Japan's Agriculture Ministry on Friday began checking all frozen
beef stored under a government buy-back programme for false labels,
following revelations Snow Brand Food Co Ltd had improperly
labelled its meat products, Reuters...
Chinese Star Anise (Illicium verum), also know as Chinese
badian, is fit for human consumption and commonly used in foods,
reports Reading Scientific Services.
South African researcher discovers the correct ratio of plant
sterols and sterolins needed to balance an overactive or
underactive immune system. Food manufacturers must use the exact
ratio for maximum effect.
US company Applied Food Sciences (AFS), announced this week that it
has made yield improvements in its Coffee Antioxidant Enhancement
Technology, a proprietary process that increases the quantity of
natural antioxidants found in brewed...
The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) this week released
reports for public comment recommending the use of a GM canola and
a GM corn as foodsfor human consumption. ANZFA maintains that food
derived from these two GM crops...
A review of farmers' markets in Scotland has found standards of
operation to be generally high with only a few small improvements
needed, according to a recent review.
Rapid rates of weight gain during infancy could be linked to
obesity later in childhood, researchers from the Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia in the US reveal this week.
US food company HJ Heinz has come up with a novel way to solve the
problem of anaemia in children, particularly frequent in the
developing world. The answer?: Supplefer Sprinkles.
Soft-drink and snack-food giant PepsiCo Inc. on Wednesday reported
a 16 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profits, but shares fell on
concerns that archrival Coca-Cola Co. is muscling in on the
company's popular Gatorade sports...
Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, Europe's third-biggest
healthcare group, said on Thursday that net profit for 2001 had
risen by eight per cent to 7.0 billion Swiss francs (€4.7 bn) as
flagship drug sales rose 15 per cent...
A day after Italy's first human case of suspected mad cow disease,
the European Parliament has demanded new EU powers to help prevent
the consumption of contaminated meat, reported Reuters.
Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) berries have been
used traditionally in both food and medicines in China and animal
experiments. The berries are rich in lipophilic nutrients in both
the seeds and the soft parts (pulp/peel)...
A seminar dedicated to the implications of QUID Legislation on food
enforcement policy, analytical testing regimes and the
responsibilities of food manufacturers and retailers will take
place in London this month.
Eat meat. That's the dietary advice given by a team of scientists
who examined the dietary role of fat in a study that combined
nutritional analysis with anthropologic research about the diets of
ancient hunter-gatherer societies.
The European Commission wants to see greater progress in frontier
technologies, particularly life sciences and biotechnology, and has
set out a clear strategy to achieve this aim.
In a move that aims to ensure price consistency from shelf to
checkout, Netherlands-based Hoogvliet Supermarkets announced this
week that it is deploying electronic shelf labels (ESLs) from NCR
Corporation throughout its 34-store...
Hundreds of nutritionists, US government officials and leading
researchers gathered in Washington, DC last month to develop an
action plan to address a critical health concern facing children
and adolescents: calcium deficiency.
The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) this week released
a research report on food handling practices in Australian food
businesses. The findings were mixed.
In 1926, the Commonwealth Government created the Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research, the body that later became
CSIRO. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of this event, several
functions were held throughout Australia...
Dutch life science company DSM has entered into a co-operation with
technology company Avantium Technologies to discover new and
improved catalytic systems relevant to DSM's life sciences
business.
Indian makers of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) posted mixed
results for the past quarter, but all face a similarly daunting
future: nearly stagnant demand for many products, with any rise in
profit coming primarily from cost cutting,...
Antioxidant supplements could help to fight Age-related cataracts
(ARC), a leading cause of acquired blindness in the US. A recent
US/European trial shows that antioxidants could slow the
progression of this debilitating illness.
The Thirty-fourth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives
and Contaminants and its Ad Hoc Working Groups will be held in
March 2002 in The Netherlands.
The Thai Small Industry Finance Corporation has allotted one
billion baht (€200m) to promote food safety standards among Thai
food manufacturers, the Bangkok Post reports this week.
In his budget proposal for fiscal year 2003, President Bush will
include $131 million (€152m) in new spending to protect the
nation's food supply from animal and plant pests and diseases,
strengthen food safety programs and support...
Environment groups say Britain is at risk of tainting conventional
and organic crops with gene-modified varieties if the new field
trial sites announced yesterday go ahead, reports Reuters.
EarthPower Technologies Sydney, an Australian renewable energy
company announced recently that it has begun construction on its
state-of-the-art anaerobic digester facility that converts food
waste into green energy and organic fertiliser.
More tests are needed to determine the possible health side-effects
of genetically modified organisms, France's food safety agency
AFSSA said in a report to the government this week,
The potential health promoting characteristics of tomatoes have led
to a steady increase in the inclusion of the tomato carotenoid
lycopene as a food colour and a functional food ingredient.
An outbreak of avian flu among poultry flocks in Pennsylvania, US,
which led Japan and the Philippines to impose temporary import bans
on poultry products from the state, could be declared over as early
as March 1, reports Reuters.
The constant demand for food which is fresher, more convenient,
more flavoursome and more nutritious will mean an increase in the
use of technology in food preparation in the future, according to
the January issue of Food Technology,...
Food safety regulators participating in a global food forum said
authorities should be completely open in assessing the risks during
food scares to avoid misunderstanding and public panic, reported
Reuters.
Levels of total phenols, catechins and caffeine in teas commonly
consumed in the UK have been identified by scientists in the UK.
Future commercial exploitation of tea could depend partly on its
nutraceutical properties.
A UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) study published this week confirms
that scientific testing methods are now able to identify very small
amounts of GM in ingredients in some foods.
A new report by Leatherhead Food Research Association in Britain
says that innovation in product development is crucial for today's
global food and drink markets.
Food manufacturer and supplier Singapore Food Industries (SFI)
announced a full-year profit of $14.82million (EUR17.2million) last
year, a 19 per cent increase from 2000, reported the Straits Times
in Singapore.
Consolidation in the dairy products market has become necessary in
order to increase market share and optimise presence in a highly
competitive and uncertain market environment, Euromonitor
International reports.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) this week published the
first national report, aimed at the food industry, on the exposure
of Irish consumers to food additives in their diet.
Danish food ingredients company Christian Hansen has received a new
patent for a delivery system for the introduction of a starter
culture directly into a dairy process line.
Alcohol can be a major risk factor for breast cancer but a
'healthy' or 'western' diet does not seem to have any adverse
effect. These are the findings of a recent report in the journal
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers...
The Nestle USA - Beverage Division and Ocean Spray Cranberries,
Inc. announced this week that they have formed a long-term
agreement which, they hope, will enable both companies to increase
manufacturing and supply chain efficiency...
Food safety experts from some 120 countries gathered in Morocco
yesterday for an international conference that takes place in the
shadow of a new food scare in Europe.
Britain should tear up its code of conduct on how powerful
supermarkets deal with farmers and small suppliers, an environment
group said on Monday ahead of the publication of a new blueprint
for UK farming and food.