‘FoodSwitch’ mobile app  from The George Institute voted the ‘Most Valuable HPC or Healthcare Initiative’

eyeforpharma Barcelona Awards: Tuesday 18^th March, Barcelona 2014: In a unanimous decision by a panel of industry experts,  ‘FoodSwitch’, an innovative mobile app created by The George Institute and Senior Director, Bruce Neal, won the ‘Most Valuable HPC or Healthcare Initiative’ category.

FoodSwitch allows everyday shoppers and dinners look up food products and obtain a quick, clear indication of how the food product rates in terms of health factor. What gives this app unique flexibility and longevity is, if a food item is not listed, the user can just add in the name or upload a photo of it – and it is instantly added to the database.

This was something that certainly appealed to consumers when it was first launched in Australia. Within a week, more than 40,000 people had downloaded and used the app.  Furthermore, they had also interacted with it, sending in a staggering 26,000 photos of food within 48 hours, which helped to expand the data base from around 15,000 to more than 50,000 items.

Consumer interest and usage of the app has continued to grow.  In the 24 months since launch, there have been more than 450,000 downloads and every day, an average of 500 photographs are contributed, helping to keep the database contemporary and complete. The New Zealand launch followed a similar pattern.  The plan is to launch FoodSwitch in the UK early in 2014.

“Our judges felt that ‘FoodSwitch’ was not only innovative but, by linking food decisions to medical outcomes, it was giving people more control over disease impact and was an excellent example of how new technology could be utilised to improve public health,” says Paul Simms, Chairman of eyeforpharma.

“It is easy to see how it not only benefited the end user but also is a valuable initiative for all players in healthcare, including physicians, care providers and payers.”

Welcome to our Online Newsletter: Life Science Talk. I am glad that so many of you liked our new design that we launched last month. This issue is packed full of the latest information including our upcoming and on demand webinars and the latest news within the industry.

In this month’s spotlight interview we would like to introduce Paul Daniel from Vaisala. Paul will be discussing his thoughts on their upcoming webinar.

Easter is fast approaching and with all the preparation and excitement that comes with this popular global celebration, I have dedicated my blog to discuss some thoughts with you.

In our December issue I gave you all an insight into the distinctive Christmas traditions of the Czech Republic. If you thought that our Christmas traditions were unique, then you are about to be in for a treat (pun intended) as I describe for you how we Czech Republicans celebrate Easter!

Since its origins, Easter has been a time of celebration and feasting where many different traditional Easter games and customs have been developed. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, a tradition of “patting” or “tapping” is carried out on Easter Monday. During the morning, men will attempt to tap women with a special handmade whip called a pomlázka (Czech) or korbáč (Slovak). Additionally, men from eastern Moravia and Slovakia also throw cold water on women.

The pomlázka/korbáč consists of eight, twelve or even twenty-four withies (willow rods) – usually ranging from half a meter to two meters in length and decorated with a variety of coloured ribbons at the end. It’s important to note that tapping is not a painful act, rather a fun tradition. In fact, it is stated through ‘legend’ that women should be tapped with a pomlázka in order for them to keep their health and beauty for the following year.

An alternative purpose for this tradition is a chance for men to demonstrate their attraction to the women they like. In return, the women give the men a coloured egg, a shot of alcohol and sometimes a small amount of money as a sign of her thanks. In some regions women gladly take their revenge on the man during that afternoon or the following day by pouring a bucket of cold water on any man they wish; this habit slightly varies across Slovakia and the Czech Republic. A similar tradition also existed in Poland (Dyngus Day), but has since changed to become more of an all-day water fight.

Another tradition and symbol of a Czech Easter is our signature hand-painted eggs (Kraslice). Girls decorate these Easter eggs to give to boys on Easter Monday. There are many different Easter egg decorating techniques; with the more elaborate designs requiring a high level of skill. The range of materials used include: bee’s wax, straw, watercolours, onion peels and picture stickers. Most commonly, designs consist of geometrical patterns, but you can also see flowers, leaves and snowflake patterns using a whole array of different colours. The sky is the limit when decorating eggs – the more flamboyant the better! A nationwide Easter egg contest is held in Prague and other Czech cities.

