Embattled Japanese meat processor Nippon Meat Packers said on
Tuesday that its founder and chairman would step down and its
president would be demoted to help restore public trust after a
beef mislabelling scandal.
DuPont Qualicon has appointed UK-based company Oxoid as
distributors in Europe and Australia for its BAX system, an
automated testing platform for food-borne pathogens.
Japan's Nippon Meat Packers, battered by a beef mislabelling
scandal, will give results of an investigation on Tuesday at a news
conference in which its founder is expected to resign as chairman.
In the news again - food to fight cholesterol. A new study released
this week suggests that honey contains about the same level of
antioxidants as spinach, apples, bananas, oranges and strawberries.
The British Food Standards Agency (FSA) survey has revealed that a
wide range of dietary supplements sold in the UK have been
irradiated, violating the British food legislation.
Indonesia's ambition to become the world's largest cocoa producer
by 2010 could wreak havoc on the global market, even if its beans
do not make it into the top grade, analysts said.
Further evidence to suggest that almonds could benefit our health
hit the press this week as scientists in Canada report that almonds
significantly lowered bad cholesterol levels in a study of people
with high cholesterol.
The American arm of Danish food ingredients company Danisco this
week announced the launch of a flavour concept designed to target
the ice cream and frozen novelty segment and to maximise on the
persuasion techniques of children.
Dutch chemicals group Royal DSM has denied being in talks with
Australian food group Burns Philp over the purchase of its Gist
Brocades unit, IndustrySearch.com reports.
Australasian food group Goodman Fielder ended months of speculation
on Friday by selling its flour milling and mixing business to
GrainCorp and US grains giant Cargill for A$200 million (€110
million).
Enzyme company Novozymes has announced the development of a new
enzyme for syrup production. According to the company Liquezyme X
allows manufacturers to improve syrup production with fewer
chemicals at lower cost.
Stable Micro Systems launches powder flow analyser to help
manufacturers avoid problems such as batch and source variation of
ingredients, caking during storage, bridging in hoppers and
sticking during production.
Royal Ahold, the giant Dutch retailing group, has taken 100 per
cent control of Disco Ahold International Holdings (DAIH), the
joint venture which it operated in Latin America with the Velox
Retail Holdings group.
Researchers in the US have developed a new compound, designed from
a known anti-cancer agent found in broccoli, that shows potential
for preventing breast cancer.
Dutch life science company DSM, together with Agennix, a US
developer of recombinant human lactoferrin, has opened a new
manufacturing facility on DSM's fermentation site in Capua, Italy.
Choglit - no, not the name the European Commission wants producers
of non cocoa-butter chocolate to adopt but the name of a new drinks
brand produced jointly by Coca-Cola and Nestle and launched in the
US earlier this month.
The growing levels of consolidation in the European food retailing
sector are continuing to drive sales growth, with turnover forecast
to rise 17 per cent between 2001 and 2006, according to a report
published recently by Mintel's...
Dutch food group Numico NV is the latest company this week to post
a slide in first-half profits well below expectations on Thursday.
Hit again by weak US vitamin sales, analysts were also disappointed
over the lack of a new strategy.
Leading German chemicals group Degussa released first-half year
results this week, announcing that core businesses lifted sales 1
per cent to € 5.5 billion, but overall sales dropped 3 per cent
from last year's figures to €5.9...
The belief that a fatty diet is potentially harmful to human health
gained more credence this week when a sixteen-year study found one
of the first direct links between a fatty diet and heart disease in
women, reports the science...
Danish enzyme company Novozymes claimed this week that research
into local crops in Brazil as a source of inexpensive and
nutritious food is part of a cooperation agreement between
Novozymes Latin America and Tecpar, the institute...
Pharmaceuticals giant Roche has reported a 28 per cent fall in net
profits for the first half, but stuck with its forecast of a return
to double-digit growth in 2003.
The acquisition of the Belgian-based flavour house Perlarom has
enhanced Danisco's position in the premier league of European
flavour houses, the Danish company reported this week. In May this
year Danisco acquired the Perlarom...
New diagnostic methods for obesity may soon be developed, according
to scientists working on a three-year international research
project called Nugenob. The European funded project has set out to
explore the relationship between diet,...
