APL’s helping hand for foodservice industry staff has been extended, with the Hospo4Hospo program expanding across the country. The program was launched at the start of April, partnering with restaurants to provide free pork meals for workers who had lost their jobs due to COVID-19 measures. After a two-week trial in Sydney and Perth, the program has been extended with meals also offered in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and the NSW Central Coast. In addition to a free pork meal, there’s also a social benefit for the hospitality workers, …

A new campaign encouraging people to #EatAloneTogether has been launched by Restaurant & Catering Australia (R&CA), in partnership with some of Australia’s most high profile food industry personalities. The campaign is a response to the COVID-19 impacts on the sector and encourages people to order from their favourite venues and share a meal online, using the hashtag #EatAloneTogether. APL’s Mitch Edwards appears in the campaign and says people can keep celebrating those special moments and share meals together, plus support their local …

Singapore has announced the establishment of new veterinary drug Minimum Residue Limits (MRLs), including for ractopamine in pigs. The new Singapore MRL for liver is 0.04 mg/kg. Previously there was no MRL set for ractopamine in Singapore for pigs. The announcement provides more clarity and certainty for exporters around what Singapore’s requirements are. The change will apply from 1 May 2020. APL has discussed this development with the Department of Agriculture, Water, and Environment’s National Residue Survey (NRS) team. NRS …

The Pastoral Award 2010 has been varied to enable employers and employees to agree in writing for the employee to be paid an annualised wage or a salary instead of being paid an hourly rate, as of the first full pay period commencing on or after 1 March 2020. This arrangement might suit some employers, but may also require changes in the way timesheets and records are kept. The People in Agriculture website has some useful information and fact sheets …

The APL marketing team has been busy refocussing some of its efforts in recent weeks, with increased engagement in consumer digital channels. This has included an increased focus in social media to raise awareness of imports in ham and bacon. Please like and share the video, starring some of our amazing producers who volunteered their time in the creation of this important message. Despite extra pressures on all involved, this video was turned around in two weeks with no budget, and as you can …

With the increasing threat of exotic diseases such as African swine fever reaching Australia, the NSW Pig Biosecurity – Health and Disease Survey is a project designed to better understand pig owner and producer practices and beliefs regarding pig health and disease prevention, preparedness and biosecurity across NSW. For further information about taking the survey, visit the NSW DPI website.

The initial stakeholder consultation component of the 2019 APIQ✓® Major Review has now been completed by Prime Consulting International. After the Major Review reference group meeting on 22 January, there were nine stakeholder meetings between 30 January and 19 February in VIC, NSW, WA, QLD and SA, with a teleconference for Tasmanian stakeholders. During the stakeholder communication meetings participants discussed four key discussion points which had been identified by the reference group. Further, there was a significant amount of time devoted to items …

Article originally written by Peter Haydon for Australian Pork Newspaper Last time I was involved as part of a team of technical experts was over 18 years ago, and it was with about 70 food technologists. So, I called a mentor of mine and asked him whether I might have forgotten anything about working with technical experts. His answer was annoyingly concise: “They are people, Pete, treat them like people”. So, in the first four weeks in Research and Innovation, that’s what I’ve been doing. We had some honest …