Author Archives: Editor

About Editor

Hailing originally from the UK, Ali Spencer has spent over 25 years working with the New Zealand trade not only here in New Zealand, but also in the UK and Europe. She regularly contributes meat industry material for Food New Zealand and more occasionally for Vetscript. In the past, she has also contributed material for Deer Industry News, NZ Meat Producer and European News (the former NZ Meat Board’s European newsletter).

Iron Maidens + Sophie

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London Paralympic Games champion swimmer Sophie Pascoe is the newest Beef+Lamb NZ Inc Iron Maiden, becoming the + between Sarah Walker’s ‘Beef’ and Lisa Carrington’s ‘Lamb’.

Announced first on the domestic promotion agency’s Facebook page this morning, the well anticipated news has since been covered at the NZ Herald, which says ‘It all adds up now Sophie has joined in‘.

The 19 year old swimmer from Christchurch, who lost the lower half of her left leg aged two following a lawnmower accident, scored three gold and three silver medals at the recent games in London – breaking two world records and setting a new Paralympic record in the process. She added those to her earlier hauls of ten medals at the Summer Paralympics and four medals at the 2008 Paralympics.

Sophie, who  was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit earlier this year for her services to swimming, will appear alongside the other two B+LNZ ambassadors in a marketing campaign promoting the importance of a healthy diet, including red meat. Kiwis can expect to see Pascoe, Walker and Carrington on their television screens from November.

B+LNZ Inc chief executive, Rod Slater, says Pascoe completes the team.

“She has it all; the New Zealand public love her. Sophie fits seamlessly into the Beef + Lamb brand. We really are seeing the second generation of superstars following on from the original Iron Maidens” says Slater.

Pascoe says she’s really excited to be part of the team.

“I’m thrilled, especially to be working with two other amazing athletes. We all get on so well, it’s going to be great,” says Pascoe.

Congratulations Sophie and B+LNZ!

‘Agflation’ to hit animal protein

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Skyrocketing agricultural commodity prices are causing the world to re-enter a period of ‘agflation’, with food prices forecast to reach record highs in 2013 and to continue to rise well into Q3 2013. Unlike the staple grain shortage 2008, this year’s scarcity will affect feed intensive crops with serious repercussions for the animal protein and dairy industries, according to Rabobank.

Luke Chandler global head of agri-commodity markets research at Rabobank comments, “The impact on the poorest consumers should be reduced this time around, as purchasers are able to switch consumption from animal protein back towards staple grains like rice and wheat.

MeatExportNZ covered this topic in a post last week ‘Global meat prices to surge’ but Chandler makes some additional points.

Firstly, that he does not anticipate the current period of agflation leading to the unrest witnessed in response to the shortage in 2008.

Rabobank estimates that the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Food Price Index will rise by 15 per cent by the end of June 2013. In order for demand rationing to take place, in turn encouraging a supply response, prices will need to stay high. As such Rabobank expects prices – particularly for grains and oilseeds – to remain at elevated levels for at least the next 12 months.

Chandler says that whilst the impact of higher food prices should be reduced by favourable macroeconomic fundamentals (low growth, lower oil prices, weak consumer confidence and a depreciated US dollar); interventionist government policies could exacerbate the issue.

“Stockpiling and export bans are a distinct possibility in 2012/13 as governments seek to protect domestic consumers from increasing food prices. Increased government intervention will likely encourage further increases in world commodity and food prices,” he warns.

Rabobank expects that localised efforts to increase stockpiles will prove counterproductive at the global level, with those countries least able to pay higher prices likely to see greater moves in domestic food price inflation. This is a vicious circle, with governments committing to domestic stockpiling and other interventionist measures earlier than usual – recognising the risk of being left out as exportable stocks decline further.

On top of that, Rabobank warns that global food stocks have not been replenished since 2008, leaving the market without any buffer to adverse growing conditions. Efforts by governments to rebuild stocks are likely to add to food prices and take supplies off the market at a time when they are most needed.

Let the science speak for itself

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As epidemiologists go, Dr Dominik Alexander, is a surprise. He’s young, 39, doesn’t wear glasses or a white coat and is a previous professional kickboxer. However, the leading US epidemiologist also knows his stuff about cancer and nutrition research and he’s been over here in New Zealand sharing his expertise.

