By Shane Starling at the European Parliament in Brussels
Unless there is a shock shift, a full sitting of the 751-seat European Parliament (EP) will soon pass significant reforms to the EU’s now ‘not fit for purpose’ novel foods regulation – but widespread concerns remain.
The Finnish government has said a tax on sweets and ice cream in the country will be scrapped at the start of 2017 after the European Commission said the tax unfairly advantaged producers within the country.
The UK's Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) will begin a public consultation on new rules for marketing junk food to children in early 2016 amid growing concerns over children's diet, it has announced.
Food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture are vital to achieving the entire set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, FAO director-general José Graziano da Silva has warned.
Transparency on sustainability needs to go beyond data on packaging if it is to really engage consumers, says Nescafé, as it partners with Google to launch a virtual reality coffee experience.
Three class action lawsuits brought in California allege Mars, Nestlé and Hershey use child labor to produce their best-selling chocolate brands. The firms say they are tackling the issue and will fight the cases.
Copa and Cogeca has called for “realistic and achievable targets” to be included in the Review of EU Air Quality Policy at a meeting of MEPs on Tuesday 29 September, warning it will hit the EU livestock sector hard.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has said the Endocrine Society’s claims of evidence tying endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) to diabetes and obesity risks ‘disregards the state of science’.
Consumers can make healthier choices from both traffic light and numerical labelling, but individuals’ levels of self-control can make a big difference to the effectiveness of an intervention, according to two new studies.
The global market for natural food colors is predicted to reach $1.7bn by 2020, with 20% of this market attributed to beverage applications. Analysts Iti Singh and Indu Tyagi, from research firm MarketsandMarkets, look at the opportunities for beverage...
Bérangère Magarinos-Ruchat, vice president of sustainability partnerships at global flavour firm Firmenich has won “Head of Sustainability” at the Ethical Corporation's Responsible Business Awards.
Reka, one of Turkey’s largest edible oil processors, has secured a €45m loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to help it expand its operations.
Nearly 80% of British consumers say buying local produce is important but only 30% actually do – why is this and can large-scale food manufacturers satisfy this desire for local?
Consumption of sugary drinks that contain high levels of added sugars can lead to excess weight gain and higher risks of developing diabetes and heart disease, says the most comprehensive review of evidence ever undertaken.
Latvia and Estonia could almost halve the volume of pork they produce in the next few years, as both countries find themselves unable to halt the spread of African swine fever (ASF).
Icelandic farmers are worried that two key trade agreements with the European Union (EU) will result in an influx of imported processed meat products - offsetting potential gains in increasing lamb exports to the 28-member country bloc.
EUROPEN and 28 other associations representing consumer goods brands, packaging producers, material producers and extended producer responsibility (EPR) organisations, have announced a set of joint recommendations for the new Circular Economy proposals...
More than a third of people believe food retailers or manufacturers don’t act quickly enough or provide timely information during health scares, according to Trace One.
Mooted changes to EU novel food laws that will cater for new ingredient sources like insects and food making methods like nanotechnology are ‘vague, unclear and unworkable’ according to a leading nanotechnology group.
The type of dietary fat we eat may lead to changes in our inflammatory response, which in turn play a key role in long term risk of obesity-related diseases including diabetes and atherosclerosis, warn researchers.
Bad publicity in Sweden for the pig meat sector in the past year – including television programmes critical of industry welfare and public debates over the heavy usage of antibiotics and tail-docking of piglets in the European Union (EU) – have depressed...
While the Spanish competent authorities found some non-compliances in traceability of meat they did not detect a number of more serious, systematic deficiencies, according to the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO).
The willingness to explore new markets and flexibility has helped Belgium become the seventh-biggest exporter of pig meat in the world. Aidan Fortune examines the Belgian meat market.
A new EU-funded research project involving partners across the EU, as well as in China, will help reduce food waste by 30% by 2025, say those behind the project.
Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization – time of flight (MALDI-ToF) mass spectrometry is to be added to Public Health England’s (PHE’s) standard microbiological test methods.
Coloring Food with food: Will EU regulations spur a global shift to natural colors in confectionery?
Coloring Foods supplier GNT says the global confectionery market will rapidly move away from artificial and additive colors as an implementation period to conform with EU rules on colors looms.
FoodDrinkEurope will continue to take a ‘holistic’ approach to improving the health of Europeans with a new commitment to trigger further industry action on making food healthier, it says.
BioDetection Instruments has been awarded a $150,000 grant to develop an automated food pathogen screening system with integrated sample concentration.
Corbion has successfully patented a proprietary acid powder coating technology, using partially-neutralised acid instead of fat coatings, the company announced.
Disrupted insulin signalling in the brain along with a high-fat diet may result in overconsumption, while a normal diet has no effect, say researchers - who suggest that these altered brain functions can lead to us overconsuming fatty foods.
Food from the UK was most frequently sampled however samples from outside had the highest failure rate, according to Northern Ireland's eighth food surveillance sampling report.
The UK government is calling on manufacturers to use local county of origin labelling on its products – but unlike in Italy such measures would be voluntary.
The European Commission has granted European Union (EU) regulatory approval to Brazil-based meat producer JBS’ acquisition of UK-based poultry meat supplier Moy Park Holdings (Europe).
Turkey’s poultry exports have decreased by 50% so far in 2015 following speculation over potential bird flu cases and escalating terror attacks in its export markets, according to senior industry figures.
Sanderson Farms has recalled more than 550,000 pounds of chicken products due to possible foreign material contamination, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS).
FMC Corporation will open a new European Innovation Center in Denmark next year, creating a hub for its technical and material experts to improve product development.
Bioo Scientific will introduce a test for histamine screening and one for sulfite detection at the 129th AOAC Annual Meeting, in Los Angeles, California.
