EVENTS
www.foodtechnology.co.nz 5
EDITOR'S NOTE
GREAT KIWI BEER FESTIVAL 2019
January 26 in Christchurch
www.greatkiwibeerfestival.co.nz
INTERNATIONAL SAUVIGNON
BLANC CELEBRATION 2019
January 28 to 30 in Marlborough
www.sauvignonnz.com
WELLINGTON WINE AND FOOD FESTIVAL 2019
February 2 in Wellington
www.wineandfoodfestival.co.nz
TAKAPUNA FOOD, WINE AND MUSIC FESTIVAL 2019
February 16 in Auckland
www.takapunafestival.co.nz
MARLBOROUGH FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL 2019
February 9 in Blenheim
www.wine-marlborough-festival.co.nz
ELECTRIC AVENUE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2019
February 23 in Christchurch
www.dashtickets.co.nz/event
WAIRARAPA WINES HARVEST FESTIVAL
March 9 in Gladstone
www.wairarapa-wines-harvest-festival-wairarapa
HOKITIKA WILDFOODS FESTIVAL 2019
30th Anniversary March 9 in Hokitika
www.wildfoods.co.nz
NEW ZEALAND COFFEE FESTIVAL 2019
March 15 and 16 in Auckland
www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/new-zealand-coffeefestival
2019
WHANGAREI FRITTER FESTIVAL 2019
March 16 in Whangarei
www.venuesandeventswhangarei.co.nz/Fritter-Festival
FOOD SAFETY AND COMPLIANCE CONFERENCE 2019
March 18/19 in Auckland
www.conferenz.co.nz/events/food-safety-complianceconference
2019
THE FOOD SHOW CHRISTCHURCH
April 5 to 7 in Christchurch
www.northportevents.nz
BETTER FOOD FAIR 2019
April 6 and 7 in Auckland
www.betterfoodfair.co.nz
FOODOMICS – HIGH VALUE NUTRITION
April 9 to 11 in Auckland
www.highvaluenutrition.co.nz/2018/06/26/
foodomics-2019
THE GREAT NEW ZEALAND FOOD SHOW 2019
May 4 and 5 in Hamilton
www.greatnzfoodshow.co.nz
TECH WEEK 2019
May
FOOD SHOW WELLINGTON
May 24 to 26, Wellington
www.10times.com/food-show-wellington
THE SERIOUSLY GOOD FOOD SHOW
June 29/30 in Tauranga
www.10times.com/seriously-good-food
FOOD SHOW AUCKLAND 2019
July 25-28 in Auckland
www.10times.com/food-show-auckland
ARE WE ‘TOO
BUSY’ FOR
FOOD SAFETY?
Whilst many topics dominated
the food and beverage industry
in 2018, perhaps none more
so than something that actually
happened in Australia but spilled
slightly over the Tasman to
New Zealand. The Australian
strawberry contamination crisis
has been a bleak but educating
firsthand look into what can
go completely wrong from
the seemingly unexplainable
actions of a solitary peeved
employee, who starts a landslide
of copycat contamination and
brings a whole industry over the
ditch not only to its knees but
to the depths of despair. It also
illustrates just how vulnerable
food growers and manufacturers
are to acts designed to spread
fear and anxiety amongst
consumers quickly and
catastrophically…and just how
close everyone in this industry
is to being completely shut
down by the actions of others.
To me, there was nothing more
chilling than the words of British
food protection policy analyst
Professor Chris Elliot, who
investigated the horrific 2013
horse meat scare in the UK.
“I actually call that terrorism,”
he says about the strawberry
crisis. “One or more individuals
have set out to scare people,
to terrorise people. There
isn’t the level of checking and
inspections that should be going
on that will safeguard your
food industry and safeguard
all Australian consumers.” You
can bet your bottom dollar that
he’d say similar comments
about our systems as well, so
is it time we really took food
safety and authenticity to the
next level? Needles discovered
inside a capsicum in Tauranga
and in strawberries sold in
Geraldine in late November
show us the threat of copycats
is still tangible, despite Ministry
for Primary Industries warning
not to overreact over “isolated
incidents.” Food regulation
director Paul Dansted says
growers are scrutinising their
supply chains but trying to get
their product ready for market
at the same time. “Obviously
they want to put the consumer
first, but it’s a busy time for
them,” he said in an interview.
Is that view enough in an everincreasing
demand for safe and
authentic food? You only have to
look at the agony Fonterra has
gone through in its two major
crises over the past decade or
so to see how even the largest
amongst us can be decimated
by public reaction to bad news.
Does the fact that we’re ‘busy’
excuse us from operating only
the most stringent of safety
systems? There were more
than 60 food recalls in 2018 in
New Zealand involving items
such as brownies, mayonnaise,
milk, hash browns, ginger
beer, mince, tuna, berries
and popcorn. Some of the
manufacturers involved were
big names – Hubbards, New
World, Beehive, Pam’s, Hersheys
and Pak n Save, for example.
Many of them were minor and
precautionary, but should we
congratulate ourselves on ‘only’
having one or so recalls a week
in a country of our size? As a
50-year-old Queensland woman
faces court after being accused
of inserting the first needles
into Australian strawberries,
the latest New Zealand-based
incidents must be sending a chill
down the spines of New Zealand
growers. Food terrorists are still
out there, they are enjoying the
havoc they are reaping amongst
our consumers, and I fear they
won’t be stopping as the year
ticks over to 2019.
Kathryn Calvert
Editor NZ FOODTechnology
/www.foodtechnology.co.nz
/www.greatkiwibeerfestival.co.nz
/www.sauvignonnz.com
/www.wineandfoodfestival.co.nz
/www.takapunafestival.co.nz
/www.wine-marlborough-festival.co.nz
/event
/www.wairarapa-wines-harvest-festival-wairarapa
/www.wildfoods.co.nz
/Fritter-Festival
/www.northportevents.nz
/www.betterfoodfair.co.nz
/
/www.greatnzfoodshow.co.nz
/food-show-wellington
/seriously-good-food
/food-show-auckland