US food irradiation company Food Technology this week announced a
drop in revenue for the first and second quarters of 2002. The
company attributed the worsening results to the departure of one
client and increased expenses. Total...
PT Unilever Indonesia plans to invest an estimated $500 million
(€512m) in the next 10 years in Indonesia, an official with its
parent company said Wednesday, Dow Jones reports.
Australian yeast and natural ingredients company Burns Philp this
week reported a healthy 65 per cent jump in net profit to A$146.2
million (€80m) for the fiscal year ended 30 June 2002, despite a
drop of 2.1 per cent in sales to...
Laurens Patisseries, a leading US cakes and pastries manufacturer
has installed a Package Coding Management System from Claricom to
allow centralised network control of on-pack coding to increase
efficiency and eliminate the risk...
Brand names have a unique impact on our brains and engage the
"emotional", right-hand side of the brain more than other words,
new experiments suggest. They are even more easily recognised when
they are used in capital letters,...
Concerns in the US about the potential for future genetically
engineered foods to cause allergic reactions has spurred the Food
and Drug Administration to hold a meeting to look into the best
methods for determining whether these...
A Quorn Foods official has defended his company's meat-free foods,
following an attack by lobby group Center for Science in the Public
Interest, according to a report by SupermarketNews.
Pregnant women are advised to avoid high doses of vitamin A,
because a high intake of vitamin A in pregnancy has been associated
with developmental effects on the unborn child. However too low an
intake can also pose problems. A European-funded...
Eggs play a valuable role in helping consumers achieve a balanced,
varied, and nutritious diet, the American Council on Science and
Health (ACSH) concluded in a report released today.
Swiss food giant Nestle on Monday reiterated its interest in some
cereal brands put up for sale by Novartis as speculation mounted
that the food firm is among the last bidders for the drug firm's
health and functional food unit.
In the latest scandal to hit Japan's food industry, supermarket
operator Tokyu Store Chain said on Tuesday that it had been
involved in selling beef intentionally mislabelled as a more
expensive variety.
We reported on Monday that the UK supermarket chain the
Co-Operative Group has condemned the misleading labelling of foods
claiming that foodmanufacturers are "hoodwinking" consumers. Today
the UK Food and Drink Federation,...
A scientist from Russia has developed a recipe for bifidobeer - a
beer that contains bifidobacteria. There is evidence to suggest
that bifidobacteria contained in beer can perform several functions
at the same time - beer quality...
Zinc intake among the elderly in Europe is generally low - but
European researchers are currently trying to discover the role of
zinc in preventing the chronic and degenerative diseases associated
with ageing.
A UK supermarket chain is calling for the government to crack down
on misleading food labels - underlining the link between unhealthy
eating and inappropriate labels.
UK chemical analysis company Burkard Scientific has developed a
compact package for accurate and user-friendly sugar analysis, the
company claims this week.
Shares in functional drink giant Yakult Honsha on Monday dropped
sharply after a local weekend report that the Japanese beverage
maker had paid off a suspected racketeer, reports Dow Jones.
Processing fruit and vegetables is known to reduce their vitamin C
content, but this does not necessarily mean that their antioxidant
properties are reduced, claim scientists in the US.
US functional flavour company Blue Pacific Flavors has opened a
state-of-the-art finished beverage R&D application facility for
the development of functional beverages.
UK starch ingredient company National Starch, a subsidiary of
chemical giant ICI, this week announced the launch of Novation 9330
and Novation 9360 - a range of organic, functional native starches.
Signs that the functional food market is gaining ground were
revealed this week when the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA)
announced it is considering a 'novel food' application by a food
manufacturer to market 'milk and...
Even as Pennsylvania lawmakers move forward in attempts to halt the
sale of the chocolate maker, Hershey Foods said on Thursday that it
had received an unsolicited mini-tender offer to buy less than 2
per cent of the company.
The UK restaurant sector's financial performance is, on average,
better than that of the rest of the hospitality industry and
restaurateurs are confident about the future, writes a new report
released this week.
Dietary antioxidants are currently at the centre of a new
collaboration between scientists and the industry with increasing
evidence to suggest that these compounds could have beneficial
effects on the ageing processes. Most of the...
