Breaking News on Food & Beverage Development - North America EU edition

Recent deals boost bottom line for Northland Cranberries

18-Jul-2005 - Cranberry supplier Northland Cranberries gains from agreement with rival Ocean Spray plus sale of branded juice business, reporting a lift in income for the third quarter this year.

A first, pectin ingredient enters Cargill's portfolio

15-Jul-2005 - Acquisitive US ingredients firm Cargill leapfrogs into a leading pectin position as the Citrico acquisition clears allowing pectin products to fall into Cargill's portfolio, reports Lindsey Partos.

Vegetable juice firms target booming Chinese market

15-Jul-2005 - Grasping the booming opportunities in the Chinese food and beverage market, Japanese food conglomerate Kagome has linked up with Chinese firm to bring vegetable and fruit juices to the market.

Study backs operating efficiency of organic sector

15-Jul-2005 - Organic production produces the same corn and soybean yields as conventional farming, but consumes 30 percent less energy and uses no pesticides, according to a revealing new study.

Demand for wood-sourced vanillin soars on price pressures for vanilla

13-Jul-2005 - Food makers turn to wood-sourced vanillin as high oil prices continue to put pressure on the price of petrochemical-based vanilla alternatives, and natural vanilla stocks remain vulnerable,writes Lindsey Partos.

Weekly comment

Let food be thy medicine

11-Jul-2005 - A society that views food as taste-bud entertainment rather than a basic of well-being was always bound to run into health problems. But with obesity now afflicting 300m people, and diabetes set to reach similar numbers within two decades, the problems borne of food abuse are emerging as more than a glitch. They amount to a profound loss of direction in our understanding of both food and medicine.

Soy industry highlights

11-Jul-2005 - The USDA has predicted a three percent drop in soybean production in 2005, while last week's terrorist attack on London has affected a number of commodity markets.

Cargill drives into whey derivatives market through Brazilian buy

08-Jul-2005 - Signing yet another deal to feed its seemingly insatiable appetite for acquisitions, US ingredients firm Cargill makes a drive into the whey derivatives market, reports Lindsey Partos.

Business news weekly roundup

08-Jul-2005 - This week's roundup of ingredients business news includes the announcement of that Mars has launched a new business unit and the establishment of an innovative new organic ingredients business.

Galaxy to offload assets to Schreiber

08-Jul-2005 - Galaxy Nutritional Foods has entered into two definitive agreements with Schreiber Foods for the sale of its plant assets and the outsourcing of its manufacturing operations.

MGPI settles resistant starch patent lawsuit

08-Jul-2005 - MGP Ingredients, Manildra Milling and the Kansas State University Research Foundation (KSURF) have reached a settlement over an alleged patent infringement involving food-grade starches,writes Anthony Fletcher.

FDA marks start of July with product recalls

08-Jul-2005 - It's only the beginning of July, but the FDA has already made a number of food product recalls.

Balchem backs growth of microencapsulation sector

06-Jul-2005 - Balchem's acquisition of the encapsulation and agglomeration business of Loders Croklaan shows that the company believes there is a strong future in encapsulation technology.

Business news weekly roundup

05-Jul-2005 - This week's roundup of ingredients business news includes the announcement of Chr Hansen's new owner and the establishment of an innovative new organic ingredients business.

Huge costs of terror attack on US milk supply

04-Jul-2005 - The US milk supply chain is still too vulnerable to a terrorist attack, says new research, warning that stricter security could save billions of dollars and thousands of lives, reports Chris Mercer.

Cargill buys food ingredient systems firm in China

30-Jun-2005 - Ambitious ingredients firm Cargill reaches into its deep pockets, strengthening its portfolio to food makers in China through the acquisition of an academia supported food ingredients firm based in Peking, reports Lindsey Partos.

FAO forecasts cereal output to fall 2.8 per cent

30-Jun-2005 - Tighter supplies will lead to rises in prices for maize and coffee, while the cost for rice, wheat, milk, oilcrops and milk will remain stable or fall, according to the latest forecasts from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Undeclared ingredients the major cause of recalls

29-Jun-2005 - A roundup of recalled products in June shows the importance of careful labeling, with the majority taken off the shelves because of various undeclared ingredients.

Roche wins final appeal point over price-fixing

29-Jun-2005 - The US District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday resolved the final outstanding point in Roche's appeal over the Empagran price-fixing case, ruling that the US courts have no jurisdiction in the United States to claims of foreign purchasers of vitamins, writes Jess Halliday.

Group behind food lawsuit accused of extremism

29-Jun-2005 - A lawsuit targeting Kraft, General Mills and Dannon for dishonest advertising over weight-loss claims has been attacked as a front for animal rights extremists, writes Anthony Fletcher.

Monday comment

Claims, claims, claims

27-Jun-2005 - As lawyers circle the food and drink industry like a fatted calf, the first lesson for those preparing for defence is that it is not so much what you sell that matters, as how you sell it.

Symrise bid for Degussa reaches second round

27-Jun-2005 - Number four flavours and fragrance group Symrise heads into the second round of bidding for the food chemicals arm of German group Degussa, reports Lindsey Partos.

China: massive opportunities for food makers and ingredients firms

27-Jun-2005 - Underlining the massive potential that exists for food makers and ingredients players in China, new data reveals only about 30 per cent of food in China is processed, compared to 80 per cent in western nations, reports Lindsey Partos.

Acatris sells Canadian subsidiary

24-Jun-2005 - Health ingredients maker Acatris has sold its North American food division, based in Canada, to better focus on the European market, reports Dominique Patton.