The UK Joint Health Claims Initiative (JHCI) this week adopted and
published advice from leading scientists promoting the role of
fruit and vegetables in helping to avoid stomach, lung and bowel
cancer. "We will continue to press...
The European Commission has today authorised Austria to pay income
aid worth a total of some € 8.94 million to beef farmers who have
suffered losses between January and June 2001 because of the
consequences of the BSE crisis.
Organic products should be given tax breaks throughout the European
Union to help them compete with conventionally grown goods, a green
lobby group proposed on Tuesday.
The European Commission has taken the Italian authorities to the
European Court of Justice over its regulations governing sports
nutrition products. The Commission said that the Italian rules are
a barrier to free trade within the...
Ingredients company Danisco reports this week that the result of
its 2001 beet campaign is satisfactory. Total sugar output reached
1,246,000 tonnes, close to the record-high production of 1,345,000
tonnes achieved in 2000, which...
A seminar dedicated to the implications of QUID Legislation on food
enforcement policy, analytical testing regimes and the
responsibilities of food manufacturers and retailers will take
place in London this month.
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,
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.
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 EU Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries (CIAA)
recently reminded the new EU Spanish Presidency of the important
issues that it must tackle during the six month presidency.
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...
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.
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
Member enlargement is the biggest political priority for the
European Commission and a desire to ensure that EU food safety
standards are safeguarded and that the health of present and future
citizens is protected remains a top priority.
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.
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.
The European Commission said on Wednesday it had extended its
review of U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill's planned purchase of a
unit of Italy's agro-energy conglomerate Montedison
BASF is to lodge an appeal against the fine imposed by the European
Commission on November 21, 2001 with the responsible European Court
of First Instance in Luxembourg.
Britain's trade ministry asked the European Commission last week to
allow it to study the impact of Cargill Inc's proposed acquisition
of French starch maker Cerestar , because of UK competition
worries.
European Union agriculture ministers adopted regulations for a new
banana-import system Wednesday, formally marking an end to a
long-running dispute with the United States and Ecuador.
European Union governments agreed to hefty cuts to next year's
fishing quotas on Tuesday after all-night talks that pitted
national interests against arguments that stocks were in grave
danger.
"Prosciutto is ham" a full-page ad read in Finland's largest daily
on Wednesday, a response to Italy's Prime Minister who reportedly
said Helsinki should not get the new EU food agency because Finns
knew nothing...
The incapacity of European leaders at the Laeken summit this
weekend to make a decision on the location of the new European Food
Safety Authority (EFSA) means that the new food safety edifice
will, for the moment, be based in Brussels.
EU leaders, after hours of wrangling, were cited as failing to take
a decision on Saturday at their year-end summit on where to locate
a host of new EU agencies, including the European Food Safety
Authority (EFSA).
Prime Minister Tony Blair has urged his French counterpart, Lionel
Jospin, to allow British farmers to resume exports of beef to
France, officials at a two-day European Union summit said on
Saturday.
France will make sure that it protects consumers as it decides how
to respond to a ruling by the EU's top court that it is breaking EU
law by banning British beef, farm minister Jean Glavany said on
Friday.
All commonly used processes in the bovine bone gelatin
manufacturing process that have the potential to remove and/or
inactivate BSE pathogens, are totally effective, according to the
results of a recent TSE validation study.
A senior U.S. official said on Wednesday it was "urgent" for the
European Union to find a way to end a three-year-old ban on
approvals of new genetically modified crops.
The global organic banana market is growing rapidly and could
account for three per cent of sales in the next three years, the
United Nations food body said on Wednesday.
Italy and Spain have infringed an EC Treaty by prohibiting
chocolate products from being marketed under the name 'chocolate'
where, in addition to cocoa butter, they also contain other
vegetable fats.
The European Commission said on Wednesday it had fined five
companies a total of 135 million euros ($120.5 million) for
participating in a price-fixing and market-sharing cartel in citric
acid.
The European Union said on Tuesday it would seek agreement in the
World Trade Organisation (WTO) for all food aid to poor countries
to be in the form of cash payments for purchases in local markets.
Food policy and agriculture in Europe are intimately tied, so Dr.
Franz Fischler, Member of the European Commission responsible for
Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries European Agriculture
stressed this week at a conference...
Finland's agriculture minister said on Wednesday he was confident
his country would beat off a challenge from Barcelona to become the
base for the European Union's new food agency.
Europe's attempts to solve a transatlantic row over genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) by tough food labelling rules have yet to
bear fruit, leaving the 15-nation bloc vulnerable to legal
challenge, officials say.
The European Commission has granted clearance under the European
Union's merger control law to the proposed acquisition by UK soft
drinks company Cadbury Schweppes Plc of the soft drinks brands and
related businesses of French...
To date there is no evidence that BSE is present in sheep and goats
under field conditions but BSE cannot be excluded, scientists from
the European Commission confirm this week.
European Union countries on Thursday agreed on new rules on
labelling animal feed, in a move to tighten existing laws after a
series of food scares in recent years, the European Parliament said
on Thursday.
The US-based Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology announced
this week that it is to host a debate on issues facing Europe and
the US over genetically modified food.
Fears over genetically modified foods may prevail in the minds of
the European consumer but recent research from the European
Commission suggests that they are as safe as their non-gmo
neighbours, and even safer.
The European Commission this week gave the go-ahead for
German-based chemical company Degussa AG to acquire sole control of
the British company Laporte PLC.
The EC has cleared the proposed restructuring of Coca-Cola Nestlé
Refreshment Company, an existing beverages joint venture in the
field of iced tea and coffee between The Coca-Cola Company and
Nestlé SA.