France is the home of some of the world's biggest mineral water
brands - Perrier, Vittel, Evian, Volvic, to name just four - but a
new entry into the market early next year is likely to give brand
owners such as Danone and Nestlé...
Eager to grab a slice of the steadily growing market for natural
alternatives to hydrolysed vegetable protein (HVP) seasonings, UK
company Overseal Foods has launched a line of yeast products under
the brand name Yesto-Seal.
In a move to beat unfair competition, the European Council has
adopted an amendment of its directive on food additives other than
colours and sweeteners. The changes set out to harmonise the use of
food additives in flavourings at...
As countdown begins, Natural Products Expo Asia, opening in Hong
Kong this week, will run a free seminar focusing on the new
bioterrorism regulations, set to impact all companies exporting
ingredients to the US.
Regular consumption of the sugar replacer Isomalt appears to have a
prebiotic effect on gut bacteria, according to preliminary findings
of a study being carried out in Germany.
US- and Australia-based biotech firm Novogen has been granted a US
patent covering health supplements based on the use of soy
isoflavones in tablet or capsule form.
Hot on the heels of weak third quarter results, US agri-giant Bunge
said on Tuesday that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell
its bakery business to US company Dawn Food Products for $76
million in a bid to focus on the core...
Scotch whisky producers are expected to present a united front
today in calling for Diageo to withdraw its Cardhu brand from the
market or switch it back to a single malt. But with Diageo expected
to refuse, the distillers have already...
Carrefour is Europe's largest food retailer and the world's second
largest after Wal-Mart, with operations across the globe. But the
one blot on its otherwise impressive copybook in recent years has
been its relative inability...
Six cases of salmonella in sprouts were reported in the US this
week. The news comes but a few days after US agriculture secretary
reports on a dramatic fall in the rate of salmonella in raw meat
and poultry. In Europe, food safety...
More than three years after Danish ingredients company Danisco
filed an application to the EU for approval of its fat replacer
salatrim, the Commission finally rubber stamped the product on
Tuesday. The move clears the way for Danisco...
Europe's health food industry has 'under-utilised' the
nutraceutical properties of carotenoids and consumers are still
unaware of their health benefits, finds report on the $348.5
million (€291.4m) carotenoid market....
Australian scientists this week confirm past and current evidence
that a diet high in citrus fruits could help to prevent certain
cancers and reduce risk of stroke.
The European Community, Canada and the US have taken the
controversial case of hormone-treated beef to the World Trade
Organisation's (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) this month.
Tighter health and safety legislation in the EU and in the US is
being felt around the world. For example, the Filipino government
this week urged food processors in the country to upgrade their
manufacturing systems if they wish...
Just five years ago, British drinks group Merrydown was on the
verge of going bust, bogged down by spiralling costs, a lack of
focus and dependency on a product - cider - in dire financial
straits.
If traceability is at the heart of new food labelling rules in
Europe then the life blood keeping it beating must be risk
management. On the eve of the first ever risk assessment on
genetically modified organisms delivered by Europe's...
The European Commission this week gave the green light to
salatrims, a type of reduced-calorie fats, for use as novel food
ingredients following an application by ingredients giant Danisco.
The long-awaited approval opens the way...
A far-reaching pig welfare strategy in the UK will have
implications for pork processors everywhere. Greater access to
information and comprehensive disease surveillance should produce
better meat and help consolidate the UK's...
Labelling issues for meat have just got easier, hails a Danish
analysis equipment company that has come up with a new technology
to measure fat content.
Management at Spar, the Germany-based, French-owned retail group,
has reacted angrily to reports in the press last week that it was
considering selling off its discount chain Netto - and not
surprisingly, since the business is by...
Food technologists the world over are looking at formulations to
boost the consumption of health-promoting fish oil in people's
diets, but they are faced with a hurdle - food quickly becomes
rancid when fish oil is added. Thanks...
