The current BSE crisis in the US has touched numerous industries
and ignited countless issues. One of these topics that the crisis
has brought back to life has been the simmering feud over
country-of-origin labelling of beef and other...
The European Commission has requested Belgium and Spain to comply
with 2003 rulings of the European Court of Justice concerning their
failure to adopt and notify national legislation implementing an EU
law on the contained use of...
Sales of the high intensity sweetener acesulfame K look set to rise
for ingredients firm Nutrinova with the company confirming this
week that the FDA has approved its non-carbohydrate sweetener
Sunett as a general purpose sweetener...
With tight new rules on traceability soon to hit European food
manufacturers and retailers, European food lawyer Raymond O'Rourke
examines the new legislation and the impact this will have on
industry. Of concern, O'Rourke...
Parliament adopts contentious report calling for rules to be
established at Community level on the coexistence of genetically
modified (GM) crops with ordinary crops 'without delay'.
Public health and safety company NSF International (NSF) has
announced a new alliance with the STAR-K Kosher Certification
organisation. The purpose is to meet the growing kosher food
certification demands of consumers and businesses...
Infant formula to alpha-cyclodextrin via enzyme processing are all
on the table as the nascent food authority in Oceania calls for
comments on its food standards code.
Retailers and manufacturers working in Australia have five days to
go before meeting the new rules on food labels, warned the Food
Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) today.
Speaking in Brussels earlier this week, European Commissioner for
Health and Consumer Protection David Byrne announced the latest
development on issues relating to food safety within an enlarged
EU.
Tough new rules on food imports into the US came into force today,
but with thousands of foreign and domestic companies yet to
register with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the
policy-makers have given some breathing space.
New rules that harmonise EU legislation on additives necessary for
the storage and use of flavourings were welcomed by industry last
week. Proposed by the Commission in 2002, amendments to Directive
95/2/EC on food additives other...
Branded by some as political and others as sensible, a divided
Europe yesterday saw member states failing to suppport the
Commission proposal to authorise the first GM foodstuff - BT11
sweetmaize - since the de facto moratorium begun...
This afternoon food specialists from member states will vote on a
proposal to end Europe's five year moratorium on genetically
modified foods. A deeply-divided issue, the outcome of the vote
will either disappoint or delight.
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...
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...
The European Commission has put forward revised regulations on
materials that come into contact with food. Among the proposed
changes is a more modern approach to the principle that packaging
materials should not interact with the...
Before any new food product can be introduced on the European
market it must be rigorously assessed for safety. The UK Food
Standards Agency has received an application to approve lycopene
sourced from the fungus Blakeslea trispora...
As a raft of new food legislation, notably the labelling of food
allergens and genetically modified organisms, enters into force in
Europe, food manufacturers cannot afford to be less than au
fait with the new rules. Under the umbrella...
Chaos is soon likely to set in with only one month to go until
tough laws on bioterrorism enter into force in the US. At least 90
per cent of foreign and domestic facilities have yet to register
with the FDA.
Measures to support the sustainable development of Europe's olive
oil crops find their roots in reform to the EU's Common
Agricultural Policy (CAP) cleared in June. The Commission is
working on new rules to take this further...
The advent of new European legislation on genetically modified
organisms - applicable as of last week - will hit all players in
the food industry. In a bid to render the new rules clearer we have
decided to take the step to publish...
The regional parliament of Upper Austria announced this week that
it is to appeal against the EC's decision not to allow the region
to declare itself a genetically modified(GM) free zone, reports
CORDIS.
At the end of last week the USDA published a proposed rule aimed at
ending the ban on imports of Canadian cattle under 30 months old,
deemed to be at low risk for mad cow disease.
The Commission will shave €1 billion off the CAP budget in 2004 as
summer droughts across Europe saw exports wither and refunds
reduced as the impact of reform takes shape.
Legislation in Europe to end 'hidden' allergens on food labels
cleared a crucial hurdle last month when the Council and the
European Parliament put a red pen through the '25 per cent' rule,
ushering in the transparent...
The protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) is essential
not only for researchers to work willingly together on innovative
research, but also in order to bring the fruits of this
collaboration to the market. IPR is, however,...
US court dismisses claims by Muscle Marketing USA that all forms of
creatine powder, including the product made by Degussa Food
Ingredients, are ineffective.
With the European Union soon to represent 450 million consumers,
which common agricultural policy will best serve an enlarged
Europe? "A single CAP that serves a single, united Europe,"
said the leading crusader of CAP reform...
Following a scientific risk assessment, the European Parliament and
the European Council adopted a directive prohibiting the use of
growth promoting hormones on 14 October, reports CORDIS.
Global tugs of war continue in the trade zone with the the WTO
agreeing to demands from the US and Australia to examine Europe's
rules on the protection of place and product names.
South African millers must fortify flour and maize meal with a
blend of vitamins and minerals, including folic acid, following new
legislation introduced this week to improve malnutrition in the
country.
Europe has brought ventilation to smoke flavourings with the
adoption of new rules that aim to harmonise substantially diverse
legislation in the member states which sees some countries adopting
very strict authorisation procedures,...
Ongoing investigations in the UK continue to unearth food products
contaminated by the potential carcinogen Sudan 1, several months
after EU laid down emergency measures to block imports of chilli
powder contaminated with the red...
As tough new European proposals on health claims undergo scrutiny
from member states, UK-based consumer group keeps the pressure up,
claiming this week that 'food manufacturers are continuing to
make unwarranted health claims...
The European Commission this week issued a statement relating to
its proposed regulation on health and nutrition claims announced in
a bid to clear up complaints based on 'myths and
misunderstandings'.
European Commissioner David Byrne welcomed the Agriculture
Council's decision this week on new rules to cut the incidence of
foodborne diseases in the European Union. Salmonella alone costs
the EU an estimated €2.8bn.
Environmentalists took to the streets in Brazil last week in
protest after the country's vice president said he would lift a ban
on genetically modified soy crops.
Although trade talks in Cancun collapsed this month the pressure
remains on the European Union to shake up its heavily subsidised
sugar regime. At a time when the sugar industry continues to
struggle as fears grow over a worldwide...
Farmers in southern Brazil are urging the government to pass an
emergency to allow use of GMO soybeans in the coming 2003-04 season
(October-September), reports the American Soybean Association this
week.
In a landmark decision, the European Commission has blocked the
first attempt by an EU region to turn itself into a statutory
GM-free zone. The EU body ruled that governments that tried to ban
genetically-modified crops would be in...
In the run up to the WTO trade talks next week in Mexico, the
European Union has called on the WTO to rule on the 'legality of
the Australian quarantine regime' applied to imports of a large
number of food products of EU...
The UK food agency has warned consumers that some batches of a
pasta sauce sold in the UK contain chilli powder contaminated with
the illegal chemical dye Sudan I, a known carcinogen.
A few months after the US Department of Agriculture gave the all
clear for processors to use activated lactoferrin, a milk protein,
to fight disease-causing bacteria arrives the endorsement from the
US Food and Drug Administration.
The food safety agency of Australia and New Zealand has opened
channels for public comment on a number of possible changes to its
recently implemented Food Standards Code.
The United States, Argentina and Canada have asked the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) to set up a dispute settlement panel to decide
whether or not the EU's policies on genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) constitute a barrier...
