anything like that that they do. So, yeah, it’s it’s it’s one of those things. But then by the same coin token, what about your, you know, your restaurants? You know, your local restaurant. I mean, you know, we order takeaway pizza from one of the the local restaurants. Once the pizza’s cooked, you know, it was, what was it? And weekend before last, I ordered three or four pizzas, and they’re just stacked up on top of each other and then left on top of the pizza oven, you know, in cardboard boxes. So, you know, is that maintaining the the appropriate core temperature of the product? Well, you know, bottom one’s gonna be warmer, but, you know, no one says anything about that.

So, yeah, it’s I think food safety needs to move more move away from from the regulatory approach that we’ve got and go for for the risk one. And as consumers, we need to be more aware of, the standards and everything that’s going on. Like, I mean, you know, most of your, you know, takeaway shops and all that sort of stuff, they should have, at a minimum, some sort of they’ll have the annual food food act inspections. Would they have Hassett? I mean, no. Yeah. Maybe not. PrimeSafe and all that if they’re doing anything with meat. Not restaurants I’m talking about. I’m talking about food manufacturing facilities there.

But, yeah, it’s just I think it’s something where there needs to be more consumer education, and consumers need to actually turn around and say, hey. You know what? We’re not going to eat at this place because of this, or we will because of this, whatever it is. And, you know, we we need to we need to become more informed about our food choices, you know, and this is not even with, you know, the Yeah. Our star ratings and everything like that. It’s I think we need to become more informed about the decisions that we make and where we buy things and what we buy, you know, rather than just, you know, handing it over. So I’m like, you know, like, people have gone to Woolies and and purchased these products and sorry. Gone to the majors and and purchased products and, hey. We’re gonna have a recall. So are we just, you know, saying that we want there? Anyway, I won’t go down that, that little wormhole there. But, yeah, you know, it comes back to it. This is it.

I don’t believe, despite what a lot of the naysayers are are saying, that the, planned cuts by the health and human services secretary, RFK junior in The US, is going to have any negative impact on food safety. I believe that I would love to see out here that, food safety becomes an industry issue, not a a government issue. And I mean, you know, the the biggest, I think, reason for that. I mean, all you do is just have a look at the floodgate stuff. And I mean, you know, the the I Cook Foods fiasco that the Department of Health in Victoria shut down a a a business, and and have a look at how murky and everything like that is. And yet, you know what? Because this person was a government employee, they, you know, escape, any consequences for it. So whereas if it was an industry led thing or or anything like that, then there’d be a recourse that, you know, the the certifying body would be, you know, sued potentially for for heaps.

The, the, you know, the the the person the auditor who closed the the business down would be personally responsible for it and all those sorts of things. So they these things. And going back to it, I haven’t met a no one’s presented to me a compelling reason why the government needs to get involved in anything. You know what? Yes. So I know. But what no. It stops those shonky practices. Well, does it really? You know, or are those shonky practices there? They just, you know, clean up for the day that they know the inspector’s coming or the auditor’s coming and then go back to their shonky practices after that. And, you know, it it’s a thing. I think it comes back down to as I said before, and and I will keep saying it again, the consumer needs to be better informed, with these where we’re buying food, and the manufacturing processes and all that sort of stuff that are going on with that.

But, anyway, you know, I’ve I’ve waffled on that enough to move on to something else. What are we gonna look at now? Let me go through my notes. Oh, here’s something too. It’s no. Actually, no. I was just gonna make comment about, what is it, bird flu and all that sort of stuff. I might leave that one for another time because it’s not really, I think, something that can be, discussed discussed adequately in a, you know, short podcast episode like this one. So I’ll leave that one alone. What else is there? Oh, here’s one. Interesting one.

Talking locally, seven people fell sick. So this is a food safety news article from the March 11. So I’ll be late. Seven people fell sick in a salmonella outbreak in Australia in 02/2024 after eating kangaroo meat. Yeah. So, anyway, just one of those interesting things that, yep, there’s kangaroo meat causes salmonella created salmonella issues in people there. What else have we got, going around the traps? There is a seventy five thousand cases of Benji burgers being recalled for possible bulk contamination. Now that is a lot of cases of veggie burgers because of a bolt, whether it you know?

Yeah. It’s it’s one of those things that it’s it’s far better for the business to be aware of their practices and, you know, this is this this is this is what? Bit of dead air there, and I lost where I was going to go. So I won’t won’t continue that. I’ll just leave it out there. What are you looking at? There is there is one. Ah, here we go. Something I did this is something that I did wanna talk about came from the, what is it? The rotten apple, that was tech newsletter by Karen Constable. Got it. Yeah. Constable. Talking about, food fraud linked to animal welfare, it’s it’s one of those interesting things. Well, you know, every the the the author in this article is turning around and saying, you know, we’ve we’ve got all these things like pasture fed. And and just going by this article, about, they’re talking about ablation free shrimp. Now this is a, which I didn’t know of.

It is it is it is what are we talking about? There you go. I stalk ablation. This relates to cutting the eyes. Hang on. Let me here we go. Eye stalk ablation involves removing one or both eye stalks from female prawns to stimulate a variant development and increase egg production. So it’s, now I have to be very, very careful here. Those who do a bit of research on me will know that I am vegan. I have been vegan for ten years now. So I’m not going to make any comments about the consumption of animal products. What I’m going to be talking about is the the practice. So with this bit now, having a look at it, yes, that is something that is barbaric that I didn’t even consider.

