The Australian Government's Innovation Report

The programme is providing $11.9 million over the five years to June 2007.
Two centres of excellence have been established: the National Centre of Excellence in Functional Foods at the
University of Wollongong (NFIS contribution $5.5 million over five years) and the Australian Food Safety Centre
of Excellence at the University of Tasmania (NFIS contribution $4.5 million over five years). The National Centre
of Excellence in Functional Foods is leading the advancement of functional foods in Australia and overseas by:
• integrating activity related to diet and health in industry, scientific, regulatory and consumer domains;
• participating in standards development at the national and international levels for research that
substantiates the effects of functional foods;
• providing critical review of the development of a regulatory framework for functional foods through
responses to Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) consultations and supplying useful regulatory
information and references to companies through the website, conferences and other industry events;
• providing access to knowledge on the science, market intelligence and regulatory environment relevant
to functional foods; and
• pooling the individual capabilities of its members.
The centre has conducted 20 company consultancies with a value of more than $400 000, including a project for
Uncle Toby’s to establish nutritional criteria for nutritious snacks. This resulted in a major report that has been
disseminated widely to the media and health professionals and the criteria have now been adopted by Uncle
Toby’s as the basis of new development guidelines for muesli bars and other nutritious snacks.
The Functional Foods Centre continues to develop a portfolio of underpinning science in two key areas:
Foods for Appetite Control and Foods for Healthy Ageing. Foods for Appetite Control aims to build the scientific evidence
for the effects of dietary protein on appetite and satiety to underpin opportunities for innovative food products
targeting weight management. Foods for Healthy Ageing focuses on oxidative stress as a function of ageing and
building the science base for foods delivering protective agents such as Selenium and other antioxidants in
promoting health.
More information can be found at:
National Food Industry Strategy Ltd – www.nfis.com.au
National Centre of Excellence in Functional Foods – www.nceff.com.au
Australian Food Safety Centre of Excellence – www.foodsafetycentre.com.au
Healthy export
There are about 5.4 million cases of food-borne illness in Australia each year and the chilling of meat carcasses
has been identified by the Australian Food Safety Centre of Excellence (AFSCOE) as a potential health hazard.
In 2004-05, AFSCOE conducted a study into E. coli growth when chilling meat carcasses. This involved
developing a laboratory-based model system that mimicked the temperature, water activity and water content
changes of beef during Australian commercial air chilling operations.
By studying the changes in E. coli populations exposed to the chilling regimes and evaluating whether combined
chilling and drying regimes reduce the pathogens, AFSCOE aimed to optimise product quality and safety.
In 2005-06, the study was accepted into the Revised Export (Meat and Meat Product) Control Orders 2005
as a refrigeration index. The recommendations are reported to have helped maintain Australia’s position
as the sixth largest exporter of unprocessed food in the world, bringing an estimated net direct benefit
of $85 million a year to the Australian meat industry.
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