The latest berry scare makes a compelling case for buying local.
New Zealand imports far more frozen berries than it exports, with thousands of tonnes of the fruit flooding in each year from as far afield as Egypt and Peru, says Stuff’s Esther Taunton.
Meanwhile RNZ reports local producers are worried a hepatitis A scare linked to imported fruit could accidentally put people off local produce as consumers fail to differentiate between locally-produced fresh and frozen products and those imported from overseas.
Twelve cases of hepatitis A has led Government food safety specialists to to recall some Pams frozen berry products while they investigate into the source of the illness. “So far, 8 of the 12 cases are linked by genetic sequencing, meaning they were likely exposed to the same source of the virus. Seven of the 12 cases have been hospitalised”, said Vincent Arbuckle, New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general.
“We’re encouraging people to look in their freezers to see if they have any of the recalled product. People who have these products at home should not eat them raw. Bringing them to the boil will make them safe, or they can be returned to the place of purchase for a full refund.
Meanwhile, some local grown frozen options include: Goodness Kitchen’s as well as Maungatapere Berries and Berryfresh
Local grown frozen options include Goodness Kitchen’s as well as Maungatapere Berries and Berryfresh
Reducing nursery and garden plastic waste
A new biodegradable plant pot has been developed as an alternative to the 350 million plastic trays used per year by nurseries and gardeners, reports Stuff.
The sustainable pots are a new product developed by Pinehurst Associates with help from the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund. “The pots can last 12 months above ground before biodegrading, with the biodegrading process starting as soon as soil is added. They can be planted directly into the ground, with the pot providing fertiliser for the plant as the pot biodegrades,” says Steve Penno, MPI’s Director of Investment Programs.
The pots will be sold commercially within the next year, offering a plastic-free alternative to the 350 million plastic trays and pots used by New Zealand nurseries and gardeners each year.
Stink bugs that could sink our major horticultural export crops
The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug is one of New Zealand’s most unwanted biosecurity threats. An incursion of BMSB would threaten more than 18 crops, including major horticultural export crops worth more than $5 billion such as winegrapes, kiwifruit, pipfruit and summerfruit. Not only does the pest affect crops, with reports of up to 30% fruit loss in kiwifruit orchards, populations also overwinter in large numbers in homes, making it a significant nuisance to the general public.
Thanks to the hard work of the scientists at Plant and Food Research and others, Aotearoa New Zealand now has an additional border treatment option to manage this highly destructive pest.
The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug is one of New Zealand’s most unwanted biosecurity threats. / Plant and Food Research
From January 2022, all targeted ‘risk-good’ cargo entering New Zealand, including vehicles, machinery and cargo imported from countries with BMSB in Europe, Japan, and the United States, can be fumigated with ethyl formate (EF) to kill any hidden BMSB. New Zealand is the first country to approve EF to manage BMSB in imports at the border.
Plant & Food Research, as part of the Better Border Biosecurity (B3) collaboration, managed a series of MPI-funded trials in the USA to determine the effectiveness of EF as a fumigant. Laboratorybased studies found EF fumigation killed 99.9% of overwintering and active adult BMSB. The treatment schedule was adjusted after being tested operationally in containers to ensure effectiveness in real-world use.
Based on the trial results, MPI has approved EF as a treatment option to kill BMSB. EF, which is a ‘Generally Recognised as Safe’ (GRAS) product for humans, can now be used to replace fumigation with methyl bromide, an ozone-depleting chemical with increasing restrictions on its use. Other treatments approved for BMSB are heat and fumigation with sulfuryl fluoride.
