With EU enlargement just around the corner, many food and drink
businesses within the 10 accession countries are facing up to the
tough challenge of bringing their production facilities up to
required standards for quality and hygiene....
A leading producer of manufactured casings for food and non-food
applications in the US has built up a global information system to
improve business processes and information flow across the
enterprise. Teepak, a leading manufacturer...
After months of risk assessment scientists at Europe's first food
safety agency have given the green light to Monsanto's
herbicide-tolerant GM maize. NK 60 is as safe as conventional
maize, they declare.
Our response to food safety is often inconsistent and completely
irrational. This was the message of European Commissioner for
health and consumer protection David Byrne at yesterday's public
debate and policy making conference...
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) announced yesterday that
it is to open up its work to public scrutiny. The most significant
development will be the involvement of consumers and other
stakeholders in the authority's...
As countdown begins, Natural Products Expo Asia, opening in Hong
Kong this week, will run a free seminar focusing on the new
bioterrorism regulations, set to impact all companies exporting
ingredients to the US.
Six cases of salmonella in sprouts were reported in the US this
week. The news comes but a few days after US agriculture secretary
reports on a dramatic fall in the rate of salmonella in raw meat
and poultry. In Europe, food safety...
The European Community, Canada and the US have taken the
controversial case of hormone-treated beef to the World Trade
Organisation's (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) this month.
Tighter health and safety legislation in the EU and in the US is
being felt around the world. For example, the Filipino government
this week urged food processors in the country to upgrade their
manufacturing systems if they wish...
A far-reaching pig welfare strategy in the UK will have
implications for pork processors everywhere. Greater access to
information and comprehensive disease surveillance should produce
better meat and help consolidate the UK's...
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.
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...
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.
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...
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...
A majority of traditional Irish food producers feel that they face
serious burdens to their survival and growth - but food safety
regualtions aren't one of them.
The German city of Frankfurt will look on as 12,000 food and drink
industry professionals hit the exhibition centre to eat up the
latest innovations and visit 1000 exhibitors at the 16th edition of
Fi Europe.
The UK government announced this week that food manufacturers could
be forced to label food as 'high in salt' if they fail to
make significant progress in reducing the amount in their products.
A revision of the guidelines on the investigation and control of
outbreaks of foodborne disease in Scotland was agreed this week by
the Scottish Executive Health Department and the Food Standards
Agency Scotland.
Strict legislation and growing public concern has made food safety
the priority of the industry. Little surprise then that innovations
such as Oxoid's Stockwatch technology continue to flood the market.
Lidl, the German supermarket chain has taken bottles of Australian
Creston Bay Brand wine off its shelves after discovering
dangerously high levels of sulphur dioxide in it.
A soy-based infant formula, linked to the deaths of three babies
and hospitalisation of several others in Israel, was recalled from
shelves this weekend, prompting widespread media coverage.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will revisit its preliminary
determination that food from cloned animals is safe for consumers
after several independent science advisers questionned findings.
The European Commission has sent a warning letter to the Polish
government saying that the country must do more to bring food
safety standards relating to meat production in line with current
EU regulations if it is to ensure a smooth...
Dumeco has been ordered to retrace 78 tonnes of beef this week
following the failure to test a cow for bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE). Some 700kg is thought to have been consumed.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) faces more opposition this
week, as the US Organic Trade Association (OTA) criticises the idea
of commercialising cloned animal produce without specific
labelling.
As the debate in the UK heats up over GM crops, new research
sourced from Spain claims that co-existence between GM and non-GM
crops can occur without economic and commercial problems.
The new US government regulations designed to protect against
terrorist threats to the food supply face massive non-compliance
when they go into effect next month, reports a new study.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is en route to lowering
last years high enforcement order figures, despite having
experienced the largest outbreak of E coli the country has ever
seen.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claims that healthy animal
clones pose no increased risk to consumers. Commercialisation may
be a problem however as the public remain unconvinced.
Under a new partnership and license and supply agreement,
BioControl has received the right to specific probe sequences from
Epoch Biosciences for use in the field of food safety testing.
Former UK minister for the environment, Michael Meacher refuses to
be silenced on the GM debate warning sales of GMO products should
be stalled until more extensive research is carried out.
e-FoodSafety.com announced today that it has acquired a 100 per
cent stake in Food Safe. The former president is to help with the
group's strategic roll-out of company divisions over coming months.
The global meat packaging industry is today governed by the
strictest of guidelines. Safety and hygiene issues have forced
themselves to the top of the agenda following a series of health
scares, and companies have had to fight hard...
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) alerted the Cypriot authorities and
European Commission this week after another tahini product was
found to be contaminated with salmonella.
UK-based food grade gas supplier BOC are claiming to provide
innovative solutions for the meat industrie's processing and food
safety concerns tomorrow at AMI/Worldwide Food Exposition.
Undecided limits on the amount of genetically modified organisms in
cereal and vegetable seeds have thrown the GMO debate into further
disarray, as EU setbacks delay voting until Spring next year.
A major EU funded trial on European children is to examine how
early diet can reduce obesity in later life. The findings could
lead to new infant foods and a safer formulation of protein
contents.
A cross-continent project is to get further backing to target the
emerging prevalence of Campylobacteraceae, a bacteria family
that causes 400 to 500 milion cases of diarrhoea a year.
The EU Commission this week unveiled €166m in funding for projects
under the food quality and safety priority of the Sixth Framework
Programme (FP6). Thirty-six projects have so far been confirmed.
The Netherlands, the world's fourth largest poultry exporter could
be facing another bird epidemic this week as the cure for blackhead
disease found in two turkeys has been banned.
Ecolab is to present its health and safety solutions at the
forthcoming Food Safety & Hygiene show in Frankfurt. Company
spokesperson Marcus Ley reveals what the firm has in mind.
A new US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study has found that
dairy products are best consumed close to the date of purchase and
leftovers refrigerated to reduce the risk of Listeria bacteria.
Mislabelling is leading customers to pay up to €50 per tonne more
for the same quality of potato, reports new findings issued by the
UK Food Standards Agency this week.
The EC has approved a financial package to fight animal disease
with human health implications. The move is aimed to tackle
diseases that constitute as a barrier to intra-EU or international
trade in 2004.
Moves by the EU to introduce new health food labelling requirements
have been fiercely criticised by the food industry - with the
British Retail Consortium the latest to add its voice to the
debate.
The National Food Processors Association (NFPA) has criticised new
requirements enforced by the EU's Council of Ministers on labelling
and traceability of food and feed containing GM ingredients.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has
accused the American National Dairy Council of launching a
deceptive health campaign suggesting that dairy products could aid
slimming.
