Where has the year gone?
It’s hard to believe it’s November already.
Things are ramping up, so before December is upon us, we wanted to take this opportunity to share with you some Regulatory updates, this year’s events, and some of the great people we have on our Produco team. Enjoy!
Requirements for Exporting Food to China
Decree 248 came into effect on 1st January 2022. It requires that all overseas manufacturers of foods that are imported into China, need to obtain GACC registration. That means all food products must be approved via the GACC registration process. Decree 248 also requires that registration labelling requirements are met.
See our blog that talks about how to navigate the full registration process for New Zealand food manufacturers intending to export their food products to China: https://produco.co.nz/2022/09/07/exporting-food-to-china/
Animal Products Act - Regulatory Redesign
The redesign of the APN 2021 came into effect on 1st July. It means that the majority of RMPs will require a review and be updated to meet the new regulations (Animal Products Regulations 2021 and Animal Products Notice Production Supply and Processing 2022).
The important date to note is the Operator of an existing RMP must ensure the programme is updated by 1 November 2023 to accurately reflect the requirements of the Act, these regulations, and any supplementary notices.
Produco has completed a number of GAP assessments for clients with current RMPs against the new regulations and notices. If your company isn’t sure where to start or doesn’t have the resource to complete the task, we are available to provide this assistance.
Redesigned notices focus on industry-specific details and technical requirements. Major changes are:
- 3 animal products regulations -> consolidated and replaced by the new Animal Products Regulations 2021
- 29 existing animal products notices -> replaced by 14 notices
- Wine Regulations 2006 and 2020 -> replaced by the new Wine Regulations 2021
- 6 wine notices -> replaced by 3 notices
- Stronger food traceability and recall requirements for both the new animal products and wine regulations
The Salmonella in Chocolate Incident
Salmonella is more associated with raw meats, eggs, and dairy that have not been properly handled, processed, or temperature controlled. To have it in chocolate is uncommon, but not unheard of.
In the Ferrero incident, Kinder Surprise chocolates were recalled due to Salmonella Typhimurium. The buttermilk had most likely been handled poorly post-pasteurisation of the original raw milk. It had probably been re-contaminated with the organism during processing, not well temperature-controlled, and kept too long, allowing the bug to grow and produce the toxin. Once the toxin was present, the heat treatment allowable for milk was no longer going to be effective to remove it before use in the final product, the chocolate.
You can read the full article here: https://produco.co.nz/2022/06/20/salmonella-chocolate-pathogens/
Events: Quality Club 2022
In March and September, we held our Quality Club webinar series. Every Friday lunchtime for 6 weeks, we came together as quality professionals to deliver a suite of food safety topics in easily digestible, 1-hour timeslots. We had great turnouts across both groups with dedicated, skilled people joining us from a variety of food and dairy organisations such as The a2 Milk Co., Blue River Dairy, Mataura Valley Milk, Tom & Lukes, Westland Milk Products and Whittakers to name a few.
Here’s what some of them had to say about Quality Club:
“This would be the 3rd time that I’ve studied the Abbot case study, Nice work on pitching at a level that was 100% relatable and therefore informative to the point of more learning than the last 2 times I studied it”.
“I really enjoyed the Quality Club sessions, they were well presented and interesting!”
We will be running another Quality Club 6-week series in August 2023. See the Events Schedule below for dates. We will send more information closer to the time. Follow us on LinkedIn to receive regular updates here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10831760/
Quality Advisors - Leading Quality Culture Course
Our suite of training offerings includes a 1-day course suited to Quality Advisors who are seeking to develop and improve their leadership skills in Quality Management Systems.
Highly interactive, this course weaves together Quality culture and food safety systems and how together, these components can reduce the cost of quality, improve overall productivity, engage your workforce, retain staff for longer, and provide greater customer fulfillment & loyalty.
Actions are set during the course and a follow-up session with the facilitator has seen some excellent results from the course participants. Here’s what people are saying about the course:
“Good course, very engaging and informative. I liked the focus on collaboration and relationship building”.
“Outcome-focused is great. Having follow-up actions is great for accountability”.
In 2023 we will be running both our 1-day and 2-day Quality Culture courses. See the Event Schedule below for dates.
2023 Events Calendar
Our 2022 events programme has finished for the year. Thanks to all of you who were part of these events. We have put together our 2023 Training programme and this will also be published on the Training & Events page of our website: https://produco.co.nz/training-events-workshops/
If you are interested in registering or finding out more about our Quality Culture training courses, click on the Calendar above to be taken to a registration form. One of the team will be in contact with you.
Or just drop us an email: [email protected]
INC Conference
Liz Maloney attended the Infant Nutrition Council conference in October. This was the first time in 4 years it was able to run, due to Covid-restrictions.
The theme, ‘Feeding Our Future’ couldn’t be more relevant, with many factors impacting the availability and access to safe, nutritious food for infants and the population in general.
Interesting takeout included visiting some ‘Disprutors’ that are now moving into the mainstream:
- Plant-Based: growing opportunity in +1 milk formula and hybrid milk formula options
- Goat milk: moving from premium niche to more mainstream
- Fit for Purpose: more specialised products e.g. giving caesarean babies Bifidobacterium longus.
We’ve introduced Gavin Kouwenhoven to you before. He joined the team in September 2021 and has been busy working with multiple clients. Gavin brings specialist advice in the Meat and Seafood sectors. Based in Queenstown, we are thrilled to have him as our South Island team member.
Gavin enjoys helping businesses meet the varied challenges producing food can bring – from Product Development to Production Improvements to Regulatory Compliance. Some of his highlights include:
- Develop and implement a HACCP-based RMP for an export packhouse
- Company representative for successful external audits from customers (WQA, BRC) as well as (MPI) and international (FDA) regulators
- Install and operate a retort vessel
- Obtain certification as an Approved Person for LACF
- Part of the team that won the Supreme NZ Food Award 2014 with a Smoked Salmon product
- Install and operate a High-Pressure Processing vessel to shuck raw mussels and use as a listeriacidal step
- Develop HACCP-based documentation and operate a food facility with multiple food types – fish, shellfish, pork, beef, chicken
- Develop new product
- Assist with packaging design and compliance
Gavin’s full bio is available here: https://produco.co.nz/business-profile/
Christmas Operating Hours
Lastly, thank you for your continued support this year.
Our team will be available during the Christmas and New Year period, in a reduced capacity.
Our last official day of the year is Friday 23rd December and we officially re-open on Monday 9th January 2023.
To assist you with any urgent matters and queries, some staff will be working during these times. You can contact us at [email protected] and we will respond.
Until next time,
Colin, Gemma, and all the Produco team
