The Food Ingredient Specialties business of Nestle USA, a
subsidiary of European food company Nestle, voluntarily recalled
144,000 pounds of chicken base refrigerated products because the
allergen whey protein was not listed on the...
Japan's Agriculture Ministry on Friday began checking all frozen
beef stored under a government buy-back programme for false labels,
following revelations Snow Brand Food Co Ltd had improperly
labelled its meat products, Reuters...
Chinese Star Anise (Illicium verum), also know as Chinese
badian, is fit for human consumption and commonly used in foods,
reports Reading Scientific Services.
The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) this week released
reports for public comment recommending the use of a GM canola and
a GM corn as foodsfor human consumption. ANZFA maintains that food
derived from these two GM crops...
A review of farmers' markets in Scotland has found standards of
operation to be generally high with only a few small improvements
needed, according to a recent review.
A day after Italy's first human case of suspected mad cow disease,
the European Parliament has demanded new EU powers to help prevent
the consumption of contaminated meat, reported Reuters.
The European Commission wants to see greater progress in frontier
technologies, particularly life sciences and biotechnology, and has
set out a clear strategy to achieve this aim.
The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) this week released
a research report on food handling practices in Australian food
businesses. The findings were mixed.
The Thirty-fourth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives
and Contaminants and its Ad Hoc Working Groups will be held in
March 2002 in The Netherlands.
The Thai Small Industry Finance Corporation has allotted one
billion baht (€200m) to promote food safety standards among Thai
food manufacturers, the Bangkok Post reports this week.
In his budget proposal for fiscal year 2003, President Bush will
include $131 million (€152m) in new spending to protect the
nation's food supply from animal and plant pests and diseases,
strengthen food safety programs and support...
Environment groups say Britain is at risk of tainting conventional
and organic crops with gene-modified varieties if the new field
trial sites announced yesterday go ahead, reports Reuters.
More tests are needed to determine the possible health side-effects
of genetically modified organisms, France's food safety agency
AFSSA said in a report to the government this week,
An outbreak of avian flu among poultry flocks in Pennsylvania, US,
which led Japan and the Philippines to impose temporary import bans
on poultry products from the state, could be declared over as early
as March 1, reports Reuters.
Food safety regulators participating in a global food forum said
authorities should be completely open in assessing the risks during
food scares to avoid misunderstanding and public panic, reported
Reuters.
Food safety experts from some 120 countries gathered in Morocco
yesterday for an international conference that takes place in the
shadow of a new food scare in Europe.
Britain should tear up its code of conduct on how powerful
supermarkets deal with farmers and small suppliers, an environment
group said on Monday ahead of the publication of a new blueprint
for UK farming and food.
The Chinese government said the European Union's recent decision to
ban certain Chinese meat products on health grounds is
"unacceptable" and warned it could seriously affect bilateral
trade.
Japan said on Monday that food products made from imported rice
would not be affected by a temporary sales ban issued because of
concerns about the safety of foreign rice.
Yesterday's report by the EU Food and Veterinary Office on the
operation of controls over verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli
(VTEC) has revealed inconsistent monitoring between the six
countries visited.
The United Nations world food body urged countries to remove the
antibiotic chloramphenicol from the food chain after events last
week led to a European food scare.
The Food Standards Agency yesterday launched a food safety
management initiative aimed at the producers of specialist British
cheeses such as Cheddar, Stilton and Cheshire.
A consignment of fishmeal feed produced in Germany using some
ingredients contaminated with an antibiotic presents no danger to
public health, the Lower Saxony state agriculture ministry in
Germany said yesterday.
Britain will ask this week to be designated free of foot-and-mouth
disease, so ending costly international trade sanctions imposed
during last year's epidemic, officials said on Monday.
The European Commission this week cleared the proposed acquisition
of the French starch business Cerestar by US company Cargill Inc,
with one exception. Concerns about the deal's impact in the UK
market for sweeteners means that...
Two US companies have joined numerous others worldwide in recalling
their jelly products from the market, following FDA advice that the
jellies pose a serious threat to children.
German authorities are searching for a consignment of imported veal
contaminated with an antibiotic which can halt production of human
blood cells, the federal Ministry of Agriculture and Consumer
Protection said.
Britain said on Wednesday it would extend a programme aimed at
eradicating scrapie from sheep amid fears that the illness could
mask mad cow disease in the national flock. Scientists are
investigating whether mad cow disease, or BSE,...
The European Union has agreed to resume beef imports from Argentina
on February 1, almost a year after they were banned because of an
outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, Associated Press reports
The opening of the new Consumers' Association(CA) Scottish office
in Edinburgh was the occasion for Sheila McKechnie, CA Director, to
launch a Consumers' Association campaign calling for the Food
Standards Agency Scotland...
New food additives legislation covering the use of colours and
other 'miscellaneous' additives in food came into force on 15
January in England, the UK Food Standards Agency reports this week.
Britain said on Monday it had eradicated a prolonged foot-and-mouth
outbreak and would declare its last 'at risk' region free of the
livestock disease at midnight, ending a devastating chapter for UK
farmers.
Up to three-quarters of a million eggs eaten every day contain
residues of a toxic drug that is widely used by intensive poultry
farmers, according to a new report published this week by the Soil
Association.
The European Commission has approved the creation of a joint
venture called European Salt Company (ESCO) between German company
Kali & Salz AG and Solvay S.A. of Belgium.
An Australian foot-and-mouth expert from the Australian
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
(CSIRO) warned this week that the highly adaptable pan-Asian strain
of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), responsible...
An Associated Press story reports that US federal health officials
last week renewed warnings about raw alfalfa sprouts, stating that
they could be contaminated with salmonella or E. coli bacteria.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved the use of
activated lactoferrin on fresh beef, providing beef processors with
a revolutionary food safety technology that protects consumers from
harmful bacteria.
Concerns about the growing incidence of food poisoning in the UK
have led to calls for much tighter controls of firms which handle
food, according to a report from the BBC.
To protect the food supply, farms, restaurants and supermarkets
should consider criminal background checks on employees, take care
to safeguard water supplies and keep a closer eye on the salad bar,
the U.S. government says.
Top U.S. Agriculture Department officials and industry experts on
Monday reviewed details of China's long-awaited rules for biotech
soybeans and other genetically modified crops, which will take
effect on March 20.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects China's imports of
wheat, soybeans, vegetable oils, and cotton to rise in the years
after accession to the WTO as new pressures from external
competition and internal shifts in consumer...
French agriculture minister Jean Glavany indicated that France is
not sure whether it will lift its ban on British beef, despite the
ruling of the European Court of Justice.