If your country, your town or even your family has a unique Easter Tradition please email me, as I would love to hear about it. Maybe it will feature in our next newsletter!

Thank you to everyone who commented on our blog and participated in our quiz question last month. For those of you who missed it our question was:

Carbon dioxide can be used as a preservative. For which kind of food is this appropriate?

The answer is that it is used for storing grains. By storing grain in a carbon dioxide-rich, oxygen poor atmosphere, the grain will be protected from insects, mold and oxidation.

If you fancy your chances at winning a voucher, simply answer this month’s quiz question – Good luck!

One last point to mention; this month we are launching our new Knowledge Sharing Webinars. This is an opportunity for key industry speakers renowned for their expertise and innovative thoughts within the Life Science’s to share their ideas and opinions to people all around the world. For more information on how to get involved please feel free to contact us.

We hope you enjoy this issue and we look forward to seeing you at our upcoming webinars.

Kind Regards,

Aneta Manningtonova| Marketing Manager | Business Review Webinars

Phone: +44(0)20 7936 6890
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.business-review-webinars.com

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Pharma | Energy | Food | Supply Chain/Packaging | Healthcare

Consumer demand for convenience has driven innovation in food packaging in recent years. However, equally important to consumers is reassurance that the food they purchase is safe, free from contamination by natural occurrences, as well as by packaging materials. That responsibility lies with everyone in the supply chain.

The challenge is that, as an unregulated substance group in Europe, adhesives are difficult to evaluate. We invite you to connect with two H.B. Fuller specialists who can help you make the right decision and ensure food safety compliance.

On Tuesday, May 6, 16:00 CET, Alexandra Ross, product regulatory specialist, and Elizabeth Staab, marketing manager, packaging solutions, will host a webinar: Ensuring Food Safety – how to address adhesives used in food contact packaging. Learn more about our speakers and register today for this FREE webinar.

Our experts will examine the role of current legislation, providing insight about how the guidance from the Association of European Adhesives and Sealants Industry (FEICA) helps both the adhesive manufacturer and user. Alexandra and Elizabeth will review the step-by-step raw material and adhesive evaluation process, which ensures adhesives used for food packaging are safe. They will also explain what information needs to be provided on a food contact status paper, so that adequate data is communicated up the supply chain.

H.B. Fuller is proud to be an active player in the development and application of the Guidance of Food Contact Status Declaration for Adhesives, and we look forward to sharing our insights with you.

The issue of food safety requires collaboration throughout the supply chain. At H.B. Fuller, we are committed to connecting what matters, bringing together people, processes and products that answer and solve customer challenges.

Don’t wait to register for our free webinar and learn more about food safety. To learn more about our packaging solutions, visit www.hbfuller.com/eimea-packaging.

Per-Olof Algotsson, business unit director, packaging solutions, H.B. Fuller

That’s the question for businesses exporting to the US. FSMA (The US Food Safety Modernisation Act) has been hanging over the US for several years now, with different regulations and updates being drip fed into the public area. FSMA was signed into law with the aim of providing safe food to US consumers. Its implications have by and large been ignored by countries outside the US until recently. But as the Act begins to ’bite’ from next year (some provision are already in force), businesses have had to sit up and take notice. Talk of the US ‘policing the world’ may be wildly exaggerated but it is true, for example, that the proposed rules for Foreign Supplier Verification Programs for Importers of Food for Humans and Animals and for Accreditation of Third-Party Auditors vastly widen the scope of the FDA’s oversight of imports, allowing it to refuse imports without prior FDA inspection and to require certification to US standards.

But what does that mean in practice for you?

We will look in overview for example at questions like: ‘How far am I from meeting the FSMA requirements if I am certified to the BRC or other GFSI standards?’ or ‘What changes might I need to make to my existing food safety management systems in order to be FSMA compliant?’

