Heavyweight advocacy group formed for the Australian food cold chain
Australia's first advocacy group to improve compliance and standards in the handling of food at all levels of the cold chain has been established at a ground-breaking meeting in Queensland.
The inaugural session of the Australian Food Cold Chain Council (AFCCC) on 7 August 2017, brought together an impressive cross section of the heavyweights in manufacturing, food transport, refrigeration and cold chain services.
Against a mounting background of community pressure about the costs and environmental damage of food wastage, this new Council sees itself as an important part of the solution, encouraging innovation, compliance, waste reduction and safety across the Australian food cold chain.
Interim chair Mr Mark Mitchell, a leading cold chain service provider with a cold chain research and validation facility in Queensland said, 'The new Council is not about promoting an industry – we want to change the industry for the better.'
'One of our priorities will be to apply whatever pressure is needed in industry and in government to make sure the existing Australian standards for cold chain food handling are properly followed,' he added.
'There's lots of rhetoric in government programs, associations and among food handlers and suppliers about commitments to food waste reduction and cold chain compliance, but little, if nothing, is being done at any level about improving the cold chain, and ensuring that standards are followed. Australia's track record in efficient cold food handling, from farm to plate, is far from perfect,' Mr Mitchell said.
Source: www.medianet.com.au
Source: www.medianet.com.au