Leading flavours house Givaudan says a new facility in Shanghai,
claimed to be the world's largest flavours plant, will allow it to
capture rising demand for quality and innovative flavours in the
Chinese food and beverage market.
Following concerns that food and drink R&D investment across
Europe has hit a low ebb, Irish meat manufacturer Dawn Farm Foods
has pledged to spend 28m on research.
Poland's controversial ban on the use of 16 varieties of
genetically modified maize has been backed by the European
Commission, despite warnings the law broke EU rules.
The majority of food recalls around the world are caused by
preventable problems, with poor allergen control and failure to
follow international standards as the major culprits, according to
a UK consultancy.
Yesterday American-owned Sara Lee reported a massive 77 per cent
drop in third quarter operating profit from $189m last year to $42m
in 2006, impacted by a vast portfolio cull.
The EU's legislators yesterday came up with a compromise deal on
nutritional claims, further watering down requirements originally
proposed by the European Commission, according to a newspaper
report.
The Grape Seed Extract Company is the latest New Zealand company to
tap the nutraceutical potential of a waste product of a traditional
industry, with an antioxidant extracted from grape seeds left over
by wine-makers using a non-chemical...
The food industry must take responsibility for the continued
excessive consumption of salt, according to professor Graham
McGregor of St Georges University of London.
It is time to admit that society is fighting a part-time battle
against the bulge, willingly lambasting soft drinks, burgers and
chocolate, while shuffling silently away from a fairly dismal
exercise rate.
The UK's second largest retailer is today facing the possibility of
mass strikes at leading depots, after failing to honour agreements
with the GMB workers union to improve employee conditions.
Over a quarter of a million coronary heart disease events could be
avoided by replacing trans-fats in foods, says a new review - calls
that have been welcomed by a leading trans fat-free producer.
A number of food safety and nutrition research studies up for
funding by the UK regulator could result in new codes of practice
or regulation for the industry.
Frito-Lay has pledged to reduce the saturated fat in its leading
potato chip brands, Lay's and Ruffles, by more than 50 percent by
switching to NuSun sunflower oil.
The frozen desserts industry saw further European consolidation as
an equity firm swooped in to take Richmond Foods, Britain's largest
ice cream manufacturer.
US food and consumer goods producer Sara Lee announced Friday it
has entered discussions with Smithfield to sell its European meats
arm, following a drop in the division's anticipated selling price.
A Euro-Mediterranean network for the protection, promotion and
territorial development of Mediterranean artisan cheeses is
bringing together diverse regions of Spain, Italy and France.
Following nearly four years of pressure, Britain's Office of Fair
Trading (OFT) has finally agreed to refer the grocery sector to the
Competition Commission (CC) for an in-depth enquiry.
The EU's food safety agency today said aspartame is safe for
consumption, contradicting a scientific study by the Ramazzini
Foundation that claimed the artificial sweetener caused cancer.
The European Commission has cleared Carrefour's outright purchase
of rival French chain Hyparlo, following an investigation into the
supermarket's anti-competitive behaviour.
In the overcrowded spirits industry, the future success of leading
players rests on their ability to free up finances for
acquisitions, says new report.
As the American retail sector struggles to compete with Wal-Mart's
discount strategy, Marsh has become the latest in a string of
supermarkets to sell out to a private equity firm.
A new review could help food developers and technical managers
appreciate how dietary fibre influences the glycaemic index of
foods, especially cereal products.
Flavor firm Virginia Dare is to introduce new products that appeal
to the Hispanic market in an effort to capitalize on the flavor
preferences of the growing Hispanic population in the US.
A slaughterhouse partially owned by meat supplier Gilde was
contaminated with a virulent strain of the E. coli bacteria that
hospitalized about a dozen children and resulted in one death,
Norway's food safety authority said yesterday.
Recent scientific research does not support the common assumption
that women should lower their salt intake during pregnancy to
reduce the risks for developing pre-eclampsia or oedema, according
to a recent forum.
American-owned Asda has again held the number two spot in Britain's
top retailer chart by a whisker, but looks certain to pass the
mantle to Sainsbury's over the next quarter.
Europe's largest infant nutrition firm Royal Numico has announced a
record 43.5 per cent profit rise, boosted by acquisitions in Asian
and Southern European markets.
Metro Group's domestic first-quarter sales have fallen 3.8 per cent
in the difficult retail sector, while increased international
earnings continue to prop up overall performance.
BASF's fine chemicals division is bolstered by higher sales volume
of aroma chemicals and vitamins A and E for animal nutrition, but
the pressure over vitamin C and lysine has not abated, dragging
down the division's profitability.
A plan to increase biofuel production could lead to an increase in
prices for agricultural ingredients, in particular rapeseed, the
bloc's food industry association warns in a position paper.
The Polish parliament's proposed ban on the sale and registration,
but apparently not planting, of biotech seeds, will likely violate
EU regulations, according to a USDA foreign agricultural service
GAIN report.
A new European Court of Justice ruling should provide Bank of
America with a degree of comfort over its recent travails with
Italian dairy giant Parmalat.
A Finnish professor of pharmacology has questioned the findings
behind a study that suggests that lowering the salt content of food
could be bad for people's health.
Britain's formula milk industry has faced down a new wave of
criticism from senior paediatricians, who accused it of dodging a
ban on direct advertising by snuggling up to doctors and health
professionals.