Rice quality issues contribute to $3.39bn a year at least in global costs to the food industry from rice waste, significantly boosting the importance of quality testing.
“The price of apparently cheap food is costing nothing less than the Earth.”
The Prince of Wales has called on Europe to ‘recalibrate and re-gear’ its food systems towards a local model of food production and distribution - while issuing a wide-ranging attack on current practices within the food industry.
Using palm oil certified as sustainable under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is no longer enough to ensure companies are acting responsibly, claims the WWF following the adoption of new RSPO standards.
The European Commission has urged increased global use of its PGI (protected geographical indication) system to increase trade in foods from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states, while encouraging sustainable production practices.
European fisheries ministers have agreed on an overhaul of the Common Fisheries Policy, with the hope that it will end decades of arguing over fishing quotas and help rebuild fish stocks.
Insects could play a vital role in food security in the coming decades – but disgust remains a barrier for consumers in many Western countries, according to a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Annual global greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and livestock have increased 13% since 1990 as food production has increased - with the majority coming from livestock, according to a new report from the Worldwatch Institute.
Some of the world’s biggest agriculture firms have united with food industry and scientific partners to form a steering committee, intended to share initiatives for achieving a sustainable global food and water supply chain.
Researchers have produced starch from plants not usually used for food purposes, potentially opening up whole new sources for foods and packaging materials.
The complexity and variety of 'green' initiatives for products in the EU has prompted a new initiative to create a single market for eco-claims, says the European Commission (EC).
Nestlé has released a series of deforestation guides for commodity sourcing in partnership with Conservation International, to give a clearer idea of where deforestation is occurring globally.
Nestlé and UK supermarkets Sainsbury’s and the Cooperative Group have entered into a pilot project to improve the environmental performance of some of their products, say the project’s organisers at the Product Sustainability Forum (PSF).
An understanding of psychology could help persuade people to make more sustainable dietary choices – and even steer their preferences, according to Dr Andrew Bodey, analyst at sustainability consultancy Best Foot Forward.
Health, the environment and consumer choice are the three main issues facing today’s soft drinks industry, according to InnoBev Global Beverages Congress 2013 organizer Zenith International.
A Rainforest Foundation ethical food product guide based on companies’ palm oil use unjustly discourages the use of palm oil even if it is sustainably sourced, claims the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
Food safety, quality and financial issues are considered the top three risks to business for most food companies, but sustainable supply is emerging as a growing area of concern, according to a new survey from DNV Business Assurance.
CSR – corporate social responsibility – is becoming increasingly coherent across the globe due to greater uptake of internationally recognised standards, according to a new European Commission report.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has welcomed the decision of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund to pull investment from certain palm oil companies – but has disagreed with its divestment from firms that are on the path to RSPO certification.
Nestlé has published a raft of sustainability and nutrition commitments it aims to meet by 2020 or earlier, including sourcing 100% certified sustainable palm oil, cutting greenhouse gas emissions and improving nutrition labelling.
UK new product development (NPD) specialist Omniceutica has developed a process that transforms apple pulp and surplus fruit waste from cider making into nutrient-dense, bite-sized snacks.
Norway’s US$710bn sovereign investment fund has pulled its investment from 23 Southeast Asian palm oil companies, claiming that they source palm oil unsustainably.
Oxfam has called on the three biggest chocolate manufacturers to conduct independent audits on conditions for women on cocoa farms supplying their factories after finding evidence of unequal pay, discrimination and hunger.
Oxfam will step up its campaign to improve the treatment of people and resources that form part of the supply chain of the world’s biggest food conglomerates, after it cast industry responses to its damning Behind the Brands report as ‘bland’ and ‘complacent’.
The first ever structured benchmark of the world’s leading food companies suggests that farm animal welfare is not being properly managed and reported by the food industry.
Unilever and Nestlé say Oxfam missed an opportunity for a wider and more comprehensive debate about food ethics after the NGO published a damning report on the supply chains of the world’s biggest food firms this week.
Associated British Foods – worst-in-class in an Oxfam report critical of 10 food giants for essentially operating under a corporate social responsibility (CSR) “veil of secrecy” – has hit back, slamming the report ‘s findings as “ridiculous”.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya has launched a new campaign to highlight the implications of European food waste – and has called for new ways to process and market ‘ugly’ produce.
The European Commission (EC) has approved the use of pork and poultry meal for fish feed, flying in the face of UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommendations.
Opportunities and bottlenecks for sustainable food
Plant-based diets are generally seen as healthy – but they are not necessarily the healthiest diets for the environment, according to new French research.
Banning European fisherman from throwing away unintended catches and fillet waste can provide a significant boost to fish oil and fish meal supplies, says a global marine ingredients group.
Focusing on eating ‘better’ meat could attract broader acceptance than a simple ‘eat less meat’ message and benefit the environment, people’s health and animal welfare, according to a new report from WWF-UK and the Food Ethics Council.
Nestlé is implementing Ecodex, a web tool analyzing the environmental impact of its business across all its global operations, claiming it is more effective than standard life cycle analysis.
Palm oil supplier IOI Loders Croklaan has said it intends to increase its volumes of segregated certified sustainable palm oil to 30% of total sales and certify all its plantations to Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standards by the end of...
BASF, Cargill and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) have partnered to develop a certified sustainable coconut oil supply chain.
Fairtrade International has said the number of farmers and workers benefitting from the system increased by 13% in 2011 as the food and drink industry continues to pledge its support, according to a new report.
Barry Callebaut has unveiled new cocoa and chocolate products at ISM in Cologne, including Cameroon origin cocoa for baked goods, and single origin chocolate from Cameroon and Java.
Health and nutrition guidance should be integrated with messages on reducing the diet’s environmental impact in order to ensure consistent advice, according to a new paper published in Proceedings of the Nutrition Society.
The Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) and Netherlands-based certification agency GMP+ International have signed a cooperation agreement in order to speed uptake of certified responsible soy and simplify the certification process.
Bayer CropScience has defended the use of neonicotinoid insecticides following a report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) identifying three such substances as potentially risky to bees.
Increased use of phosphorus in food products since the 1960s is now putting pressure on the sustainable supply of the essential mineral, warn researchers.
Euromonitor International is predicting that demand for cocoa products will not outstrip supply by 2017, contrary to the International Cocoa Organization’s (ICCO) forecasted cocoa deficit.
The Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) has reached a milestone of one million tonnes certified under the scheme during its second year of certification.
It’s not enough to have a great-tasting product – manufacturers of meat alternatives must tell a positive production story, according to the maker of an award-winning product taking the Dutch meat-free market by storm.
As much as half of all food produced globally goes to waste, according to a new report that suggests governments in developed countries should instigate policies to change consumer expectations and attitudes to food waste.
A proliferation of eco-labels could have adverse consequences, as food manufacturers question the value of certification schemes in light of a fragmented market and multiple fees, according to Organic Monitor.
