The Associated Press: CDC: US food poisoning cases held steady in 2008

The Associated Press: CDC: US food poisoning cases held steady in 2008


Interesting reading and more proof that a 2% Herbal-Active solution as a dip for all fresh produce and meats is a sure way not to add to the 25% of the population who are likely to suffer from food poisoning each year.

MR_Response to Carr190309.pdf (application/pdf Object)

MR_Response to Carr190309.pdf (application/pdf Object)


Many Australian companies in the biotech sector struggle to either prove a concept or to develop it. Herbal-Active™ and HerBev™ are natural anti-microbials akin to hops in beer (without hops, beer wouldn't last a week before being over-grown with bacteria, yeasts and moulds). VCFS has spent countless thousands funding the proof of concept and the samples and support needed to get industry to even look at this natural replacement for benzoates, sorbates, metabisulphites, parabens and other chemical preservatives.

Through strategic partnerships, selected agencies and lots of pressing the flesh, blogs, email campaigns and more, the word is slowly creeping out.

My next attack is the supermarkets and natural food stores themselves. Here in Australia, Coles and Woolworths and US outlets such as Whole Foods Markets, Andronicos, Draegers and Lunardi’s should be telling their suppliers to seek us out and to listen to what we are saying.

In the meat industry, sausages appear to be the money pot and a long shelf life sausage is the Holy Grail for companies supplying supermarkets. However, while the ideal solution is to dip or tumble the trim with a 2% solution of Herbal-Active, drain and then mince, few manufacturers want to do more than simply replace the preservative chemicals they now measure in with their seasonings.

Innovation and progress often mean a step sideways and yet change is resisted as though it's important to maintain the status quo. It also takes time and leadership so I guess that like the Australian biotech industry, I'll just sit back and wait.

Credibility the key to continued functional food and beverage growth | Australian Food News

Credibility the key to continued functional food and beverage growth | Australian Food News

Here's a great article on the trend of functional foods which highlights the future for Kakadu Juice as a unique cocktail of superfoods. Its uniqueness comes from the inclusion of Australian wild foods which have not been genetically or selectively engineered as foods which are more adapted to our supermarket distribution systems than for our best nutrition.

Wild foods, which include acai, mangosteen, pomegranate along with the indigenous Australian ingredients of Kakadu plum, Illawarra and Davidson plums, wild rosella, pepperberry and various functional herb and spice extracts are nutrient dense and loaded with phytonutrients. These might be as simple as sugars and not just sucrose, glucose or fructose but every other naturally occurring pentose and hexose (5 and 6 carbon sugars) in small clusters or oligosaccharides. As the author states, [these sugar clusters] act as markers in important recognition processes such as microbial infection, cancer metastasis [maintenance and growth] and cellular adhesion in inflammation, in addition to many intracellular communication events.

Then there are the more recognizable phytonutrients including antioxidants (a massive group of compounds), immune stimulants, inflammation moderators, restoratives, adaptogens and more.

Check out this link for more details on this remarkable superfood beverage and how you can benefit from the legacy of the world's longest living culture.

Processing Magazine - Solutions for the Processing Industry

Processing Magazine - Solutions for the Processing Industry

How easy would it have been to routinely dip the peanuts in a 1-2% solution of my natural antimicrobial, Herbal-Active and reduce the chance of Salmonella reaching toxic levels? It is already used for meats, seafood, fruits, vegetables, herbs and salads but needs to go mainstream. Use it on the produce you buy for your own safety.

Sky News: Aussie food prices soaring

Sky News: Aussie food prices soaring

Luckily more and more Australians are also finding that Herbal-Active extends the shelf life of produce dipped in a 1-2% solution (5g Herbal-Active per 300ml water). Herbal-Active not only reduces the food spoilage organisms on fresh produce such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, chicken, seafood and red meat but also attacks food pathogens. This makes the food safer to eat.

There is a growing number of food, beverage and cosmetic companies turning to this natural preservative which is labeled simply as 'natural flavors'. As benzoates and sorbates are systematically removed and food labels are 'cleaned up', natural preservatives such as Herbal-Active are handling the job for the benefit of anyone who eats.

Rumors of my death are exaggerated

Just to let my visitors know, I am still very active in the authentic Australian food industry. I just tend to use my own website for blogging more than this Blogger site. So to keep up with happenings on Australian wild foods, check out my homepage.

Incidentally, I am looking for a General Manager/Business Development Manager for my growing food business in Sydney. It's a busy operation as we head into the USA with licensed products, another book and a TV show all in development. If you are or know of anyone who could handle stellar growth, please contact me.

Affiliate program Australia

Recently I launched an Affiliate Program Australia for my online store at http://www.dining-downunder.com/idevaffiliate . This gives my many contacts in the industry the opportunity to benefit financially from our shared interest and promotion of Australian native ingredients.

My online store retails Australian native ingredients and products which form part of an Australian cuisine. The gourmet herbs, spices, sauces, syrups, seasonings, infused oils and cosmetic items available online at the online store are manufactured from authentic native Australian ingredients with a long history of use by our indigenous Aboriginal people. The online store website is at http://www.dining-downunder.com/shop/

After you join, you will be supplied with a range of leaderboards, banners ads, title ads and text links that you place within your website, food blog or email campaigns. When a user clicks on one of your affiliate program links to my store, their activity will be tracked by our affiliate program software. You will earn a commission ranging from 10% to 20% based on previous transactions. For your information, the current average affiliate order is over US$85 and rising.

