Spar, the German retail group, is being forced to take drastic
measures to haul itself out of the red. With operating losses of
€65 million in the first half of the year, and a restructuring
programme undermined by the weak German...
Diageo's decision to change its Cardhu Scotch whisky from a single
malt to a pure malt - a blend of malts from different distilleries
- has met with widespread condemnation from the rest of the
industry, so much so in fact that...
Today in Brussels European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin
will meet ministers and high level representatives of the 13
acceding and candidate countries to discuss their participation in
the EU's Sixth Framework Programme...
Hard negotiations followed by new European rules put to bed
long-standing disputes over labelling issues that hung over
chocolate manufacturers. As more European manufacturers turn to
vegetable fats, the challenge is on for ingredients...
Fortifying wheat flour with iron appears to have little effect on
improving intake of the mineral, suggests a report in this month's
European Journal of Nutrition.
After several years of gains, growth in the Russian confectionery
market looks set to slow over the next six years or so, with only
premium chocolate products likely to bring big returns.
Cost cuts for food manufacturers involved in enzyme-based food
products could be on the way through shorter lead times following
the development of a new food enzyme production technology.
Public perception of risk - notably with regards to genetically
modified foods - is the focus of a high-profile conference to take
place in Brussels next week. Senior figures from the worlds of
politics, science and food will explore...
The UK's food safety watchdog has come under heavy criticism from a
group of politicians. A parliamentary public accounts committee
said that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) had to worker harder if
it was to become an authoritative...
Ahold, the Dutch
retail group, yesterday admitted for the first time that the
'accounting irregularities' announced earlier this year had in fact
constituted fraud, and that it believed that no more than five to
10...
Rodrigo Rato, Spain's finance minister, has added his voice to the
debate over food prices which has pitched retailers against
suppliers. He said that Spain's various regional governments should
do more to present a united...
In the US, consumer bodies the Public Citizen and the Center for
Food Safety have petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
to ban irradiated ground beef.
Only one more person from the Republic of Ireland (ROI) is likely
to die from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) as a
consequence of eating BSE infected meat, scientists claim this
week.
Controversial changes over two years ago to Europe's chocolate
rules - that had cocoa puritans and producers up in arms - came
into force in the summer, providing ingredients companies with a
raft of new opportunities.
When 145 countries walked away from the negotiating table at the
World Trade Organisation meeting in Cancun in September,
disappointment hung in the air over a failure to make real
progress. Since then bureaucrats and politicians...
Hunger is on the rise again after falling steadily during the first
half of the 1990s, warns the UN's annual hunger report released on
Wednesday. In the same week, a Danish task force asserts that
organisations are falling short...
The chances of Anders Moberg, the new chief executive of Ahold,
achieving the bonus targets announced yesterday look increasingly
unlikely as the Dutch supermarket group today announced a further
slide into the red for the first nine...
Snack and convenience food consumption plays a dominant role inthe
eating habits of almost half of British consumers, according tonew
research published by Teagasc. And Irish food companies should be
cashing in.
The US Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has developed a new
dough formulation to eradicate the musty, 'beany' aftertaste of
some soy-based breads; a problem that has eluded food technologists
since the 1970s.
Danish oils and fats company Aarhus United saw third quarter profit
falling by over 50 per cent as reduced margins, lower exchange
rates, a decline in bulk oil sales and heightened competition, ate
into the bottom line.
Belgian ingredients company Orafti is to acquire Remy Industries, a
Belgium-based producer of food ingredients made from rice, the
company announced this week.
Balchem Encapsulates used the FiE exhibition in Frankfurt last week
as a platform to launch three microencapsulated forms of potassium
for the food and supplement markets to combat processing
challenges, the company claimed.
Shareholders in Ahold, the troubled Dutch retailer, will tomorrow have
the chance to debate the proposed bonus package of the company's
new CEO Anders Moberg - a package which almost scuppered Moberg's
appointment at an...
Friends of the Earth (FoE), the perennial thorn in the side of the
leading British supermarket groups, has criticised the two biggest
retailers, Tesco and Asda, over their fruit supply contracts.
A sluggish market hit by falling exchange rates, unrest in the
Middle East and SARS in Asia all contributed to a drab organic
revenue of 2 per cent for the year, Danish ingredients company Chr.
Hansen reported this week. But the tide...
Britain's biggest supermarket group Tesco has today reported third
quarter sales growth of 17.5 per cent, figures which beat all
analysts' forecasts and showed once again the ever widening gulf
between Tesco and rivals such...
US agriculture secretary Ann Veneman announced yesterday that the
rate of Salmonella in raw meat and poultry has dropped by 66 per
cent over the past six years and by 16 per cent compared with 2002.
She claims that some of the credit...
When onlookers of the food ingredients industry claim that
consolidation will be a key trend in coming years they are
generally referring to mergers and acquisitions. But could it be
that consolidation in this increasingly competitive...
eFoodSafety.com has entered the first phase of a systematic plan to
roll-out multiple company divisions, beginning with a truck
sanitising division. The group says that this division is already
well funded, which means that it is...
European Union regulators are preparing to introduce new
legislation which they hope will help them clamp down on the rising
tide of counterfeit goods flooding the trading bloc.
As one door closes another door opens. The FiE exhibition came to
an end on Thursday, but today marks the debut of a three day
ice-cream formulation extravaganza in Solingen-Gräfrath, Germany.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued yet another food
hazard warning over food products contaminated with the potential
carcinogen Sudan I. But in India, the country's spices board
reveals it is tackling the problem.
Cranberry company Northland posts a $4m profit in its fiscal fourth
quarter, an improvement over the prior year's net loss, and says it
market share is on the rise.
The Cognis Group, a leader in antioxidant and botanical
ingredients, announced recently that it is near to completing
construction of the world's largest stand-alone manufacturing
facility for phytosterols.
Health, margins and consolidation came shining through at the FiE
exhibition this week as key issues currently facing the food
industry. But strategies to take on these issues were also in
evidence and one buzz word was louder...
Researchers looking at the rising occurrence of obesity in the UK
population will present some interesting findings - including the
affects of carbohydrates levels on the diet, portion sizes and more
insight into 'friendly'...
Britain is set to extend its lead in the European ready meals
market over the next five years, accounting for more than half of
all sales by 2007. But convenience is no longer enough to keep
consumers happy - they want health and...
The FiE this week was awash with European and American companies
offering the market whey protein isolates. In the US, scientists
have found a further formulation for the ingredient with
researchers at the Agricultural Research Service...
Leading ingredients firm Danisco has announced its second licensing
deal for the Howaru probiotic strain with Chile's biggest dairy
processor Soprole. The agreement looks set to generate significant
interest among food makers...
Tropical regions could enjoy secure food supplies over the next
fifty years if local smallholder farmers are encouraged to help
themselves, says a university of East Anglia development expert
writing in this week's journal Science.
A new gelatine replacer from Dutch company DMV International
carried off the gold award for the most innovative new ingredient
on the marketplace, rounding off the first day of the bustling Fi
Europe exhibition that opened its doors...
Cargill Health & Food Technologies (H&FT) has been
showcasing its latest innovations in branded ingredients and
applications during Fi Europe 2003. The event, which is Europe's
largest gathering of international ingredients...
The international German mining and technology group RAG is to be
the new owner of Germany's third-largest chemical company, Degussa,
following news on Tuesday that the European Commission has approved
the acquisition.
Matching flavours traditionally used in one segment of the food
industry with products more common in another is becoming
increasingly widespread as companies seek ever more intriguing
combinations - such as lemon-flavoured crisps...
