UK supermarket giant Waitrose has emerged as the favourite to pick
up the biggest package of Safeway stores from WM Morrison. It is
expected to buy up to 25 supermarkets for between £250 million
(€374m) and £300 million.
Burgeoning Irish food ingredients group carves deeper into the US
market announcing it will buy into fast growing 'lifestyle'
beverages through the acquisition of two US companies, Oregon Chai
and Extreme Foods.
Tesco has raised £640 million (€973) by selling off 33 of its UK
stores. The supermarket chain plans to rent the stores on a long
leasehold and carry on running the operations, and claims that
customers will not see any change.
Governments on both sides of the Atlantic need to better understand
how consumers perceive risk if they are to form better food safety
policies. The issue of bioterrorism however is helping to establish
a growing consensus among policy...
In under 50 days the ten accession countries will join the European
Union bringing the number of consumers from 382.4 million to 456.6
million. Failure to properly control food imports at the 'new'
borders may have disastrous...
The expansion of the European Union from 15 to 25 Countries in May
2004 could signal the promise of lucrative new markets for banana
producers, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organziation.
A recent study in Bulgaria suggests that the country's eating
habits are out of step with the rest of Europe. According to the
research expenditure on bakery items is the highest per head in
Europe, whereas meat is one of the...
Companies working with soy and soy derivatives face continuing
price rises for the raw material as the US - a leading global
producer and exporter of the crop - raises concerns about the
'unusually low soybean stocks level'...
Food manufacturers using the sweetener cyclamate face change as
they come to grips with new European rules that radically reduce
the use of this man-made, non-caloric sweetener 30 times as sweet
as sucrose. German ingredients firm...
Food safety agencies the world over issue updated advice on the
consumption of fish by consumers, at the same time a panel at
Europe's food safety agency calls for further research into the
side effects of mercury.
A new means of purifying air based on a simple electronic device
could mount a significant challenge to established players such as
ultraviolet light and HEPA filters, writes Phil Taylor.
A lack of integration at a European level is 'severely hampering'
efforts to co-ordinate stakeholder efforts - food industry and
independent scientists - in the area of chemical contaminants in
food, warn Swedish scientists....
A new food authority with safety at the helm is on the way for
Australia's New South Wales state after clearing the final obstacle
in parliament last week.
Leading German hypermarket chain Kaufland has confirmed plans to
build its first hypermarket in Bulgaria. The outlet will be located
in Yambol, in the southeast of the country.
The bacteria involved in the ripening of cheeses may find their way
into the final product by surviving the pasteurisation process, say
researchers from Italy, Ireland and France.
Asian countries that declare victory over avian influenza should
base such statements on in-depth investigations, FAO and the World
Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) urged in a joint statement
today. There have been fears that...
Wm Morrison plans to reduce prices on a further 2,000 Safeway
products over the next month as part of its move to slash prices
throughout the stores it acquired earlier this month.
A new heat/ chill thermal fluid developed has just received
official food-grade certification in the US. Manufacturer Paratherm
says that the fluid offers food processors a safer alternative to
conventional heat transfer fluids, and...
Coca-Cola is withdrawing its Dasani bottled water from sale in
Britain after finding that samples contained higher than permitted
levels of the chemical bromate. A Coca-Cola spokesman said that the
voluntary withdrawal was a precautionary...
Vitamin C may prevent symptoms associated with respiratory diseases
such as cystic fibrosis and asthma by hydrating the airways and
clearing them from potential pathogens, report scientists this
month, helping to explain some of the...
Food ingredients companies head off to China with agriculture chief
Fischler next week on a mission to boost trade relations and create
new business opportunities for the food industry.
Heinz is dropping its healthy eating logo from cans of baked beans,
spaghetti and soups amid because it believes that the products will
fall foul of health targets being set by the UK government.
Food manufacturers, retailers and service providers will have to
collaborate more in the future if they wish to remain competitive,
predicts electronics giant Siemens. But the good news is that the
technology to achieve complete systemic...
The UK egg industry received a pat on the back from the country's
food watchdog following a survey that found salmonella levels in
UK-produced eggs have fallen by two thirds since 1996.
An FSA survey of UK-produced eggs has found that the level of
salmonella contamination is now one third of what it was in 1996.
But one industry expert says that food manufacturers should still
exercise caution, writes Anthony Fletcher.
Franz Fischler, EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development
and Fisheries, is to pay an official visit to China from 25 to 30
March 2004 to help consolidate what is becoming a vitally important
export market. Since 1978, EU-China...
