Page 7 - Food & Drink Magazine Nov-Dec 2018

Call to remove junk food ads from public transport
Healthy and free from dominate Product of the Year awards
HEALTHIER-FOR-YOU and allergy-free products have made their mark on this year’s Product of the Year awards.
10 out of 50 Product of the Year (POY) 2019 winners were new products offering healthy and allergy-free alternatives to everyday food and beverage items, according to organisers.
To meet consumer demand, there were two new gluten-free categories this year for general and kid-friendly specific products.
Product of the Year is a consumer voted awards program that recognises product innovation across 50 categories, with this year’s votes coming from over 14,000 Australian consumers.
“I’m thrilled at the increase in innovative healthy-option products that are being made available on shelf and being entered into the Awards,” Product of the Year director Sarah Connelly said.
Coles won 11 awards, Metcash received 10, and ALDI won 9.
Mars Foods, which was new to the awards this year, scored three wins, while fellow newcomer Freedom Foods won two.
San Remo won an award in the pasta and rice category for its Pulse Pasta, which is made using flour from pulses.
A Heinz pasta sauce range that was specifically designed to ‘cling’ to pasta was another winner. ✷
NEWS
CANCER Council NSW is calling on the government to protect children by removing junk food advertising from public transport.
More than eighty per cent of food ads on Sydney buses and at trains stations are for junk food, according to the organisation, at a time of growing rates of childhood obesity.
Each month children under the age of 15 in NSW make over 3.3 million bus trips and over
2 million train trips. The Cancer Council's research found that one third of the food advertisements along their journeys on public transport services were for sugary drinks and one in five for fast food meals like burgers and chicken.
The research, which was presented at an event hosted by Sydney Health Law and Cancer
Council NSW, also found that on buses alone, nearly 60 per cent of food ads were for popular fast food restaurant chains.
“This is extremely alarming as 21.4 per cent of NSW children aged 5-16 are now overweight or obese. If they carry that weight into adulthood that puts them at risk of 12 different cancers, as
well as heart disease and type 2 diabetes,” Cancer Council NSW’s Nutrition program manager, Wendy Watson said.
The ACT Government has removed junk food advertising on buses, Watson says, and in Western Australia alcohol advertising has been banned on all public transport.
“Childhood obesity is currently a Premier’s priority. If we want to see a real decline in overweight and obesity, this is one way a NSW Government can show leadership,” Watson said.
An annual $25 million in government funds was spent last financial year on combating childhood obesity in NSW, and Cancer Council NSW is calling out the government for sending contradictory messages, Fairfax Media reported. ✷
AUSPACK announces new conference and top speaking talent
A new business and industry conference will take place during Packaging and Processing Week 2019, alongside the AUSPACK exhibition, in Melbourne in March next year.
Key leaders in their respective fields have agreed to present, including packaging industry pioneer and innovator Dr Michael Okoroafor, TV personality and War on Waste champion Craig Reucassel, economist Stephen Koukolis, and diversity expert Dr Katie Spearritt.
The conference will focus on industry challenges and opportunities around sustainability, innovations in technology and design, systems thinking and factories of the future.
Mark Dingley, chairman of the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery
Association (APPMA), which owns AUSPACK said: “We are excited to present the inaugural AUSPACK Business and Industry Conference in 2019. This great new education and information sharing opportunity for industry is another fantastic initiative in line with industry demand.”
Sub themes include innovation and technology, sustainable solutions, smart
packaging, e-commerce, future consumer, export and distribution, blockchain, and design trends.
The 35-plus speakers include Dr Michael Okoroafor, Vice President Global Sustainability & Packaging at McCormick USA.
The conference will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, 26-27 March, 2019. ✷
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | November-December 2018 | Food&Drink business | 7