Food packaging: a consideration for procurement.

Food packaging information can benefit those involved with procurement of food products; however, available information is limited. A mail survey of 271 hospital administrative dietitians and 29 foodservice directors was conducted to investigate their perceptions and knowledge of food packaging functions, packaging information, and packaging materials and forms. Data from the 60 usable mail surveys indicate most participants perceived food packaging information as being beneficial for making purchasing decisions and that packaging has several important functions. However, participants appeared to possess limited knowledge about packaging materials and forms. Respondents were most knowledgeable about traditional packaging forms and materials vs. those developed more recently. Food packaging information should be made available to administrative foodservice personnel through publications and seminars or conferences.

The prevalence of viral hepatitis (HAV, HBV and HCV) in the Christchurch community.

AIM: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis A (HAV), hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) in adults randomly selected from the Christchurch community. METHODS: A list of names was randomly generated from the Christchurch electoral roll and subjects were sequentially contacted and invited to participate. A blood sample was taken and tested for hepatitis A (IgG anti-HAV antibody), hepatitis B (HBsAg and anti-HBc) and HCV (anti-HCV antibody) using Abbott Elisa kits. Subjects positive for HBsAg were also tested for HBeAg/HBV DNA. Those positive for anti-HBc were tested for anti-HBs. HCV antibody positive samples were tested for HCV RNA using PCR. RESULTS: 1064 subjects (30.3% of those invited) participated in the study. The prevalence of HAV antibodies was 27.9%, and increased with age. The overall prevalence of HBV markers was 42/1064 (4.2%), and of these 0.3% were HBsAg positive and 3.9% were considered immune. No gender or ethnic differences in these proportions were observed. The seroprevalence of HVC antibody was 3/1064 (0.3%), two of whom were also PCR positive for HCV RNA. CONCLUSION: In the Christchurch community there was a high prevalence of antibodies to HAV, which increased with age. The prevalence of HBsAg and antibody to HCV were both low at 0.3%.