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.
Can we feed nine billion people by 2050? Only if we embrace the principles of open innovation, says Jeff Bellairs, senior director of the General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network (G-WIN), in this exclusive article for Foodnavigator-USA.com and FoodNavigator.com.
Unilever has topped the Climate Counts scorecard for the second year running, as the corporate climate responsibility watchdog unveils a new ‘soaring’ tier in its scoring to reflect the nearly doubled average score since 2007.
French organisation Institut Noteo has developed a free-access system that allows shoppers to check and compare products’ health and eco-credentials online.
The future of food is an area that is often overlooked in the context of short political cycles, but we all need to have a view on how we can meet increasing and changing demand for food in the coming decades, according to futurologist Dr James Bellini.
Dutch food companies and trade organisations have signed agreements with Brazilian growers to double the supply of RTRS-certified soy to the Netherlands from 2011 levels, according to the Foundation for Responsible Soy Transition.
Action on sustainable cocoa must happen in two years, not ten and requires a holistic approach far beyond simple certification and increased production, the editor of a new report says.
John West has rolled out its Can Tracker scheme to include salmon, mackerel and sardine products by 2013, building on the launch of the service for tuna in 2011.
Many meat analogues derived from plant proteins may have environmental impacts comparable to animal protein because of inefficient water and energy use in their production, according to associate professor of Food Process Engineering at Wageningen University...
Zero and very low tolerance of certain food additives and ingredients can lead to enormous - and entirely unnecessary - food wastage, according to Aleksandra Martinovic, Montenegro ambassador of the Global Harmonization Initiative (GHI).
Chr. Hansen says it has high hopes in Asia and elsewhere for its new natural coloring ingredient for beverages, Ultra Stable Red, and claims investing in natural colors strips out costs elsewhere in the supply chain.
The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) has urged Cargill to take clear, decisive action to ensure its palm oil suppliers commit to sustainable production, while Cargill has said that RAN allegations of malpractice are unfounded and untrue.
If the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is serious about making the entire palm oil supply chain sustainable, it needs to address flaws in the system for plantation owners who do not own their own mills, according to one such grower, Daniel...
A snack bar next to the Musée de Louvre in Paris will be the site of the first outlet selling products in edible packaging from WikiCell Designs, the company behind the concept.
Unilever and Walmart are hoping to drive increased production of certified sustainable palm oil, as they unveiled new purchasing commitments at the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) annual meeting in Singapore last week.