Wine Australia

Food waste (FW) is a global concern. Dairy products, including milk, cheese, and yoghurt are consistently identified as high-impact contributors to FW across high-income countries. In Australia, these products are significant contributors to landfill waste within the consumption sector. Evidence suggests that consumer confusion over labelling conventions, particularly storage communications, directions for use, and date marking, contributes to unnecessary disposal of dairy products. This review examined Australian regulations and industry and non-profit guidance for storage communications and date labelling of dairy products with respect to FW minimisation, and compared these frameworks with those in New Zealand, the European Union, United Kingdom, and the United States. Across all jurisdictions, labelling standards primarily aim to ensure food safety and product suitability, with FW reduction largely outside the scope of regulatory bodies. This reflects a broader tension between protecting consumers from potential food safety risks and encouraging practices that minimise FW. Although industry and non-profit bodies frequently provide supplementary guidance intended to support FW reduction, this advice is often inconsistent, limited in scope, and non-binding. While some initiatives, such as WRAP in the United Kingdom, offer more comprehensive models, responsibility for leading such harmonisation efforts remains unclear. Findings highlight the need for clear and consistent storage and date-labelling information to reduce consumer confusion and avoidable dairy waste. Clarifying the roles of regulatory, industry and non-profit stakeholders, and integrating FW mitigation more explicitly into policy and regulatory frameworks, could support more effective and harmonised labelling practices in Australia and internationally. • Storage communications and date labelling conventions may impact food waste. • Food waste considerations are beyond the scope of labelling regulatory bodies. • Inconsistent, unclear, or non-binding labelling guidance contributes to consumer confusion. • Harmonised storage and date labels are vital to cutting avoidable dairy waste. • Roles and responsibility for leading FW-oriented labelling reform is unclear.

A high-intensity grinding (HIG) mill is an energy-efficient machine designed for fine and ultra-fine grinding of hard materials. Real-time particle size monitoring in a HIG mill is crucial for optimising grinding efficiency, controlling product fineness, reducing energy consumption, and preventing over-grinding or under-grinding, which can impact downstream processes. While direct inline and online measurement is commercially available through dedicated caliper, laser, or ultrasound based systems installed downstream of the mill, the measurement location does not provide insights of particle size reduction profile along the grinding chamber. Monitoring particle size reduction through cascaded grinding stages (sub-chambers) along the entire tall narrow mill chamber can help detect and rectify abnormalities in grinding dynamics at an early stage, which however, is not well studied. Motivated by the advantages of vibration based monitoring techniques featuring minimal bespoke modification to an existing plant, this study provides a preliminary investigation on the hypothesis of inferring particle size via mill shell vibrations, with a view on the viability, complexity, and worthiness. Vibrations were measured at different positions axially along the external wall of the grinding chamber of a Metso HIGmill™ pilot plant running with different groups of grinding media while maintaining other process variables constant. The hypothesis is theoretically discussed along with experiment results. Complex vibration phenomena arising from the interplay of grinding media, energy transfer, and slurry rheology partially support the hypothesis and also suggest that accurate estimation necessitates complicated modelling and extensive calibration. The added complexity requires careful consideration of trade-offs against the potential benefits. • Beads contact power indirectly encodes ore particle size through slurry rheology. • Mill shell vibrations can indicate particle size reduction along the grinding chamber. • Declining vibration levels in the submerged region suggest grinding progression. • Smaller vibration level change suggests proximity to submerged–freeboard boundary. • Re-climbing of vibration level further near the mill top marks the freeboard region.

Growth monitoring and promotion (GMP) programmes have been implemented for decades in almost all countries. Despite this long history of implementation, GMP has been criticised for being ineffective, calling for a rethink of the programme. With a view of contributing evidence towards the redesign of GMP, we conducted a qualitative evaluation of the programme in various contexts of Ethiopia. We conducted focus-group discussions (FGDs; n = 28) and key informant interviews (KIIs; n = 193) with programme managers, service providers and caregivers beneficiaries. Supply-side, service delivery, and barriers hindering effective coverage were identified. Lack of functional weighing scales, budget constraints, limited transportation facilities, overlap of interventions, and the low motivation and performance of health workers were identified as main barriers affecting the quality-of-service delivery. The benefits of participating in GMP were not always clear to beneficiaries. Competing priorities like household chores, long travel distances to health centres, and in some contexts culturally insensitive practices deterred participation. Although GMP can serve as an entry point for mainstreaming nutrition into universal health coverage (UHC), the programme would need to be redesigned and supported by adequate supply, resources (financial and human), planning, and quality service delivery that is contextual and culturally sensitive.