Though in the scheme of things, what makes that any better or worse than buying caged eggs or, you know, buying whatever cut of whatever animal product that you want when the, the animals have been left in feedlots for how however many you know, what is it? I think there’s a hundred and twenty days. Some of it’s grain finished or or something like that, pasture fed grain finished or whatever they call it. So, you know, it’s a thing. I mean or even, you know, you’re going to have a look at, you know, salmon farms. And our prime minister was at, in Tasmania recently, I think, before he started his election campaign, to spruik the the Huon, salmon palm fishery, salmon whatever it is, for them. I mean, you have a look at how those salmons are salmon are there.

You know, they they essentially kept in aquatic cages, and there is heaps of them in those, you know, environments there. So, you know, this is the thing. If if you’re going to consume animal products, which is the bit that crosses the line for you and why are we only focusing on some practices that we think are quote, unquote, cruel yet not focusing on the other practices? I mean, you know, when it comes down to it, you know, all all comments aside and everything like that is that, you know, you’re not you. Those who are consuming animal products are consuming animal products from essentially an animal that was killed.

And not talking about, you know, had a good life and and, you know, was, you know, passed away in a pasture and all that sort of stuff. And I mean, that process there is not the best thing to do. And and, you know, not getting into a a, you know, big grand about veganism or anything like that. You know? It it’s the processes that they hide from you, and then they sugarcoat it or they, you know, wash it with whatever, by saying, oh, you know, this is this or that is that. I mean, you know, it comes back to indented. The other thing is that I I think the consumers need to be aware of where their food comes from and process it’s involved with that. Now before anyone goes on and said, oh, yes. But there’s all rats that die when you harvest your soybeans and all that. I’m not talking about this. So if you want that discussion, I’ll have that one in a completely separate podcast or a completely separate forum.

This is not about that. This relates to this whole, food fraud in animal welfare. But interestingly enough, it is, there was something by who is it? Tammy Jonas, I think. She was the author of one of them. And I’ve had sort of discussions with her in previous lives. So, yeah, it’s it’s just anyway, it’s it’s one of those thing. You know, you you gotta be aware that sometimes there’s there’s practices that maybe it’s not that good for what you’re doing, or anything like that. The other thing I do wanna add is that, the rotten article the rotten article the rotten apple article does actually mention too, consumers are consumers too are increasingly aware of welfare issues related, in animal food production. Issues like tiny cages, sales stalls, farrowing crates in pig farms, heat stress in cattle feedlots, and diseases in fish farms.

So, yes, it’s it’s one of those things anyway, and moving right along. What else we’re gonna talk about? I think back to the conversation about consumers being aware, I think that consumers need to be aware and and maybe even businesses need to start promoting what standard they are, orders against. So the the food safe standard that they order again, order order the GFSI standard they order themselves against. I think consumers need to be demanding that from businesses, and then, businesses also need to be meeting that that demand by saying, hey. Yep. You know what? We’ve got this. This is what we do. And then let the market drive it. Forget about and even to a point of I would be probably moving away from the majors. I think that the majors have too much power in this country because essentially, they can make or break a business there.

They’re not essentially that good for food safety. It’s more about a box ticking exercise for them because, I mean, you know, you have a look at it. The average, that’s what the average food manufacturer for for what Woolworths has, when they get audited, they’re audited against, they’ve got SQF. They’re a is to audit against the SQF, food safety and then the SQF quality side of things. They’re most likely audited against the WSE, which is the Woolworth standard, and then Food Safety Victoria. So there’s three, four standards there that they’re audited against. So yeah. I don’t know. It it it’s one of those things, and then that’s even without getting into a set x and their twos and four pillars and and everything like that.

But anyway so, yeah, I I think it’s interesting. There needs to be more genuine consumer education and awareness of what’s going on and, you know, talking about food safety from from that point. But anyway, so here we go. Coming up to the thirty minute mark here. I think I might end it now. A bit of a rant for this Monday morning. Next week, I’m going to talk a bit more talk a bit more if I can talk, about, let’s say, auditor auditor management, auditor, you know, dealing with auditors when you come up for your audit. This will be interesting because, recently went through an SQA for it, myself, and got some comments to to make about just auditing in general. So anyway. So that’d be at the next episode.

So hopefully, you hang around for that one. Before I go, if you like this podcast, please share, like, and all that sort of good stuff to it. And also remember that, this podcast runs on the value for value model. That means that it is here for you. I won’t take any advertising. I am just 100% listener supported. So if you find a value out of this podcast, please, consider sharing some of that value back. You can do it in any other way. Any any one of four ways. Time, talent, treasure, or teaching me how to talk. So, obviously, your time to tell other people about this podcast so other people can become aware of it.

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Still going to share my thoughts on things. So yeah. So, yeah, it it’s the thing. I I’m I’m I don’t want to be in a position where, you know, what if if something bad is going on out there, then, oh, you know, you can’t say that because you upset the advertiser. Well, you know what? Big deal. I think as food safety professionals and food safetyists, we do need to be aware of the things that are going on in our industry. So, anyway, thanks for listening. We look forward to having you join me on the next one. If this is your first time listening, head on over to, foodsafety.east and, subscribe to the newsletter. So you’re right. So once again, thank you for listening. My name is Cameron Blewett, and this was the Food Safety Podcast.

Till next time. Bye for now.