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Sadly, as mentioned last week, I was unable to deliver the opening address to the New Zealand Food Safety Authority's (NZFSA) Annual Conference, held in Rotorua New Zealand on 18 and 19 September. The theme of the conference was 'Safe Food is Your Business'. As well as providing delegates with an opportunity to learn about the rules that govern the import and export of foods, there were interesting discussions of the picture of foodborne illness in NZ.  Like us, the Kiwis have a 4Cs campaign – 'Clean, Cook, Cover, Chill' – and are working with their food services sector to promote food hygiene. They have been able to build on our 'Safer Food Better Business' initiative and in turn we're learning from their work developing 'Campylobacter in Poultry Strategy 2007-2010'.

As a guest of NZFSA, the joint Heads of my Chief Scientist Team made the presentation on the Agency's science to the conference.  David and Julie explained how the Agency's work is founded on the robust analysis of the best science and evidence.  They also took the opportunity to launch my 2nd Annual Report down under.  I am pleased to hear that their presentation raised a lot of positive interest and that copies of the report went like hot cakes.

All of the conference presentations will be available shortly on the NZFSA's website so why not have a look yourself? And let me know what you think ...