To prove that a given set of presumptions implies a contemplated conclusion, prove that the premises are at variance with the negation of that conclusion. It is a lesson learned from a rudimentary course in the study of Logic. Proving food safety using the best possible set of presumptions is almost an impossibility. There are far too many variables to contemplate in affirming that conclusion. Proving the efficacy of a preventive control measure, on the other hand, is well within the realm of scientific plausibility. Process validation is a science-based approach for confirming the capability of a process, method, or procedure with respect to achieving a predetermined outcome. For example, a preventive control measure can be shown scientifically to be effective for mitigating the pernicious effects of a specific hazard in a specific item of food. When that novel process is designated a preventive control, it is best to prospectively confirm its capability. That is, it should be validated before it is used in the production of food or foodstuffs that are intended for human consumption. Validation seeks to confirm with a high degree of statistical certainty that the novel technique can be relied upon to deliver against predetermined specification and limits that define the food safety objective and accepted level of protection (ALOP) against the hazard. In this chapter, we explore the relationships among validation, verification, monitoring, and the attainment of food safety and public health objectives when first using a novel food safety intervention.

Activated carbon (AC) has been widely used to remediate soil contamination caused by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Groundcover by vegetation has also shown potential in limiting off-site movement of PFAS from contaminated sites. However, the effectiveness of AC and groundcover in mitigating PFAS migration from soil has not been adequately studied. A rainfall simulation was conducted to investigate the migration of PFAS from PFAS-spiked soil via leaching, runoff and suspended materials during storm events. The efficiency of two AC sorbents (1% w/w) and groundcover (perennial ryegrass) individually or together were evaluated as PFAS remediation techniques. On average, AC reduced perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) concentrations by 91% in leachates and 85% in runoff. Groundcover reduced PFOS concentrations by 44% in leachates and 43% in runoff. The combined use of both AC and groundcover reduced PFAS concentration by 94% in leachates and 86% in runoff. Though its efficacy was lower than AC, groundcover was able to mitigate the movement of short-chain PFAS, e.g. perfluorobutanesulfonate. A significant proportion of PFAS migration was mitigated via plant uptake when plants are present, reducing the amount of PFAS in leachates and runoff. This study suggests that a combination of AC and groundcover could be a more effective method of reducing PFAS migration during storm events.

Household food waste is an intractable policy issue because of its multi-faceted nature. Fruit and vegetable waste makes up the largest part of household waste. However, behaviours driving consumer fresh produce waste have been less explored. This study analyses behavioural and socio-demographic factors affecting household fruit and vegetable waste in Australia. It uses a nationally representative sample (n=1462) that completed a 7-day electronic diary recording the amount of fruit and vegetable waste. The findings indicate that, on average, a household discards 35.2kg of avoidable fruits and vegetables annually. A higher frequency of grocery shopping and purchases of takeaway is associated with higher waste, whilst higher use of a shopping list is associated with lower waste. Older adults, couples and women are more likely to experience a higher incidence of fruit and vegetable wastage at home. These findings are helpful when developing interventions to reduce the waste of fruits and vegetables in households.

Farmers in the middle hills of Nepal have been abandoning agricultural land over the last three decades due to complex socio-ecological drivers and dynamics. A consequence of this shift is the succession of forest. Naturally regenerating tree species, and farmers’ opinions of species benefits, were assessed with field measurements and interviews to guide an analysis of the socio-ecological factors that influence forest succession. Non-linear patterns of species abundance and diversity suggest that intermediate levels of disturbance lead to higher rates of biodiversity than either high or low management interventions within regenerating forest patches. Farmers that practice no or low levels of disturbance exhibit little investment or perceived benefits from their land beyond occasional fodder collection, while high forest disturbance is motivated primarily by activities within the succeeding forest that generate income. Intermediate disturbance patterns in succeeding forests mimic traditional farming practices in Nepal, utilising trees within the mosaic landscape for livelihood purposes. The local heterogenic agro-ecosystems are also associated with higher species diversity. Policy to support the maintenance or enhancement of forest succession on formerly cultivated cropland could contribute to higher species diversity and build adaptive capacity of rural households during landscape transitions. • Complex socio-ecological factors drive forest succession on formerly cultivated land. • Perceived benefits of regenerating species influence disturbance levels. • Intermediate levels of farmer disturbance lead to higher rates of biodiversity. • Opportunities from forest restoration need policies and multi-level support.