With extensive experience in health research methodology and interpretation of epidemiological studies, particularly nutritional epidemiology, Alexander is based in Boulder, Colorado, where he works for engineering and science consultancy firm Exponent Inc in its Health Sciences Centre for epidemiology, biostatistics and computational biology.

He delivers the sobering estimation that one in three people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. The strongest risk factor for cancer, generally, is age.

“With increasing numbers of older people, we are seeing higher rates of cancer and also diabetes and heart disease. This is also the case in developing countries, where the elimination of certain infectious diseases – which would have killed off more of the population early on – and lower infant mortality rates, means a higher rate of cancer and other age-related diseases in the population.”

Relating to nutrition, the types of cancer of concern are those associated with digestion, absorption and elimination such as the most common type, colorectal, through stomach/gastric to the less common oesophageal, pancreatic, liver and other cancers.

As an epidemiologist studying the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease in defined populations, he’s involved in examining exposure and outcome.

“Food is a necessary exposure. All people have to eat,” he says, adding that the result of over-exposure leads to higher Body Mass Index (BMI) rates – overweight to obese – where there is an established increased risk for cancers such as colorectal, the most common cancer affecting the alimentary tract.

In his view, cancer prevention is all about control. The key is a health lifestyle. “It all starts with physical exercise and maintaining a healthy body weight.  In addition you need a well-balanced diet,” he says.

Opinions + assumptions + perception = confusion

Trouble is, as everyone eats, every single person has an opinion on it and the perceptions of the general public, the medical fraternity and the media vary. That’s why the ‘study of the moment’ is leapt on, over-hyped, over-analysed and consequently gets a lot of airtime leading to consumer confusion.

But, you can’t view a single study in isolation, he notes. “Every study needs to be viewed in the context of the available body of scientific views, otherwise it can be misinterpreted.”

Good science is at the heart of good communication, he believes. Dr Alexander’s advice for those communicating with the public is: “Don’t say anything that can’t be backed up by science. Let the science speak for itself and don’t make an interpretation outside the bounds of the scientific results. Given the complexity with this type of product, there needs to be a cautious approach.”

What media get hung up on sometimes is the people funding the research and conflicts of interest. That can negate the worth of the science itself, he believes. “It’s very important to get to the heart of the issue with science and then focus on the science and the scientific basis for comments.”

In his opinion, what makes good evidence is transparency, objectivity, justification for doing the research, rationale and a clear and open basis for research.

“A lot of problems come in when the research is not open and transparent. Say what you’re going to do, do it and show what you learned,” he advocates.

Looking to the future

Looking to the future, we have a long way to go on the preventative side, he says, and continuous updates of cohort studies, don’t always shed light.

“We also lack long-term evidence of differences between organic versus conventional products, for example.

“This all takes us back to the holistic approach and concentrating on the healthy body weights and lifestyle elements.”

Dr Alexander’s articulate delivery comes with a sense of humour and the surprising revelation that he was once a professional kickboxer in the 1990s, before he moved straight to science at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB).

“You could call me the toughest epidemiologist in the world,” he laughs.

At UAB, he was awarded a National Cancer Institute Fellowship for Cancer Prevention and Control and worked closely with the Department of Pathology where he designed and implemented epidemiological studies pertaining to colorectal survival. He is also the 2010 recipient of the UAB School of Public Health Alumnus for scientific excellence.

Dr Dominik Alexander PhD MSHP was invited to Australia and New Zealand in September in a visit jointly organised by Meat & Livestock Australia and Beef + Lamb NZ Inc.

This article appeared in Pen & Palate (October 2012), the NZ Guild of Food Writers’ ezine.

The Kiwi dollar will rise further against the greenback

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Bank of New Zealand economist Tony Alexander wrote an excellent piece this week and made some interesting observations that he says are important for exporters to understand as they struggle with a high New Zealand dollar. He says the Kiwi dollar is going to rise further against the greenback. He explains his thinking in a cutout from the BNZ’s Weekly Overview.

Hearing loss goes unnoticed

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Over half of your plant workers, who think they might have good hearing, could actually have suffered hearing loss, according to a recent US study.

A University of Michigan School of Nursing study of 2,691 people found significant differences between measured and perceived hearing loss, with over half who thought they heard well, found that they had actually lost hearing. Even those with a workplace hearing conservation programme and annual testing may be unaware of their actual hearing ability. The findings are consistent with other studies showing a discrepancy between measured and perceived hearing loss.

The researchers said that healthcare providers need better methods of testing and protecting hearing among factory workers.

