As Europe's codex committee meets next week to discuss proposals
for worldwide risk principles, the UN's World Health Organisation
(WHO) has today urged countries to improve ways they can respond to
potential threats to...
The world's watchdog for food rules has given the green light to
over 20 new and amended food standards covering animal feeding,
milk products and a newly adopted definition for traceability.
When food retailers and producers all over the world met at last
year's CIES industry summit, they were set five 'tests' by
celebrity speaker Bob Geldof to see if their company's business was
sustainable. Meeting...
Food Safe International, the Canadian-based provider of food safety
equipment, has said it will start to distribute its food safe
process in the Ukraine.
Hygiene and safety is a pressing issue for food manufacturers
across the globe, but in Russia increasing state regulation does
not always make safety checks easy to carry out. Simon
Pitman questioned Alexander Udin, senior expoert...
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has launched the first
food safety training programme specifically tailored to the needs
of Ireland's Chinese food sector, which comprises almost 6,000
restaurants and takeaways. The...
Despite the development of a very important corpus of EU and
national legislation to protect EU citizens against currently
identified risks, several studies show that contradictory opinions
about perceived risks remain important among...
The latest metal detectors on show at Total 2004 suggest that
equipment suppliers are fully aware of the most pressing concerns
of food processors - guaranteeing food safety, ensuring
traceability and the facilitation of uninterrupted...
Maintaining a reliable source for food ingredient supplies has
proved to be one of the biggest challenges for Russian food
manufacturers in recent years. The National Food Ingredients
Manufacturers Union believes that a lack of domestic...
Governments on both sides of the Atlantic need to better understand
how consumers perceive risk if they are to form better food safety
policies. The issue of bioterrorism however is helping to establish
a growing consensus among policy...
A natural Japanese food ingredient used to extend the shelf life of
food products has acquired GRAS status from the US Food and Drug
Administration signalling a growth in sales for its Japanese
manufacturer, the Chisso Corporation.
Pressing reform to European food and feed controls cleared a
further obstacle this week with Parliament waving through proposed
Commission rules, leaving room for ministers to take the final
decision in coming weeks, writes Lindsey...
Croatia is about to get its own food agency, which will work
alongside the EFSA to bring the former Yugoslavian state in line
with EU food safety regulations ahead of its likely application to
join the Union.
Food risk will be a defining issue of a 21st century marked by
globalisation and foodborne illness. Safety experts gathered at the
weekend in the US to examine new methods to minimise risk.
The food industry had its knuckles wrapped again this week, this
time by the UK's food watchdog that accused it of misleading the
consumer when using the terms 'fresh?and 'natural?on food labels.
The newly-established European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is not
about to 'abandon Brussels,' according to executive director
Geoffrey Podger, and transparency and independence will be the
defining characteristics of the...
European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin has announced a €43
million investment plan designed to improve the efficiency of the
food supply chain. Speaking at Wageningen University in the
Netherlands, he said that the purpose...
Millions of euros will be poured into three major
'farm-to-fork?research projects, the Commission said yesterday, to
reinforce R&D co-operation at a European level and bring a
monetary boost to the increasingly complex food...
An innovative new food safety technique using a virus is set to win
an exclusive worldwide licence. This marks the first step towards
the commercialisation of this unusual process, a technique that a
UK scientist claims can explode...
The Slovakian Ministry of Agriculture has announced a project to
team up with the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food
Quality in an effort to help meet food safety and consumer
protection standards laid down by the European...
Speaking in Brussels earlier this week, European Commissioner for
Health and Consumer Protection David Byrne announced the latest
development on issues relating to food safety within an enlarged
EU.
The new chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland
(FSAI) Ann Westby said yesterday that she wants all food
laboratories dealing with the FSAI in Ireland to be fully
accredited to ISO 17025 by the end of 2005. Speaking...
Global Technology Resources (GTR) has launched a new system
designed to detect, track and manage food safety threats across the
supply chain. Combining patented web-based global positioning
system (GPS) technology with radio frequency...
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...
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...
The European Commission has put forward revised regulations on
materials that come into contact with food. Among the proposed
changes is a more modern approach to the principle that packaging
materials should not interact with the...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
During a visit to the Teagasc National Food Centre last week EU
Commissioner for research, Philippe Busquin - holding the purse
strings to a €700m food quality research budget - witnessed new
technology on food product development...
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.
Calls to food manufacturers to develop alternative methods for
sealing jars of food were voiced by the UK Food Standards Agency
this week following a European scientific review on the presence of
semicarbazide - a weak carcinogen...
The CIAA is currently holding a seminar which aims to bring
representatives from both Central and Eastern Europe together in an
effort to forge a cohesive plan for an EU safety programme which
will match up to future enlargement.
Having just published its annual report for 2002, the Food Safety
Authority of Ireland has outlined acrylamide and food chain safety
as the key issues it hopes to concentrate on in the 2003/2004
period.
The European Commission has resolved to ensure that the same
standards of food safety apply to all products, regardless of
origin. Commissioner for health and consumer protection David Byrne
said that food imports into the EU should...
As growth in the organic food industry starts to slow down in
Europe, the food industry is deliberating ways to boost sales. A
new project launched by the UK food safety agency could provide the
answers.
How can Europe's infant food safety body function without staff?
For the newly elected board of the European food Safety Authority
this question was the central debate when they met yesterday in
Brussels.
Concern over acrylamide levels in foodstuffs arose in April 2002
when scientists in Sweden discovered unexpectedly high levels of
this potentially carcinogenic compound in carbohydrate-rich foods
heated to high temperatures. Scientists...
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocate of safer
food, will be hosting a one-day conference to examine some of the
best models for reducing or eliminating food-safety hazards at the
farm level.
The Irish food safety agency has warned the food industry to be
vigilant and efficient or 'face the consequences' as investigations
continue into the biggest outbreak of E. coli O157 in
Ireland to date.
US firm Swift has implemented a new double pasteurisation system at
six of its American beef processing plants. The company believes
that this will significantly improve the group's food safety
protocols.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has announced details of a new approval mark for small meat plants to comply with recent regulations regarding meat products.
Aircraft and ships will shortly be required to maintain the same
levels of hygiene and food safety as other food premises, following
the recent passing of a new government order to come into force as
of the 18 August 2003.
