Robotic abattoirs: meat processing of the future?

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Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews has moved to Stage 4 restrictions in Victoria and made some significant changes to how food production businesses can operate while the state fights against the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 3 August, Premier Andrews declared the food industry was permitted to continue to operate but he mandated reductions to the number of workers onsite. In the meat industry — and based on the minimum required to operate safely onsite — the workforce will be scaled back to twothirds. “Unlike other changes, and recognising the risk these sites have posed here and around the world, this will apply to abattoirs in Melbourne and across the state,” the Premier said in his statement.

University of Queensland Professor Robert Henry, who is the Director of the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), said roboticised abattoirs and automated harvesting and production facilities would reduce the risk of transmission of pathogens among workers but also the spread of viruses via the food itself.

“COVID does not seem to be transmissible from an infected human touching food but a future pandemic virus might be transmitted this way, so automating the food supply chain reduces this risk. It also minimises reliance on human workers that are not available due to migration restrictions and border closures.”

Apart from robots working in abattoirs, there are a number of technologies in various stages of planning that could also help with food security during a pandemic, such as sky-high vertical farms, more gene-edited foods in our supermarkets and automated farming systems. According to Professor Henry, food producers would now be moving much faster to prepare for the next pandemic.

He said despite growing stocks of foods such as cereals, it was estimated the number of people facing a food crisis will grow from 135 million to 265 million by the end of 2020.

“It may seem to those of us in Western countries that the only impact on food supply has been a rush on pasta and rice in the supermarket and home baking, but the loss of income caused by the pandemic has hit some countries in Africa hard.

“We are in a situation where we have food surpluses while there has been a doubling in the number of people who can’t afford to eat — and the situation is likely to get worse.”

Professor Henry said increased investment in agricultural research and development would support enhanced food security. His research is published in Molecular Plants: https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2020.07.011.

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Pregnancy warning label will be mandatory

On Friday, 17 July 2020, Food Forum Ministers decided that pregnancy warning labels with a prescribed red, black and white colour scheme will be mandated.

Six of 10 forum members voted for the mandating of the warning labels that were recommended by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). Four ministers voted for an alternative scheme which had previously been recommended by the Australian Government.

FSANZ confirmed that the signal words would be changed f r o m ‘ H e a l t h Wa r n i n g ’ t o ‘Pregnancy Warning’ and that the standard would be included in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. The new mandatory label will also require the inclusion of a text statement that “alcohol can cause lifelong harm to your baby”.

W h i l e t h e r e h a s b e e n much debate about the cost of implementing such a label, alcoholic beverage manufacturers will now need to implement the mandatory labels on all relevant packaging within the next three years.

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Leafy greens safety

Recent outbreaks in the US of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of romaine lettuce and other leafy greens have highlighted the need for a viable option for treating agricultural water against foodborne pathogens.

While farmers are not required to treat their agricultural water, these treatments could be a valuable tool to help farmers protect the safety of their produce intended for consumers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has now announced a new protocol for the development and registration of antimicrobial treatments for preharvest agricultural water, such as the water used in farm irrigation systems. The protocol was developed through a collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA-approved protocol can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments in reducing microbial contamination in agricultural water.

EPA’s approval of this protocol allows for companies to develop data on the effectiveness of their products in inactivating foodborne bacteria, such as E. coli or Salmonella, in preharvest agricultural water. Companies may use the data developed to support registration of new treatment products, or amendments to current products’ labels, for use against microbial contamination in preharvest agricultural water.

This protocol is an important step towards addressing this lack of available treatments for preharvest agricultural water.

Closing the loop on PET recycling

Pact Group Holdings, C l e a n a w a y W a s t e Management and Asahi Beverages have entered into a joint venture, to construct a PET recycling site in Albury/ Wodonga.

The $45 million recycling plant is expected to recycle the equivalent of around one billion 600 mL PET plastic bottles each year, with the bottles used as raw material to produce new bottles and food and beverage packaging to help close the loop on recycling.

The plant will draw on the expertise of each member of the joint venture, which will trade as Circular Plastics Australia (PET). Cleanaway will provide the plastic to be recycled through its collection and sorting network, Pact will provide technical and packaging expertise, while Asahi Beverages will buy the recycled plastic for use in its packaging.

Robert Iervasi, Group CEO of Asahi Beverages, acknowledged the contributions from Minister Matt Kean, Federal MP and Environmental Minister Sussan Ley and the Albury Council towards the project.

Construction will commence towards the end of the year, pending approval from Albury Council, and is expected to be fully operational by December 2021.

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WA meat processor welcomes $300K state government grant

Western Meat Packers Group has welcomed the WA Government’s $300,000 grant, which will help facilitate further processing of offal and other products at its Cowaramup abattoir operation. Investing in this manufacturing capability will help fully maximise yields from each beef animal and open up new markets.

WMPG’s Cowaramup operation has built its operational capacity over the past 15 years to 70,000 cattle per annum, with most selected from south-west beef producers and distributed domestically and internationally under the Margaret River Fresh brand. WMPG has transformed from a small boning room in 1983 to a trusted beef and lamb exporter and processor, employing almost 500 people. The company now has a weekly processing capacity of 2000 cattle and 1000 lambs that are supplied to domestic and international markets.

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Frozen finger lime market cracked with grant

Green Valley Fingerlimes, a Sunshine Coast finger lime orchard that lost its export and national markets to the COVID-19 pandemic, is rebounding after receiving a $7500 grant under the Palaszczuk government’s $500,000 Market Diversification and Resilience Grant Program.

The grant will be used to buy a new blast chiller and freezer room, enabling the business to diversify from fresh only to frozen finger lime products for Australian and overseas markets.

Company Director Jade King said at least two tonnes of finger limes harvested in the current season would have been lost without the equipment to freeze the fruit. Due to the support from the Queensland Government, the company was able to consider selling frozen products to various export and national markets for the first time.

“We’ve had to turn away enquiries for frozen fruit because we could only meet fresh market demand, so the freezers will give us the opportunity to break into new markets including Japan and the United States that only accept frozen product,” King said.

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Sweet treats to be made using 100% renewable energy

Mondel¯e z International will switch to 100% renewable electricity in two Melbourne factories that make Cadbury, The Natural Confectionery Company and Pascall treats. These treats includes Cadbury Cherry Ripe, Crunchie and Picnic bars, Cadbury Easter eggs and bunnies, The Natural Confectionery Company jellies and Pascall lollies including Pineapple Lumps.

Mondel¯e z has partnered with a range of businesses across Victoria to establish a power purchase agreement to source renewables from the Yaloak South wind farm west of Melbourne.

Shalaby Mohamed, Director of Integrated Supply Chain for Australia and New Zealand, said the shift to renewable electricity will reduce the company’s carbon footprint in Australia.

“Our investment in renewables will prevent almost 40,000 tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere each year, and reduce the carbon footprint from electricity used across our five Australian factories by more than 80%,” Mohamed said.

Mohamed predicts that the company’s investment in renewables will halve the total carbon footprint of the business across Australia and New Zealand.

The power purchase agreement to invest in local renewables, starting in 2021, was facilitated by the City of Melbourne, and includes a range of organisations, such as RMIT University, CBUS Property, ISPT, Fulton Hogan, Citywide Asphalt and Deakin University.