Technology group 3M has combined its packaging expertise with
Microsoft products to develop and deliver what it believes is the
first available integrated packaging management solution. The
Integrated Packaging Tool from 3M is designed...
US poultry exports to European Union countries were banned for one
month yesterday because of concerns over the emergence of bird
influenza in Texas. The ban, which covers all bird and egg imports
from the country, was enacted after...
US alginate producer International Specialty Products (ISP) will
take on a new range of cellulose ingredients after shaking hands on
a deal with Tawainese manufacturer Mingtai Chemical.
The biggest potential consumer market in the world has flung open
the doors to GM foodstuffs. Approving a handful of biotech soybeans
and corn from US biotech giant Monsanto, China's permanent approval
- the first ever issued...
Diminished hearing may be a further side effect of
hormone-replacement therapy (HRT), according to a small pilot study
funded by the US National Institutes of Health.
Israeli firm Advanced Vision Technology (AVT) has introduced a
number of innovative features for its PrintVision range of
inspection solutions. The firm believes that this will further
consolidate its position as a leader in quality...
Eating just 10 grammes of dietary fibre from fruits and cereals
each day appears to significantly lower the risk of coronary heart
disease, according to a new study out this week. But vegetable
fibre did not offer any protection,...
Driving hard into value added ingredients has paid off for Irish
food group Kerry as the company faces off tougher currency exposure
in 2003 to see a steady rise in sales and operating profit.
European bottom line benefits from greater...
If one day in the near future Europe does decide to clear the way
for the planting of GM crops in the soil of the EU25, there is one
point on which the Commission and national governments must be in
full possession of the facts,...
The European Commission obtained official observer status within
the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) this week at the
first-ever global conference on animal welfare. The event brought
together the 166 member countries of...
Countdown to the integration of 10 new member states in Europe this
April begins under the aegis of the Irish presidency. For
manufacturers, a clear understanding of the marketplace in these
countries will be vital to pitching the...
Britain's third largest food retail group Sainsbury looks set to
increase its presence in the convenience store sector even further
in the next few weeks with a bid for the TM Group.
Eastern Europe's thirst for bottled water shows no signs of being
quenched, with all of the 15 biggest countries in the region
showing volume growth over the five years, according to a new
report from beverage industry analysts...
Hypermarkets and discount stores are likely to increase their share
of the grocery retail market in central and eastern Europe in the
years following European Union accession, according to a recent
study of shopping habits in the...
The pressing problem of obesity in children has to be tackled
rapidly and efficiently to avert the heavy price society might pay
as incidences of obesity linked diabetes and heart disease surge.
New research from Australia confirms...
The dominance of the multiple retailers in the UK has had a
devastating effect on the specialist retail sector there, with the
massive buying power of the major chains allowing them to undercut
independent operators at the same time...
Axfood, the Swedish retail group, has completed the remodelling of
35 Matex discount stores, rebranding them under its own Willys
banner. The move is part of a wider strategy of focusing on a
handful of brands for different store...
Sugar, biotechnology, farm reform and failed WTO talks were on the
agenda this week as the EU's farm minister Franz Fischler staked
out Europe's position to the US.
A new study from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) suggests
that genetically engineered DNA is contaminating traditional seeds
of three major crops in North America. The organisation warns that
if left unchecked, seed contamination...
Movement in the global hydrocolloids industry continues this week
with ISP Food Specialities, the UK arm of US private company
International Specialty Products (ISP), announcing it will buy the
UK stabiliser firm Red Carnation Gums...
A trial by UK convenience store operator Spar of a new digital
network allowing targeted information about promotions to be
disseminated throughout its stores has been highly successful, the
company announced last week.
The majority of Polish shoppers still prefer to stock up on
groceries at their local store rather than at western-style
supermarkets or hypermarkets - although urban shoppers are
increasingly turning to the larger store formats.
The roll call of food products contaminated by the harmful illegal
red dye Sudan I continues with the UK's food watchdog finding the
potential carcinogen in two product lines on sale in the country.