You may believe that your business is ready but is it possible you could be tripped up by the onerous requirements on US importers? How do you know that your buyer has covered all the necessary bases? We will look at some of the less obvious but vitally important implications of the Act.

So let’s introduce the team: I am Jude Mason, Director of Client and Product Services and will be speaking with my colleagues, Frank Schreurs, Global MD of Consulting & Technical Services based in North America and Dominic Watkins, partner and Head of Food group at DWF law firm.  We put together a team for this webinar who understand the US perspective, the terms of the Act and the regulators’ mindset (Frank), who have an expert knowledge of European food law and know where the gaps and pitfalls for businesses are by comparison with US legislation (Dominic) and who can give you practical guidance on preparing for FSMA (me). I will be talking about the six essential steps your business needs to take for FSMA readiness.

NSF International is a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to improve public health. Now one of the most widely known and respected food assurance brands operating in over 70 countries worldwide, we work with many global retailers and manufacturers, delivering food safety expertise to both established and developing food supply operations and regions.  Our food safety services include assurance and certification, consulting, technical services, risk management and training, in addition to testing and standards creation. 

DWF provides specialist legal services to the retail, food and hospitality sectors providing expert services in food law, trading standards and food safety and providing the legal support that the food sector needs across the EU. Dominic has a huge amount of experience of working closely with some of the biggest international brands in the retail and FMCG sectors and of advising in relation to trading standards and food law compliance from product development through to successful launch and ongoing marketing campaigns.

The NSF Technical Services division is the leading independent provider of trading law, food assurance and supply chain technical services for the retail, manufacturing, travel and leisure sectors. Through our legal advisory service, we can offer practical application in both Food and Non Food, from product inception, specification work, product import and exports, barriers to trade, to labelling and marketing.

As challenges such as food fraud and other serious supply chain risks manifest themselves on a global scale, the requirement is for a strategic global approach that also has the ability to pinpoint and remove risk in the supply chain at the most local level. NSF is addressing the most significant themes of today, including risk quantification & horizon scanning, organisational culture and maturity models for food safety systems, behavioural food safety, food fraud in the supply chain and crisis management and planning.

Have a look at our NSF Consulting Group page on LinkedIn  – we’ve got some interesting discussions going among our high powered food safety expert members and over the coming months will be posting more information and discussion around FSMA.

To register for NSF’s webinar ‘The six essential steps to FSMA compliance’ on the 14th May click here.

We organised this Webinar to reach out to our clients and certainly also to the companies that are not our clients but also are faced with difficulties when it comes to develop gas and oil fields. It is my intention in the webinar to make sure that the companies that deal with developing gas fields and refineries understand that there is no such thing anymore as a standard approach. The webinar is intended for operating companies to create the awareness, but also for the contractors that it really pays of to have a knowledgeable company look at the various line-ups to flush out the pros and cons of each of the line-ups.

I have seen it already too many times that due to hasty decisions without having a proper overview costs owners and contractors a lot of additional money to correct a design in a later stage. It is my intention with the webinar to engage in lively interaction with the owners and contractors to also get their experience and hopefully buy in to the concept of investing some time and money in the feasibility stage to flush out any issues and make sure the most cost effective line-up able to meet all product and environmental specifications in the end.

Usually we as technology provider get contacted in a very late stage with only one question to prepare a proposal for an already selected technology. Then there’s no time anymore to explore alternatives and get engaged to see where cost can be saved and smart engineering solutions could potentially save millions of dollars. Jacobs Comprimo Sulfur Solutions hopes that with the examples we will show in the seminar we convince the operating companies and contractors that it pays of to review the different possibilities and see that there are more routes that lead to Rome which might not have been considered, but that will prove more cost effective in the end.

Jacobs Comprimo Sulfur Solutions is one of the leading gas treating and Sulfur technology providers in the industry. We are market leader and come in contact with many different aspects of the issues that Gas producers and refineries face these days.

To register for JACOBS’ upcoming webinar ‘How to handle gas streams with respect to Sulphur removal’ on the 15th April click here.