The expansion of the European Union on 1 May will provide major
opportunities for British food and drink suppliers, both for
exporting their products and for establishing local production
facilities. But there are threats as well...
Bunge Europe is continuing to increase its share of the edible oils
market in the region. The US-owned agro-food giant has announced a
significant increase in its share of the Romanian edible oils
market for 2003, following its recent...
Following a visit by a key European Commission delegation, the
Bulgarian agro-food sector looks set to complete its accession
negotiations with the EU for 2004 - a move that will take it one
step closer towards the country's...
Dairy culture leader Chr Hansen carves a deeper position in
Ukraine, creating a platform to access a surging food market that
currently sees the majority of the population spending between half
and up to 80 per cent of their income...
Consolidation in the hydrocolloid industry, price pressure and
'functionality beyond texture' are on the agenda at the annual
industry event to open in San Diego at the weekend.
Somerfield, itself a takeover target last year, is the latest UK
supermarket retailer to move into the convenience store sector, a
movement led by larger rivals Tesco and Sainsbury. Evidence that
the UK's biggest High Street...
A survey of UK-produced eggs has found that the level of salmonella
contamination is now one third of what it was in 1996. Poultry
producers hope that the findings will go some way to allaying
consumer fears over poultry products,writes...
Mirroring the state of play for ingredients companies operating
into today's climate, price pressures put the squeeze on third
quarter margins for ingredients giant Danisco.
Oil from the seeds of an Asian plant, already shown to fight
leukaemia, also appears to kill prostate cancer cells and shrink
human tumours grown in mice, report US researchers. Human trials
could provide a promising treatment for...
The decision by French retail group Guyenne & Gascogne to
rapidly amortise the goodwill it accumulated as part of its
investment in Spanish company Centros Comerciales Carrefour has
paid dividends, allowing the company to post...
A decision this week by the Chinese government to lift restrictions
on foreign investment in the retail sector is likely to lead to a
rise in the number of companies seeking a share of the huge Chinese
market. But with the authorities...
UK scientists are hoping to confirm that components in the
artichoke can lower cholesterol, a major risk factor for the
world's biggest health problem, heart disease, writes Dominique
Patton.
Allergen labelling, resistant maltodextrin, ciacylglycerol oil and
the celebrated French raw sheeps milk cheese Roquefort all fall
into the comment zone, said the Food Standards Australia New
Zealand (FSANZ) this week.
An industry expert claims that food safety in Europe is lagging
behind the US because supermarkets here don't care enough and
manufacturers don't have enough money to implement adequate
systems. As a result the European...
The failure by UK Chancellor Gordon Brown to take any measures to
lift some of the administrative burden on the UK food retail sector
- or to give it any incentives to stimulate growth or reward it for
innovation - has been heavily...
Flavours giant International Flavors and Fragrances and subsidiary
Bush Boake Allen must pay out $20 million in damages as an American
court rules that a US popcorn factory worker sustained harm to his
lungs from mixing flavouring...
With the takeover of Safeway finally completed this month, UK
supermarket group Morrisons is preparing for a busy 2004 of store
refits, closures and disposals. But at least it starts the new
financial year in good shape, with double...
Britain's drinks industry has warned that an increase in beer duty
and the ongoing threat of tax stamps designed to cut down on duty
evasion, both announced by Chancellor Gordon Brown yesterday, will
simply increase the cost...
Mainstream food retailers in Germany need to do more to combat the
growing threat of discount chains such as Aldi and Lidl, claims a
recent report by consultancy firm KPMG. But companies offering more
convenient stores with a wider...
A key discovery about how prions - mysterious morsels of protein
thought to be the cause of mad cow disease and similar brain
disorders - infect healthy cells is being hailed by scientists as a
breakthrough in the quest to understand...
The health benefits of green tea dovetail into sleep as researchers
in Japan find an amino acid located in green tea could improve
slumber in young men.
Fearing the invasion of the devasting soybean rust, the American
Soybean Association (ASA) has repeated its call for a temporary ban
on South American soybean imports, despite assurances from the Bush
administration that trade would...
Comforting news for parents as survey of infant formula by the UK's
food watchdog finds levels of harmful chemicals, dioxins and
dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), in infant formula
have fallen significantly over the...
The key ingredient in the most popular ice cream in the world faces
a rise in price, already at a 10 year high, as the worst cyclone in
two decades hits Madagascar, the leading producer of vanilla.
