Medical professionals from Britain and Ireland this week met with EU Parliament representatives to push for a Europe-wide approach to tackling obesity.
Denmark has repealed its national law requiring flavourings for dairy products to go through a risk assessment and approval process, as the EU positive list is finalised and harmonisation is on the cards across Europe.
The legal dispute between Ajinomoto and Asda over the right to call aspartame 'nasty' has taken a radical new turn following a Court of Appeal judgment effectively overturning last year's High Court ruling.
The UK’s new coalition government said it intends to increase regulatory oversight of the nation’s grocery sector, under policy plans unveiled in a 34-page programme document released yesterday.
Sue Davies, chief policy advisor at Which?, discusses issues of transparency and keeping up momentum on public health elements of the Food Standards Agency under David Cameron's coalition.
The European Food Safety Authority has concluded that data from Denmark does not give grounds for lowering the ADI for nitrites in meat, but usage should be kept as low as possible to achieve the preservative and microbiological effect.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued an 18-page document that updates its approach to health claim assessment and which will form the basis of discussion at its stakeholders meeting in Parma on June 1.
The EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy has indicated that he supports science-based approaches to sustainability in the food chain, but not at the expense of safety and consumer confidence.
The hung parliament has raised a large question mark over some key areas of food policy, with uncertainty surrounding everything from the future of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to the implementation of Labour’s 2030 strategy, according to law firm...
The European Food Safety Authority has launched a public consultation into its new draft communications strategy, which would make dialogue a new key outcome and lay audiences a new target.
The European food supply chain is being crushed between a hammer and an anvil, according to the Belgian food industry association Fevia, which is setting out to contribute to better understanding between actors and more collaboration.
Food from cloned animals must be excluded from draft legislation on ‘novel foods’, Environment Committee MEPs said yesterday - in direct opposition to a position adopted by EU environment ministers just weeks ago.
Italy, Germany the UK and Spain “take the lion’s share of protecting and policing EU” food safety as they are responsible for almost 60 per cent of notifications under the bloc’s RASFF system, according to new research.
Finland’s Evira is preparing for its Finnish Food Conference on 4 May, which will address issues of food risk assessment, risk management and risk communication.
The EU Environment committee is taking steps to block the planned approval of bovine and porcine thrombin as an additive to bind together meat morsels into one piece, on the grounds that it could mislead consumers.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), in adoption of opinions on three further food colours used in bakery and confectionery products, has confirmed intake levels for one colour, halved the ADI for another and could not determine a risk assessment...
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has raised concerns about the health risks of lead in food for children and concluded that current guidance levels are no longer appropriate.
“Many in industry are pinning their hopes on EFSA showing them the light at the meeting, including the likes of Danone, which withdrew three probiotic immunity/digestive health article 13.5 claims in April, citing clarification it is expecting on Big...
Food formulations positioned in the 'low cost' and ‘hard discount’ bracket are not nutritionally inferior to their brand equivalents, asserts the French national food council.
Banning artificial trans fats in the UK could prevent 11,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths a year, according to two senior doctors writing in the British Medical Journal.
Restrictions on guar gum imported from India into the EU have been revised on fears that the risk of dioxin contamination of the product remains too high.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is living on borrowed time. And not just in the United States but now in Europe too where mounting consumer hostility and scientific concern over its safety have combined to push the chemical towards the point of no return.
DSM’s lipase enzyme from GM Aspergillus niger is set to be approved by Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, opening up opportunities for bakers to use it as a processing aid.
Soft drink makers could end up swallowing a £10m bill for no good reason by embracing the Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommendations for new slim-line 250ml drinks.
The new European organic logo has been published in the EU’s Official Journal and registered as a collective trademark by the EU. It can now be used on organic products throughout the bloc.
A measure forcing food and packaging companies to submit details of nanotechnology research to a national database could trigger an R&D exodus from the UK, the Government has warned.
This month marks the 10th anniversary of the UK’s Food Standards Agency. Sue Davies, chief policy advisor at consumer group Which?, which fought for the FSA’s creation in the wake of the BSE crisis, shares her views on its job over the last 10 years.
The UK Food Standards Agency’s recommendations to reduce portion sizes of treat foods and soft drinks and cut sugar and saturated fat levels will help tackle obesity and health problems, says the BHF; but a top food lawyer points out that there is no...
As negotiations over the international use of biodiversity-based products continue, concerns are voiced over what will be covered by future regulations and how they will be enforced.
Spirulina, the blue colour from algae used in Nestlé’s Smarties, is one of 10 substances used to colour food that faces an uncertain future as its legal status is scrutinised.
The UK’s Food Standards Agency has unveiled its final recommendations to industry for cutting sugar and saturated fat in soft drinks, confectionery and bakery products, which includes trimming back portion sizes of some products.
Plans are afoot to merge the New Zealand Food Safety Authority back into the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, 3 years after the risk assessor and risk manager were split out.
The European Food Safety Authority published new dietary reference values (DRVs) for carbohydrates, sugar, fibre, fats and water confirming proposals made last year. The final levels have drawn criticism from some scientists.
The European Parliament has finally voted in rapporteur’s report on the proposed new nutritional labelling regulation, appearing to favour a loose set of general rules. The idea of making traffic light mandatory is out – as is a ban on co-existent national...
A UK government committee looking into European Union baby milk marketing laws has raised issues with local enforcement procedures which it says need to be addressed.
The European Council has adopted a position on the proposed novel foods amendment that includes produce from clones as a stop-gap, but suggests specific legislation be put in place in the near future.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) Board last week accepted a recommendation in a House of Lords Science and Technology Committee report to compile a confidential database of food industry research into nanotechnology.
The EU food industry considers that portion information on the front of packs is helpful to consumers in making food choices, supported by per 100g/ml information on the back of pack.
The perpetrator of a scam to sell some 36 million battery eggs as free range in the UK has been jailed for three years and ordered to pay hefty fines. The case has prompted the introduction of more stringent traceability measures.
The board of the UK’s Food Standards Agency has agreed to recommend a new approach to front-of-pack labelling to health ministers, which uses traffic lights and text and GDAs.
The European Court of Justice has indicated that Monsanto’s patent on Roundup Ready soybean seeds does not also cover processed soybean meal in the EU, say reports.
Novel foods are high on the agenda in Europe, as amendments to the original 1997 law are in the works. The UK’s FSA is planning an open event to gauge views and present its panel’s work.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a consultation on its new guidance for assessing the environmental risk that genetically modified plants may pose.
The UK’s Food Standards Agency is changing tack over traffic light labels, its preferred scheme for much of the last decade, due to EU regulatory debates and new evidence on consumer preferences.
