The European Commission has announced a number of initiatives to
help developing countries enhance their export performance and
reduce their vulnerability from price fluctuations of major
international agricultural commodities such...
A wide range of organic or health food products on sale in the UK
contain traces of genetically modified (GM) ingredients, according
to a study due to be published in April, reports CORDIS.
A study of Brazilian poultry and poultry products has found that
the presence of nitrofurans and semicarbazide has increased.
Further investigation showed that most of the chicken products
containing semicarbazide had been coated...
The EU has provided €2.2 million of funding for a new project that
aims to promote transnational cooperation in plant genomics
research and, ultimately, better coordinate the €80 million spent
annually in Europe on such activities,...
Demonstrating the clear divisions that exist between member states
and the European Commission over genetically modified foodstuffs,
in the same week that Belgian ministers threw out an application
for an oilseed rape, the EU's...
A brewer in Sweden is facing the GM debate head on. The company
claims to have launched the first food product to use genetic
modification as a marketing tool.
With the failure of WTO talks in Cancun last year, pressure has
intensified on Europe's heavily subsidied sugar regime - trading at
three times the world price- to change. While critics want to see a
fairer regime with Europe...
The European Commission has delayed the adoption of a proposal to
authorise imports of a GM sweetcorn onto European lands, opting to
bundle the issue with other GM points on the agenda of an upcoming
Commission meeting later this...
The European Commission is satisfied that Scottish salmon is safe
to eat, despite researchers in North America warning that the
farmed variety sold in many supermarkets contains up to ten times
more cancer causing chemicals than its...
An emergency decree passed late last month by the Italian
government in a bid to save dairy giant Parmalat from collapse
looks set to win support from the European Commission on the back
of guarantees that there will be no state bail-out...
The movement of foodstuffs within the European boundaries will be
changed forever once the next step towards an enlarged Europe takes
place. Food and Life Sciences lawyer Raymond O’Rourke takes us
through a detailed look at some of...
In response to an increasing worldwide demand for pectin, Danish
ingredients company Danisco is to expand its Czech production
capacity by 40 per cent to accommodate an expected growth rate of
5-6 per cent on the world market.
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.
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...
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...
If traceability is at the heart of new food labelling rules in
Europe then the life blood keeping it beating must be risk
management. On the eve of the first ever risk assessment on
genetically modified organisms delivered by Europe's...
The European Commission this week gave the green light to
salatrims, a type of reduced-calorie fats, for use as novel food
ingredients following an application by ingredients giant Danisco.
The long-awaited approval opens the way...
In the wake of terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001
Europe's manufacturing industries have taken a knock but figures
released this week reveal that the food industry is managing the
course, registering a 'light...
Public perception of risk - notably with regards to genetically
modified foods - is the focus of a high-profile conference to take
place in Brussels next week. Senior figures from the worlds of
politics, science and food will explore...
Hard negotiations followed by new European rules put to bed
long-standing disputes over labelling issues that hung over
chocolate manufacturers. As more European manufacturers turn to
vegetable fats, the challenge is on for ingredients...
Controversial changes over two years ago to Europe's chocolate
rules - that had cocoa puritans and producers up in arms - came
into force in the summer, providing ingredients companies with a
raft of new opportunities.
The international German mining and technology group RAG is to be
the new owner of Germany's third-largest chemical company, Degussa,
following news on Tuesday that the European Commission has approved
the acquisition.
The sixth International Cocoa Agreement in three decades came into
force at the beginning of October, heralding a break from the past
with the exclusion of market regulatory mechanisms - production
quotas, buffer stocks and other...
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.
Dutch based company Acatris, recently formed through the merger of
food and health companies Daminco, Orffa Health & Nutrition,
Schouten USA and SoyLife Nederland, has sold the the assests of its
brewery division in a bid to concentrate...
Danish ingredients company Danisco Sugar said this week that it
expects an overall production considerably above the quotas
specified by the EU and on a par with production in recent record
years.
Balancing liberalisation with a better deal for developing
countries must be a priority for the World Trade Organisation as
figures from a new report released yesterday show that
protectionism and subsidies by industrialised nations...
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...
Europe has introduced additional measures to prevent Brazil nuts
contaminated with unnacceptable levels of aflatoxins - a potential
carcinogen - from entering the union.
Food safety is making international headlines as the United States
and the European Union continue to take dramatically different
positions over this contentious issue. A food policy think-tank
raises concerns that these transatlantic...
The confrontation between Europe and the United States over
genetically modified foods shifted up a gear this week when the US
President George. W. Bush accused Europe of impeding efforts to
fight world famine because of its trade...
With impeccable timing in light of the US move earlier this week to
file a case with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the EU ban
on biotech foods, a recent report from Washington, DC, based
International Food Information Council...
So, they went ahead and did it anyway. Despite imminent changes to
the European legislation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs),
re-iterated by EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy just this week,
the US has gone ahead and filed...
The new European Food Safety Authority is still without a home and
under the menace of a reduced budget. A decision on the location is
urgently needed otherwise credibility is at risk, claims Lasse
Skovby Rasmusson, vice president...