If you are interested in joining, simply visit http://www.dining-downunder.com/idevaffiliate and apply.

Technorati Tags;

Affiliate program Australia, native Australian, native Australian foods, food, online store, Australian food, Australian native ingredients, Australian cuisine, food blog, herbs & spices, infused oils

Blogging with Benjamin Christie and Vic Cherikoff

I know I get a lot of visitors to this site so I'm going to keep adding to my blogs by referring to two other websites with which I am associated. My main website is where I have recently added blogs on the following:

ANZAC biscuits on Anzac Day

We are now seeing what a foolish effort the attack on Gallipoli really was from a military standpoint and in order to shift blame from the generals who should be despised and publicly damned. Instead, we applaud the heroics of those soldiers they condemned to certain death and of those lucky enough to have survived. To me, it's just twisted that our government promotes a cute recipe for Anzac biscuits in honor and remembrance of those that died and legislates that the recipe can't be changed.
[READ MORE..]

Unnatural Acts at The Natural Products Expo

The Natural Products Expo West saw record-setting crowds of up to 43,000 retail buyers, media and industry members who were barraged by more than 3,000 exhibits at this year’s wall-to-wall industry event, the top healthy food and lifestyle products. And I can assure you that the bull-sh_t meter went wild on numerous ocassions.
[READ MORE..]

Wattle We Eat Now? (that's the Royal 'We')

Queen Elizabeth and many of her household are no strangers to authentic Australian flavours. Like many official functions for all types of heads of state, politicians, royalty, sheiks, religious leaders and so on, this week’s event featured Cherikoff ingredients …
[READ MORE..]

Some recent NPD - not just a big cheese

Part of supplying the best authentic Australian ingredients available is my new product development (NPD) for companies wanting to gain a significant competitive edge in their market.

There’s a strategy of pre-eminence in what Cherikoff Rare Spices does in that new products introduced to market by most companies are merely more of the same.
[READ MORE..]

The other site is that of my good friend and colleague, Benjamin Christie. Benjamin has just started a subscription drive for his e-zine and I strongly recommend subscribing to it if you are at all interested in any or all of the following: building networks and contacts, restaurant marketing, good food, Australian recipes, happenings in the global food industry and more.

Benjamin and I have run our Dining Downunder , Australian cuisine promotions together for some years and I know many chefs and food writers around the world, often refer to his blog, which is also his website.

The topics Benjamin addresses are very broad and will help chefs, restaurateurs, foodies, student chefs and food marketers along with hotel GMs, F&Bs and manufacturers keep their fingers on the pulse of food issues.

Benjamin also loves to cook and write about his creations and so there are a plethora of recipes. Take these as an example:

▪ Kangaroo fillet with Yakajirri rosti, aniseed myrtle mushrooms, quandong confit and crispy enoki
▪ Lemon Aspen Sorbet
▪ Cauliflower soup with marron scented with Ferguson’s lobster oil and Oz Lemon
▪ Petuna ocean trout with riberry confit and macadamia cream sauce
▪ Australian Wildfire Clam Chowder - Bulk
▪ Sydney Rock Oysters with Glacé Wild Limes
▪ Gumleaf Scented Crème Caramel
▪ Grilled barramundi with Oz Lemon mash and quandong confit
▪ Australian Wildfire Spiced Wontons
▪ Squid, corn and asparagus cakes with rainforest herbs

Sure, they are all Australian and come with a good story to entertain, edify and entice. For example, imagine slicing easily through the marla steak (kangaroo if you will) knowing the rare-cooked meat will be tender and juicy. The morsel of game on my fork is accompanied by a portion of rosti with its rich tomato seasoning made even richer by the spices in the Yakajirri, one being the bush tomato spice the Yunkatjatjara call akudjura. This more than makes up for the low fat of the meat and the spice notes complement the Maillard products in the seared protein expanding the 250 tastes to probably half as much again.

Then come the highlights of aromatics and soft textures with the earthy mushrooms enhanced naturally by the aniseed myrtle or forest anise as its heady kaleidoscope of essential oils, from a delicate, slightly fruity aniseed to green tea and cut grass provide for the mid to late palate. There happens to be more roasty toasty notes from the splash of Wattleseed extract in the mushrooms for those attune to the chocolate, coffee, hazelnut of this incredible flavour enhancer. Benjamin left this ingredient out to simplify the dish but I always use the combination of forest anise and Wattleseed for stir-fried mushrooms. Try it and be amazed. It leaves your taste buds begging for the next mouthful and almost cleans the tongue's receptors and heightens the organo-leptic experience of this meal. And still, there's more...

To make the dish even more addictive, a hint of sweetness tempered with the peachy, apricot and caramel characters of the slightly chewy strips of quandong confit along with some extra textural crunch and character from the crispy, coated enoki.

If only all experiences in life were so rich and rewarding, there'd be no time for war, terrorism or other of society's vulgarities.