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 UK government announced this week that food manufacturers could
be forced to label food as 'high in salt' if they fail to
make significant progress in reducing the amount in their products.
Tekes, the national technology agency in Finland, is currently
funding an investigation into the use of rare sugar components -
previously deemed as unimportant by-products - as a useful raw
material in food and pharmaceutical industries.
The new US government regulations designed to protect against
terrorist threats to the food supply face massive non-compliance
when they go into effect next month, reports a new study.
Food scientists working in today's food industry are constantly
facing, and resolving, the challenges of a competitive market. One
emerging trend in particular is the blurring of boundaries between
different food application...
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claims that healthy animal
clones pose no increased risk to consumers. Commercialisation may
be a problem however as the public remain unconvinced.
Legislation in Europe to end 'hidden' allergens on food labels
cleared a crucial hurdle last month when the Council and the
European Parliament put a red pen through the '25 per cent' rule,
ushering in the transparent...
Spanish supermarkets are to play a more active role in promoting
and protecting the country's food industry following a joint
agreement with the ministry of agriculture there. Food safety, food
quality and support for SMEs are...
Stating the obvious perhaps, keeping food safe for consumers is
undeniably a key priority for the food industry and governments
alike. European funds are being injected into understanding the
bacteria that find a home in our food...
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.
A cross-continent project is to get further backing to target the
emerging prevalence of Campylobacteraceae, a bacteria family
that causes 400 to 500 milion cases of diarrhoea a year.
More evidence revealing the efficacy of HACCP systems in the battle
for food safety comes from figures released this week by the US
department of agriculture that show a 25 per cent dive in Listeria
samples in the past year, and a...
Results from an ongoing Irish initiative to boost product
innovation - new ingredients and finished food and drink products -
unveiled at an industry food event this month in Ireland imply that
investment could be paying off.
Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association (CCFRA) has
produced a CD-Rom to provide food industry managers with a
reference tool and training aid on the microbiological safety of
foods.
Primary Production and Processing (PPP) Standards for poultry &
meat, and further possible industries, are to be revised by Food
Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ).
Limited consumer awareness threatens to restrain the development of
probiotics markets, finds a new Frost & Sullivan report, yet
sales of the healthy ingredient are still set to almost triple in
value over the next six years.
Shake-up for salt use in processed food continues with UK food
agency unveiling a new salt model to investigate the effects of
reducing salt content in different food groups on consumers.
LMC, the Danish Centre for Advanced Food Studies, is the first
recipient of the Danisco Food Award for its innovative work in the
field of food research.
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.
Freshly formed Bunge-Dupont soy ingredient joint venture, The Solae
Company, is to plunge into flavors and to work on the taste of soy
protein through a new collaboration with flavor scientists at the
Linguagen corporation.
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...
A report commissioned for the UK's Food Standards Agency has
provided the clearest evidence yet that there is a link between
advertising food products aimed at children and the declining
health standards among the younger generation.
A new product from Emerson Process Management is enabling steam in
place (SIP) cycle time reductions of typically 20 per cent on fully
monitored plant installations.
Banking, insurance, mobile phones, holidays - areas not
traditionally covered by food retailers but which are becoming an
increasing part of the weekly food shop for many British consumers.
But as the major multiples expand their...
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.
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...
Food safety giant SureBeam has announced that it will close its
Vernon, California processing service centre in an effort to
consolidate its processing services business.
Regulations governing the labelling and marketing of food products
do not go far enough, claimed one anti-obesity group last week. But
pushing through tougher rules will be a hard task, according to
Datamonitor, with the food industry...
Discovering genetic fingerprints of heat-beating micro-organisms
could bring us closer to understanding why some foods spoil and how
bacteria manage to survive heat treatments.
A rash of salmonella outbreaks have been reported across the UK.
And according to one leading bacteriologist, the source of these
outbreaks is probably food-based.
The "French paradox" - the intriguing phenomenon that pitches
France's rich cuisine against a slender population - can be
explained in part by portions that are significantly smaller in
French restaurants and supermarkets...
Texas A&M University's Institute of Food Science & Engineering has said it has received a USDA grant to establish a centre for research into electron beam research.
The CVUA Sigmaringen Institute in Germany has installed a new API
4000 LC-MS/MS system from Applied Biosystems in an effort to speed
up and improve its food safety testing capabilities.
Lingering consumer suspicion of synthetic colours, coupled with the
rising preference for all-natural products, is driving uptake of
natural food colours within Australia and New Zealand, report
market analysts Frost & Sullivan....
DuPont has re-launched its BAX detection system - a genetics-based
screening method that identifies bacteria and pathogens in food and
food processing equipment - as a means of preventing Enterobacter
sakazakii in powdered infant...
BioGentec has completed a definitiveagreement to acquire InnoFood,
owner of proprietary rights to a food processing technology
developed by Modofood of Brescia, Italy.
SureBeam has been awarded a US patent on an in-line processing
system that is said to form food products, such as ground beef,
into optimal configurations for irradiation processing.
The European Food Safety Authority has said that scientific
analysis indicates that semicarbazide may have been found in some
plastic sealing gaskets used in lids of glass jars and in some
packaged foods.
The actual feasibility of linking consumption data to health
outcomes came to light this week following investigations into the
buying and eating of novel - to include genetically modified -
foods.
The €435 billion US food industry has welcomed a move by the Bush
administration to inject more cash into food security. "Both
Secretary Thompson and FDA Commissioner McClellan emphasised that
the focus of this new food security...
A network of scientists in Europe, co-ordinated by NIZO food
research, are developing a design tool to clarify the relationship
between the configuration of the drying installation, process
conditions, product composition and final...
The US Food and Drug Administration has teamed up with the
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) to conduct an in-depth review
of preventive measures that food processors should be taking.
Eating in between mealtimes is fundamentally ingrained in
Europeans' eating habits, claims a new report that encourages
manufacturers to concentrate on healthy snacks and meal-snack
'hybrids' to meet the needs of this...