Next week is Deaf Awareness Week here in New Zealand, which the National Deaf Foundation Inc (NDF) is using to increase awareness of hearing matters, including bullying of hearing impaired people in the workplace and captioning across the media.

Another campaign being fought by the Foundation relates to the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) tightening up regulations on funding hearing aids for noise-induced hearing lost (typically from exposure to loud machinery or other noisy environments). These set the bar much higher. ACC now deducts an increasing percentage based on age – men aged 57 years and women 65.

“However, research suggests that noise-induced hearing loss can actually speed up age-related hearing loss,” NDF says, adding that the extra costs mean many individuals cannot afford hearing aids. Having exhausted other avenues, NDF will be taking the case to the Human Rights Review Tribunal later this year.

The NFD has some pointers for clear communication with hearing-impaired people in your workplace:

  • Make your face and mouth clearly visible
  • Talk to the person, not to his/her companions
  • Speak slowly – use pauses and don’t shout
  • Rephrase your statement if you are asked to repeat it
  • Use cues to identify a topic, such as “About the warrant of fitness …”
  • Use pen and paper or face and hand movements
  • Don’t make them feel stupid with your response.

Agriculture contributes to GDP growth

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Agriculture was a main contributor to growth in New Zealand’s economic growth in the March 2012 quarter, according to Statistics NZ.

Economic activity, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.6 percent in the June 2012 quarter, following revised growth of one percent in the March 2012 quarter.

Agriculture was one of the main contributors to the growth, increasing by 4.7 percent, with continued good growing conditions resulting in increased milk production, Statistics NZ says.

“The good pasture conditions in the first half of the year continued to contribute to economic growth this quarter, national accounts manager Rachael Milicich says.

Construction, transport, postal and warehousing and manufacturing were other strong sectors.

“We are also now seeing evidence of a rebuild in Canterbury following the earthquakes,” Milicich says.

The size of the economy (in current prices) was $205 billion for the year ended June 2012.

LFTB: lawsuit filed

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US lawyers have filed a US$1 billion + (NZ$1.2 billion+) defamation lawsuit, on behalf of South Dakota based Beef Products Inc, against the ABC News team for a series of comments made on the channel earlier this year about lean finely textured beef (LFTB) – sometimes pejoratively described as ‘pink slime’.

LFTB is lean beef that is separated in a manufacturing process from fatty beef trimmings, to reduce wastage. The process involves treating the LFTB with small amounts of ammonium hydroxide gas or citric acid to eliminate any harmful bacteria present. The process has been approved as safe by the US Department of Agriculture and it has been reported that over 70 percent of ground beef used in the US is believed to have incorporated LFTB as an ingredient.

However, a range of media commentators including ABC News and British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, criticised the practice and the campaign spread through social media platforms. Despite statements by the USDA and meat industry bodies asserting that LFTB is safe for consumption, a number of major retailers and restaurant chains decided not to use LFTB as a result of considerable negative publicity against the product.

As a result of the campaign, sales dropped off dramatically for the company, which led to it closing three of its four plants in May. The American Meat Institute estimated that without LFTB, the industry would need 1.5 million additional head of cattle to make up the difference in beef supply.

The BPI lawsuit alleges the network’s coverage misled consumers to believe the company’s product was unhealthy and unsafe. News reports note that Walt Disney-owned ABC News has denied the claims and say it will contest them vigorously.

LFTB is not used in New Zealand, as the leaner, pasture-raised New Zealand beef does not produce the high fat trimmings that provide the raw ingredient for LFTB, the Meat Industry Association confirmed earlier this year.

Lessons learned from the LFTB saga were aired at last week’s Australian Meat Industry Council business conference. News reports suggest that various speakers warned that social media could pose a threat and the meat industry needs to be on the front foot when it comes to tackling misinformation.

More information about the BPI lawsuit …

MIA signs biosecurity MoU

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Last week, the Biosecurity Reform Bill passed into law. As it announced in June, the Government wants primary sector groups to participate in the Government Industry Agreement (GIA) for biosecurity decision-making and cost-sharing. The Primary Production Committee, which was responsible for the final draft of the Bill, received more than 40 submissions.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been drawn up describing how individual industry groups and Government will develop a business case for participation in joint decision-making and cost-sharing, writes Allan Barber. He finds that, despite initial caution, the Meat Industry Association, has signed the Government’s GIA proposal “provided the value proposition is acceptable.”

Read more …