Breaking News on the Food and Drink Manufacturing Sector

Headlines > Regulation

‘McCain waste pipe has put our homes at risk of demolition’

28-Jan-2013 - Residents of cliff-top homes that are under threat of demolition thanks to land slippage are claiming that the cliff’s instability is caused by a waste pipe running from a nearby McCain frozen food factory to the sea.

FSA plans fewer hygiene inspections for compliant businesses

25-Jan-2013 - Food manufacturers with a good hygiene record will be subject to fewer inspections by local authority environmental health officers, following rule changes by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Food science webinar

Top government scientist underlines horse meat safety

25-Jan-2013 - Chief scientist with the food safety watchdog the Food Standards Agency Dr Andrew Wadge has underlined the safety of horse meat during a webinar question-and-answer session yesterday (January 24).

Health minister urges food industry action to avoid regulation

23-Jan-2013 - Health minister Anna Soubry has put the food and drink industry on notice that the government would be prepared to regulate on food’s salt, fat and sugar content if further progress is not made to stem the growing obesity epidemic afflicting the UK, which is estimated to cost the National Health Service £5bn a year.

‘Scientific consensus on GM greater than climate change’: GM group

22-Jan-2013 - “The scientific consensus on genetically modified [GM] crops is even greater than that for climate change,” claims EuropaBio, the European association for bio industries.

Illegal food workers: two deported and two jailed

22-Jan-2013 - Two illegal workers have been jailed for documentation offences and two deported after the UK Border Agency (UKBA) arrested five immigration offenders in a raid at a Somerset egg production facility.

Food manufacturer ordered to pay £7,000 for sliced finger

18-Jan-2013 - A South Yorkshire food manufacturer has been ordered to pay £7,000, after one of its workers lost the tip of her finger in an accident involving a badly-guarded machine at its Doncaster factory.

What consumers really think about GM labelling

14-Jan-2013 - Only 2% of consumers scan labels for information about genetically modified (GM) produce when buying food products for the first time, according to new research from food safety watchdog the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Aspartame poses ‘no toxicity’ concerns at current levels – EFSA

09-Jan-2013 - The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a full public consultation on the safety of aspartame after publishing its draft opinion, which states it poses “no toxicity” worries for consumers at current levels.

Government rejects Labour plea for sugar, salt and fat limits

06-Jan-2013 - The government has rejected calls from Labour to consider introducing legal limits on fat, sugar and salt in food aimed at children, insisting that its plans to tackle obesity are working effectively.

Call to ban import of pigmeat from illegal sow stalls

04-Jan-2013 - The UK should ban pork and pork products which do not comply with the EU sow stall ban introduced on January 1, a leading Scottish farmer told the Oxford Farming Conference yesterday (January 3).

Premier Foods fined £15,000 for effluent discharge

04-Jan-2013 - Britain’s biggest food manufacturer Premier Foods has been fined £15,000 for the illegal discharge of effluent into the Severn Trent Water’s sewer system.

Nestlé claims KitKat legal scalp in chocolate war with Cadbury

03-Jan-2013 - Nestlé has won the latest legal spat in its chocolate war with Cadbury after it stopped its rival from copying the shape of its KitKat fingers.

Food manufacturers warned of 40,000 illegal pigs/hour

02-Jan-2013 - Food manufacturers and shoppers have been warned about a tide of meat and meat products produced from 40,000 illegally produced pigs an hour entering the European food chain, after the EU outlawed sow stalls yesterday (January 1).

At last: power to fine supermarkets

02-Jan-2013 - Responding to widespread calls, the government has announced that the watchdog proposed to police the Groceries Supply Code of Practice will have the teeth to fine supermarkets that abuse power.

Budget row stalls EU farming reforms

02-Jan-2013 - Reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is unlikely to happen for at least another two years because MEPs and the European Commission (EC) are struggling to agree on the budget, it has emerged.

'Save food industry from new energy rises'

02-Jan-2013 - The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has called on the government to exclude the food industry from its new Energy Bill, which allows energy providers to raise their charges to pay for investment in renewable energy resources.

Redundancy plans ‘good for firms and staff’: food manufacturers

20-Dec-2012 - Food manufacturers have welcomed government plans to halve the notice period before firms can make large scale redundancies as a “step in the right direction”.

EC fish quotas plan ‘will make things worse’: DEFRA

17-Dec-2012 - European Commission plans to cut fish quotas next year will jeopardise the sustainability of stocks and “make things worse”, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Health experts back hybrid nutrition labels

10-Dec-2012 - Food manufacturers that are serious about improving public health should sign up to the hybrid nutrition labelling scheme proposed by the government and backed by retailers, say public health experts.

Industry fights EU's ban on the term 'probiotic'

10-Dec-2012 - The probiotics industry in Europe has launched scientific and legal bids to counter an EU-wide ban on using the word 'probiotic' on packaging and marketing materials.

EC to consider adopting UK model for Groceries Code Adjudicator

07-Dec-2012 - The European Commission (EC) is considering the creation of an adjudicator to police supermarket abuse of power within the EU using the UK as a potential model, according to a member of the Cabinet of the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Affairs, speaking in London yesterday.

Groceries adjudicator gets power to fine supermarkets

05-Dec-2012 - News that the Groceries Code Adjudicator will have power to fine supermarkets if they break the Groceries Code of Practice has been welcomed by the food manufacturers, farmers and poverty campaigners.

Coming soon: tougher salt reduction targets

04-Dec-2012 - Manufacturers will be expected to meet tougher salt reduction targets, according to the co-chair of the Public Health Responsibility Deal (PHRD) Food Network. This is despite health campaigners' fears that the government was going cold on setting lower targets beyond those set for 2012.

Opinion

Labelling, obesity and the Titanic's deckchairs

04-Dec-2012 - In recent weeks, the discussions have all been about food labelling in general and traffic lights in particular. Deja vu pervades.

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