Junk food such as burgers, chips and fizzy drinks, should carry
tobacco-style health warnings in a bid to reduce rising obesity
rates, a senior UK politician told leading food makers in a
government investigation into obesity yesterday.
In the wake of terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001
Europe's manufacturing industries have taken a knock but figures
released this week reveal that the food industry is managing the
course, registering a 'light...
The EU food and drink industry proved highly resilient in 2002,
increasing overall volume sales by 1.8 per cent at a time when the
bloc's industrial output as a whole declined.
Spar, the German retail group, is being forced to take drastic
measures to haul itself out of the red. With operating losses of
€65 million in the first half of the year, and a restructuring
programme undermined by the weak German...
Diageo's decision to change its Cardhu Scotch whisky from a single
malt to a pure malt - a blend of malts from different distilleries
- has met with widespread condemnation from the rest of the
industry, so much so in fact that...
Today in Brussels European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin
will meet ministers and high level representatives of the 13
acceding and candidate countries to discuss their participation in
the EU's Sixth Framework Programme...
Hard negotiations followed by new European rules put to bed
long-standing disputes over labelling issues that hung over
chocolate manufacturers. As more European manufacturers turn to
vegetable fats, the challenge is on for ingredients...
Fortifying wheat flour with iron appears to have little effect on
improving intake of the mineral, suggests a report in this month's
European Journal of Nutrition.
After several years of gains, growth in the Russian confectionery
market looks set to slow over the next six years or so, with only
premium chocolate products likely to bring big returns.
Cost cuts for food manufacturers involved in enzyme-based food
products could be on the way through shorter lead times following
the development of a new food enzyme production technology.
Public perception of risk - notably with regards to genetically
modified foods - is the focus of a high-profile conference to take
place in Brussels next week. Senior figures from the worlds of
politics, science and food will explore...
The UK's food safety watchdog has come under heavy criticism from a
group of politicians. A parliamentary public accounts committee
said that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) had to worker harder if
it was to become an authoritative...
Ahold, the Dutch
retail group, yesterday admitted for the first time that the
'accounting irregularities' announced earlier this year had in fact
constituted fraud, and that it believed that no more than five to
10...
Rodrigo Rato, Spain's finance minister, has added his voice to the
debate over food prices which has pitched retailers against
suppliers. He said that Spain's various regional governments should
do more to present a united...
In the US, consumer bodies the Public Citizen and the Center for
Food Safety have petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
to ban irradiated ground beef.
Only one more person from the Republic of Ireland (ROI) is likely
to die from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) as a
consequence of eating BSE infected meat, scientists claim this
week.
Controversial changes over two years ago to Europe's chocolate
rules - that had cocoa puritans and producers up in arms - came
into force in the summer, providing ingredients companies with a
raft of new opportunities.
When 145 countries walked away from the negotiating table at the
World Trade Organisation meeting in Cancun in September,
disappointment hung in the air over a failure to make real
progress. Since then bureaucrats and politicians...
Hunger is on the rise again after falling steadily during the first
half of the 1990s, warns the UN's annual hunger report released on
Wednesday. In the same week, a Danish task force asserts that
organisations are falling short...
The chances of Anders Moberg, the new chief executive of Ahold,
achieving the bonus targets announced yesterday look increasingly
unlikely as the Dutch supermarket group today announced a further
slide into the red for the first nine...
Snack and convenience food consumption plays a dominant role inthe
eating habits of almost half of British consumers, according tonew
research published by Teagasc. And Irish food companies should be
cashing in.
The US Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has developed a new
dough formulation to eradicate the musty, 'beany' aftertaste of
some soy-based breads; a problem that has eluded food technologists
since the 1970s.
Danish oils and fats company Aarhus United saw third quarter profit
falling by over 50 per cent as reduced margins, lower exchange
rates, a decline in bulk oil sales and heightened competition, ate
into the bottom line.
Belgian ingredients company Orafti is to acquire Remy Industries, a
Belgium-based producer of food ingredients made from rice, the
company announced this week.