Mercadona, the biggest Spanish supermarket group, is to increase
its investments by more than 50 per cent this year as it seeks to
spread its portfolio of stores across the country and build on its
excellent performance in 2003.
Rich red palm oil could be an efficient and cost effective way of
increasing vitamin A levels in the regions south of the Sahara in
Africa, suggests new research.
Early last week the German government passed a bill codifying
European Union legislation for the cultivation and export of
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into national law. Following
suit, the UK government seems set to give...
The UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) last week fell short of
confirming what food producers, farmers and lobby groups have been
saying for the last year – that the Supermarket Code of Practice is
failing to curb the power of the...
Kraft Foods says it is preparing to launch the international
chocolate brand Milka in Russia in an attempt to further increase
its slice of the confectionery market there.
A gathering of Russian ice cream producers in Moscow this week has
revealed the latest production and sales figures for one of the
country's most important food sectors. And it seems that demand for
the comfort product is still...
A new emulsifying agent from US-based TIC Gums is being touted as
more cost-effective that existing products and the first of a new
generation of emulsifying agents.
US scientists have created purple tomatoes that include
anthocyanins, the antioxidant pigments in red wine believed to
prevent heart disease but not normally found in domestic varieties
of the fruit.
The thorny issue of imposing taxes on fatty foods in a bid to
reduce levels of obesity raised its ugly head in the UK once again
this week - but was almost immediately dismissed as unworkable.
Britain's Tate & Lyle group and the US-based McNeil
Nutritionals are to change the way they handle production, sales
and marketing of sucralose, the sweetener developed jointly by the
two companies, following the recent opening...
Scientists in the US have for the first time identified a fresh
product as the source of an outbreak of human Yersinia
pseudotuberculosis infections, a recent medical report says.
Scientists in Denmark are to investigate whether a radical
suggestion from the US about turning the 'food pyramid' on its head
- and therefore eating more foods such as rice and bread than is
traditionally considered healthy...
Men at high risk of heart disease could consider adding soy protein
to their diets to reduce their chances of developing the disease,
the world's biggest killer, report researchers.
Supermarkets have invested a great deal of time and money in
improving the quality of service that they offer to their customers
in recent years, and this has become as much a way of
differentiating between fascias as the products...
Continued demand for its amino acid supplement Amino Vital was one
of the main drivers of growth for Japanese monosodium glutamate
seasonings and sweeteners group Ajinomoto in the first nine months of 2003.
Monsanto will have to wait a little longer to find out if it will
be granted permission by the European Union authorities to import
its genetically modified (GM) maize NK603 into the trading bloc.
Carrefour, the French company which is the world's second largest
food retailer, has this week opened its first hypermarket in China
for nearly two years after finally ensuring that its operations
there comply with Chinese regulations.
Sainsbury's already tarnished reputation took another serious knock
this week when the company bowed to shareholder pressure and
decided not to appoint its preferred candidate to the post of
chairman designate.
Irish dairy firm Glanbia is to invest €15 million in a new
innovation centre to develop functional foods and health
ingredients, Ireland's Minister for Agriculture and Food Joe Walsh
revealed yesterday.
slators in Brussels are currently preparing to decide whether to
allow genetically modified products to be sold in the European
Union, but most of the 15 Member States have also carried out their
own research into the pros and cons...
Experts in Asia are predicting that the bird flu outbreak is
threatening to evolve into a situation similar to that of the
recent SARS outbreak, as the disease appears to show no signs of
abating. Meanwhile in Europe strict measures...
The European Commission recently convened researchers, experts and
decision-makers from all over the world to discuss ways to increase
international cooperation in the battle to combat highly
transmissible animal diseases such as...
Compared to other central European nations, the presence of foreign
retailers in Hungary is relatively low, with the likes of Tesco,
Delhaize, Tenglemann, Rewe and Auchan among the few western
companies already present there. And...
