The following information has been taken directly from the Australian Food and Grocery Council Website; you can read the original article in full here.

1. It is not safe to refreeze meat after it has been thawed

Contrary to the popular myth, it is actually safe to thaw and refreeze meat. However, this only applied if the thawing process takes place in a refrigerator at 5 degrees Celsius or less. Under these conditions most bacteria responsible for food poisoning cannot grow and those that can, do so very slowly and are killed by subsequent cooking. However, if a piece of meat is repeatedly thawed on a benchtop, parts of the meat will rise above 5 degrees Celsius, allowing bacteria that causes food poisoning to grow. 

It should also be noted that repeated thawing and refreezing of meat will affect meat quality, as it loses juice during each thaw cycle. This may impact on eating quality.

2. Processed foods typically contain high levels of salt

It is not true to say that processed foods typically contain high levels of salt. In fact, most foods we eat contain some naturally present salt and added salt has been used for centuries to preserve foods and prevent contamination by microbes. Salt also improves the taste of food and boosts other flavours in food. And with the availability of new methods of preservation and antimicrobial agents, salt in many processed foods has been reduced without affecting taste and flavour. While it is true that a significant proportion of our salt intake comes from processed foods, this is not because they typically contain high levels of salt. It is more to do with the fact that our dietary choices include many processed foods, many of which are counterparts of foods which, if prepared in the home, would have salt added during preparation or cooking. 

3. Chickens are often given growth hormones to improve production

Unfortunately, a large number of people in Australia still believe that chickens are fed hormones. In part, this stems from a television program in July 1985 in which hormonal abnormalities in young women in the Caribbean Island of Puerto Rico were linked to feeding of hormones (oestrogen) to chickens.

Without actually saying so, the story implied that the feeding of oestrogen to chickens was a common practice worldwide—and indeed a practice followed in Australia.

However, the feeding of oestrogen to chickens was banned in Australia in the early 1960s—more than four decades ago.

In order to maintain consumer confidence in poultry products, the Commonwealth Government’s National Residue Survey (NRS) regularly tests for growth hormones. No residues have ever been detected.

NRS test results can be obtained from the NRS website www.nrs.gov.au/residues/residues.html or by calling (02) 6272 3446. 

4. Compared with food cooked at home, processed foods have a lot less nutrients

Many processed foods are just as nutritious or in some cases even more nutritious than fresh foods, depending on the manner in which they are processed.

Frozen vegetables are usually processed within hours of harvest. There is little nutrient loss in the freezing process so frozen vegetables retain their high vitamin and mineral content. In contrast, it can take days or even weeks before fresh vegetables reach the dinner table and some vitamins are gradually lost over time.

Some processed foods have added vitamins and minerals for extra nutrition. In fact, the growing interest in health and nutrition has spurred the production of a whole new range of foods with added health and nutritional benefits called functional foods, such as margarines with added phytosterols to lower cholesterol.

Processing can also make some nutrients more available. For example, processing tomatoes into either paste or sauce increases the concentration of lycopene—an antioxidant Harvard University researchers have found may reduce the risk of prostate cancer by up to 40 per cent. 

5. Food colouring, especially red, can make children hyperactive

The myth that food colourings—also known as colour additives—cause hyperactivity was popularised in the 1970s. However, well–controlled studies conducted since then have produced no evidence that colour additives cause hyperactivity or learning disabilities in children.

A colour additive is any dye, pigment or substance that can impart colour when added or applied to a food. Colour additives are used in foods for many reasons, including off–setting colour loss due to storage or processing of foods and to accommodate variations in natural food colour. Australia’s Food Standards Code requires that any colour added to food is identified in the ingredient statement by name or by its international code number. The Food Standards Code controlling foods, food additives and food labelling is developed nationally by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and adopted by all States and Territories, and New Zealand. 

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A common ‘health tip’ has been to drink a glass of water for every cup of coffee or tea consumed, to balance the loss. This however is completely unnecessary.

The diuretic effect of caffeine is actually fairly insignificant, and the small effect that does exist is reduced in people that regularly consume caffeine. Basically, for every mg of caffeine you consume you may lose approx. 1.07mls of fluid.

What does this mean for the average coffee and tea drinker?

• A cup of instant coffee contains approx 57mg of caffeine (61mls lost approx)
• An espresso 77mg
• Drip coffee 145mg
• Black tea 47mg
• Green tea 25mg
• White tea 15mg

Caffeinated soft drinks have less than black tea, but energy drinks contain as much if not well more than drip coffee.

~ Caffeine amounts taken from an online database, you can read the complete list here ~

A cup of fluid is 250mls of water, so in a cup of strong coffee, you will still consume in fluid more than possible losses (155.15mls of water lost from drip coffee).

(Note: all values approximations)

There are of course exceptions to this, a short black is made with only a small amount of fluid and MAY dehydrate, and energy drinks with their potential high caffeine content could cause dehydration.

As a general rule though, you can feel reassured next time you sit down with a standard cup of tea or coffee that it is contributing to your daily fluid requirements.

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