Breaking News on Food & Beverage Development - North AmericaEU edition | Asian edition

Pile on those truckin' pounds, say Kraft and peers, as opponents cite safety fears

21-Dec-2011 - US food giant Kraft says it hopes that more states are allowed to follow the lead of Maine and Vermont and allow heavier 97,000-pound trucks on interstate roads, although opponents fear safety issues.

Cadbury finalises $1.3m settlement in chocolate price fixing conspiracy

21-Dec-2011 - A US Federal judge has accepted Cadbury’s $1.3m (€995,863) offer to settle in class action lawsuit over its alleged part in a suspected chocolate price fixing scandal also involving Nestle, Hershey and Mars.

Frito-Lay hit with lawsuit on all-natural claims

20-Dec-2011 - PepsiCo’s snacks business Frito-Lay has been accused of misleading consumers by making all-natural claims on its products which also contain genetically modified corn and vegetable oils.

News in brief

Listeria-linked dairy recall extended again - CFIA

20-Dec-2011 - A voluntary recall of dairy products has been extended for the fifth time since the original recall of products potentially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, Canadian food safety authorities have said.

Apple juice safe but arsenic guidance still being considered - FDA

20-Dec-2011 - US food safety authorities are still considering setting guidance levels for inorganic arsenic in apple juice, despite reiterating its confidence in the overall safety of the beverage.

Killer listeriosis: Canadian govt draws ‘final’ line in sand as union attacks

20-Dec-2011 - The Canadian government yesterday sought to draw a line under the deadly listeriosis outbreak that killed 23 people in summer 2008, after publishing a final report into action taken since the incident.

Monsanto soybean trait for lower saturated fat gets USDA deregulation

20-Dec-2011 - The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has deregulated the biotech trait in Monsanto’s Vistive Gold soybeans, allowing the production of low saturated- and trans-fat oils from the beans within the United States.

Responsible approach to GM fish is to assume escape: Committee hearing

19-Dec-2011 - The responsible approach to considering whether genetically engineered (GE) salmon pose a risk to the environment is to assume that the fish will escape and disregard assurances from the company that they would not, said Senator Mark Begich at a committee hearing on Thursday.

Congress requests cost-benefit analysis for voluntary marketing guidelines

19-Dec-2011 - Lawmakers have requested a cost-benefit analysis of proposed voluntary guidelines for restricting foods marketed to children, as part of a congressional spending bill.

Admin error led to Canadian listeria recall delay - CFIA

15-Dec-2011 - Several dairy products, potentially contaminated with listeria, remained on the market over a month after an initial manufacturer recall because of an administration blunder, Canadian food safety authorities have revealed.

Report damns ‘significant weaknesses’ in FDA food safety oversight

15-Dec-2011 - An influential US government office has criticised the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for failings in overseeing state food facility inspections, stressing that it paid for inspections that didn’t take place and failed to ensure that ‘systemic problems’ were addressed.

Food giants accuse egg producers of a decade of price fixing

14-Dec-2011 - A group of the biggest packaged food companies in the United States has filed a lawsuit against major US egg producers, accusing them of fixing prices for at least a decade.

Inventor accuses PepsiCo/Gatorade of patent infringement

14-Dec-2011 - An Oregon-based inventor has filed a complaint in a federal court in Illinois accusing PepsiCo of patent infringement by using his patented packaging designs in its Gatorade G Series pouches.

Canada stalls on sodium reduction guidelines

13-Dec-2011 - Canada continues to stall on sodium reduction guidelines for industry, after a document detailing voluntary targets was conspicuously absent from a two-day healthcare summit with provincial and territorial ministers in Halifax late last month.

California court dismisses complaint over listing caramel color compound under Prop 65

12-Dec-2011 - A California court has ruled that it was lawful to list a compound found in many foods and beverages, including caramel coloring, as a known carcinogen under Proposition 65, rejecting a complaint from a food industry coalition.

Industry welcomes plan to streamline US and Canadian trade

12-Dec-2011 - The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) has welcomed a joint Canadian and US initiative designed to streamline cross-border trade between the two countries.

News in brief

Deadly US cantaloupe listeria outbreak over - CDC

09-Dec-2011 - The worst foodborne contamination is modern US history has ended, leaving 30 dead and over 100 infected, health officials have announced.

CSPI urges FDA to require front-of-pack artificial color disclosure

09-Dec-2011 - Consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging it to require the presence of artificial colors to be highlighted on the front of food packaging.

USDA proposes rule for simplified ‘generic’ label claims

08-Dec-2011 - The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) has proposed rule to make it easier for manufacturers to make generic label claims such as ‘Italian Style’ or ‘Low Fat’ on meat and poultry products.

Quorn: ‘CSPI has had a long running grudge against us’

07-Dec-2011 - Meat-substitute maker Quorn Foods has hit back at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) after the health lobby group again demanded that the FDA revoke its products' GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status.

Ocean Spray: ‘We’ve always said POM’s claims had no merit’

07-Dec-2011 - POM Wonderful has failed to convince a federal jury that Ocean Spray Cranberries misled shoppers and deprived POM of potential sales by selling a pomegranate juice product containing only 2% pomegranate juice.

Report urges industry to stay ahead of nanotech regulation

06-Dec-2011 - Food companies should aim to stay ahead of regulation to ensure the safety of foods that use nanotechnology, urges a new report from As You Sow, a non-profit organization that aims to increase corporate accountability.

Industry and governments blast US plans to ban non-0157 E.coli

06-Dec-2011 - US plans to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to six new strains of E.coli have come under fire from industry bodies at home and governments abroad.

FTC ups the ante in crackdown vs bogus acai weight loss claims

05-Dec-2011 - The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) crackdown against firms making bogus weight loss claims about açai supplements has stepped up a gear.