Europe's food alert system last week detects several batches of the
banned red colour sudan in the food chain, months after the UK
faced its biggest food recall ever, writes Lindsey Partos.
A New Zealand research institute is aiming to turn fruit from a
traditional health food into one that can help food manufacturers
meet today's consumer's demands for specific health benefits,
writes Dominique Patton.
Food seasonings giant Ajinomoto defends its leading amino acid
position, earmarking 15 billion yen over the next five years to
ramp up production capacity of its umami seasonings and feed grade
amino acids, reports Lindsey Partos.
Hours after EU leaders fail to hammer out an agreement on the
2007-13 European budget, the Commission calls on food scientists to
submit new research proposals for food quality.
The image of secret radio chips planted inside the home from larder
to bathroom, transmitting data freely to Corporation Inc, is enough
to curl the toes of more than anti-capitalism activists.
Juice maker Witmark-Ukraine has announced it expects to increase
sales by 50 per cent in 2005 as consumer demand for juice in the
CIS continues to soar, yet rivals are looming, reports Angela
Drujinina.
Demand for frozen seafood is growing rapidly in Russia backed by
health claims on packs, but the dominance of selling from loose
remains a big challenge, reports Angela Drujinina.
Stakeholders in the food chain, along with technocrats and
politicians in Brussels, must wait until October this year to get
the final word from the WTO on the GM complaint filed by the US,
Canada and Argentina, reports Lindsey Partos.
Europe's food safety body backs proposals to introduce the concept
of Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) for the safety assessment
of microorganisms used in food production.
Israeli flavours firm Frutarom continues blazing the acquisition
trail with news this week it will buy the flavouring extracts
business of US firm AM Todd Botanical Therapeutics, reports
Lindsey Partos.
Buffer stocks are the cornerstone of a new strategy unveiled to
stabilise price and sustain permanent supplies for gum arabic in
the world's top three producing countries, writes Lindsey
Partos.
The UK's food authority said this week that it will provide up to
£20,000 (€30,000) to pay for external scientists to produce more
dossiers for supplement ingredients not currently on the European
directive's positive list,...
Ireland's public investment in R&D is beginning to pay off,
with the launch of such products as a new form of bio-cheese and a
low-fat snack food. The government has identified health and
nutrition food development as a major...
International labelling standards on the percentage of ingredients
in a food and beverage products are on the table again at an
upcoming Codex meeting, reports Lindsey Partos.
US researchers open up potential opportunities held in the citrus
genome, helping to detect specific genes related to pathogen
resistance and to high flavonoid and nutrient levels.
Food and beverage makers looking to slash salt, as well as fat and
sugar, levels in their product ranges could benefit from a new
flavour system designed by ICI-owned firm Quest, reports Lindsey
Partos.
Contributing to already considerable dossier on the impact
excessive alcohol consumption can have on health, a new study
claims to be the first to show that continuous drinking for a short
period could lead to permanent damage to...
Fuelling the debate on coffee consumption, a new study suggests
caffeine could increase aortic stiffness and wave reflections, risk
factors in cardiovascular disease.
Expectations of a fall in global coffee supplies of coffee will
keep up pressure on market prices, as fresh figures indicate world
coffee production will drop in 2005/06.
Large European study supports previous findings that suggests red
and processed meat consumption increases the risk of colorectal
cancer, fuelling immediate reaction from meat industry that claims
the study fails to "prove cause...
A European regulation on food enzymes, which would demand dossiers
of safety and technical information on each enzyme prior to their
approval on the market, could be published by the Commission by the
end of the year, reports Dominique...
One of the world's largest chicken breeding companies says it will
begin selling stock that does not lay fishy smelling brown eggs,
reports Ahmed ElAmin.
New technology could soon make it cheap and easy to identify food
pathogens by tagging them with color-coded probes made out of
synthetic tree-shaped DNA.
UK-based Premier Foods will add Quorn, a meat alternative, to its
product lineup with an agreement to acquire Marlow Foods from
Montagu Private Equity for £172m (€258m).
Dublin-based Amartus has released an updated version of its
TargetWatch SDMS software, an Internet-based data management system
for coordinating and securing global research work, reports
Ahmed ElAmin.
Prices for soybeans, used to make edible oils and meat
alternatives, are still vulnerable with fresh figures showing China
will increase its pull on global stocks.
Food makers in Europe looking to cut trans fats from their products
find new alternatives as UK bakery ingredients manufacturer
Bakemark UK steps up supplies for trans fat-free offerings, rolling
out non-hydrogenated blends for its...
Good news for prepared meal manufacturers with a recent study
concluding consumption of convenient, nutritious frozen dinners
could help dieters control portion size, reports Lindsey
Partos.
Cargill has developed an ingredient that enables manufacturers to
add the healthy benefits of whole grain nutrition to foods while
preserving the sensory qualities of foods made from enriched corn
flour, reports Anthony Fletcher.
The increase in ethical consumerism means that food makers should
seriously consider the commercial implications of eco-labels,
though tighter regulation is still needed, writes Anthony
Fletcher.
Scientists in Japan said a small sample study indicates a link
between recurrent miscarriages and Bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical
that has been previously fingered as a possibly cause of breast
cancer, reports Ahmed ElAmin.
While William Morrison Supermarkets is reportedly on the hunt for a
new chief executive, it has issued another warning that it is
having a hard time digesting its £3.35bn (€5bn) acquisition of
Safeway last year, reports Ahmed ElAmin.
Television advertising gives children the wrong message about
healthy eating and is creating a generation confused about the
meaning of nutrition, writes Anthony Fletcher.
Japanese food seasonings firm Ajinomoto announced earlier this
month it will invest 5 billion yen (€400,000) in a new R&D
centre at its Kawasaki plant.
Children in the UK spend more than a third of their pocket money on
sweets, snacks, drinks and takeaways, find new statistics from the
country's national number crunching body, reports Lindsey
Partos.
Illegal colours continue to crop up in European food products with
the EU's tracking system highlighting banned Sudan 1 and Para Red
contaminants in a range of foods this week, reports Lindsey
Partos.
Demonstrating again the power behind our sense of smell,
researchers find the smell of fast food wrappers, fresh bread and
pastry can lead a driver to road rage, writes Lindsey
Partos.
The Soleris system could help food firms formulate new product
lines more rapidly by detecting microorganisms in nutritional
ingredients quicker, writes Anthony Fletcher.
Fresh from its acquisition of Solgar, the US' biggest supplement
maker NBTY said today that it has also bought the Canadian
supplement maker and distributor SISU, writes Dominique
Patton.
Women who eat cauliflower regularly could provide the body with
powerful tools to help fight breast cancer, as a new Italian study
reveals the chemopreventive compounds of this popular vegetable,
reports Lindsey Partos.
Germany's risk assessment agency warns pregnant women about the
consumption of quinine-containing beverages, and at the same time
calls for better labelling of these beverages, reports Lindsey
Partos.
While the European Commission still seems far from producing a
proposal to amend rules on nutrition labelling, a new study
suggests costs of label changes for the food maker could hit €9000
a product, reports Lindsey Partos.