Horsemeat: learning the lessons of an avoidable crisis
WRBM
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Hain Celestial will switch production from recently-acquired food-to-go firm Churchill Food Products from Nottingham to its larger facility in Luton, but insisted that staff would be “actively encouraged” to move to Luton “if they are able to do so”.
City analysts are hoping two new additions to Premier Foods’ senior management team can inject new urgency into the business before refinancing issues loom large again.
The controversy surrounding new EU legislation governing the sale of foodstuffs ‘by number’ has descended into farce as a ‘clarification’ issued by the MEP steering it through the European Parliament has raised more questions than it answers.
Fine Lady Bakeries is working with urban regeneration organisation New East Manchester (NEM) and JobCentre Plus to equip local people with the skills to work in its £20m new bakery in Newton Heath.
The market for products designed to keep our grey matter ticking over as we get older remains ripe for exploitation by food manufacturers, provided they can find a way to communicate their benefits without falling foul of health claims legislation, according to new research.
Ending months of speculation, Asian confectionery giant Lotte Group will acquire the Wedel business in Poland from Kraft Foods, subject to regulatory approval.
Danone has quietly dropped its hunger-busting Feel fuller for longer brand and pumped all available resources into promoting its Shape Zer0% fat-free yogurts instead.
The threat of industrial action at Coca-Cola plants across the UK has been averted after unions agreed to call off a strike ballot and get back around the negotiating table.
Kellogg Company has recalled 28 million boxes of breakfast cereal in the United States over fears an unknown chemical that has tainted its packaging could cause diarrhoea and vomitting.
Ice cream giant R&R has appointed its first director of corporate development to explore further acquisition opportunities in mainland Europe.
Satiety might still be top of the pops on the conference circuit, but is it losing its lustre for food manufacturers?
The National Trust is discussing contract manufacturing deals with firms making everything from chutney to soup as part of an ambitious plan to get its branded products into every major UK supermarket.
Consumer products giants including Tesco and Unilever have pledged to build a central repository of lifecycle analysis data to help firms across the sector calculate carbon footprints more cheaply and easily.
Hayden's Bakeries has signed the lease on a new distribution facility that will free up a significant amount of production capacity at its Devizes bakery.
Craigavon-based Orchard County Foods will pump £2-3m into its cut fruit factory over the next 18 months as it seeks to expand its presence in the branded fruit snacks market.
Food manufacturers and retailers “simply must become stronger advocates of sustainable forms of fishing and of other agriculture” if we are to avert environmental Armageddon, Prince Charles has urged.
Arla Foods is confident it can recoup the costs of new technology enabling it to use borehole instead of mains water at its Settle Creamery within 12-18 months.
A fledgling food manufacturing business created by an accountant, a geophysicist and a priest is targeting independent retailers, delis, farm shops and supermarkets with an unusual range of products based on British herbs, Asian spices and blueberries grown on its farm in Bettisfield, North Wales.
Two-thirds of senior executives from small and medium-sized agri-food firms polled by consultancy English Farming and Food Partnerships (EFFP) plan to step up investment in the next two years.
Yesterday's emergency budget should prove "reasonably neutral" for food manufacturers, and potentially beneficial for exporters, according to City analysts and trade associations.
Game-changing innovation is not – and should not – be the top priority for every new product development team, especially in the current economic climate, according to the boss of one of the nation’s biggest brands.
Dried fruit, nuts and seeds firm Whitworths has pumped £1m into specialist heat treatment kit for killing pathogens believed to be the first of its kind in the UK.
The first training course exclusively targeted at food and drink industry buyers has been launched this week following a tie-up between commodities expert Mintec and consultancy Food Procurement Services (FPS).
An assertion in new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) that firms making progressive reductions in salt can simply carry on indefinitely without any technical or commercial consequences has baffled industry experts.
Always read the small print. Good advice and nowhere more so than in food labelling with today’s increasingly savvy consumers demanding to know what’s in their food, where it came from and what it’s going to do to them.
Lymington-based New Forest Ice Cream has secured planning permission to build a new factory that could create up to 30 new jobs.
Were Robert Wiseman Dairies’ East Kilbride office to go up in smoke, staff could be relocated to a data centre in Glasgow and re-establish financial, operational and supply chain systems within an hour.
Requiring food manufacturers to distinguish between artificial and natural trans-fats on product labels is both unnecessary and impractical, according to regulatory experts at Nestlé UK and the Food and Drink Federation (FDF).
Allowing National Starch to fall into the hands of a major rival is not great news for Tate & Lyle in the longer-term, City analysts have warned.
Aspects of the EU agency workers’ Directive still need further clarification and simplification to help make it easier for employers to navigate, according to the CBI (Confederation of British Industry).
Axing business support measures such as the ‘Time to Pay’ tax deferral scheme in a bid to tackle the public deficit could send some small food manufacturers over the edge, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) has warned.
Confidence levels in the agri-food sector appear to be increasing, with a growing number of small and medium-sized firms indicating a willingness to invest, according to a survey conducted by consultancy English Farming and Food Partnerships (EFFP).
The sharp rise in sales of salt over the past year is not a sign that consumers are increasingly compensating for the lack of salt in processed foods by adding more at the table, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has insisted.
The food industry has been blasted by lobby group CASH (Consensus Action on Salt & Health) for the fifth time this year, this time for adding dangerously high levels of salt to barbecue foods.
Staff at Nottingham-based food-to-go firm Churchill Food Products face an uncertain future following its acquisition by Hain Celestial.
Former Food Standards Agency chairman Lord Krebs has been elected president of Campden BRI.
The "likely source" of the glass that has allegedly been found in selected Hovis Hearty Oats loaves has been identified as refurbishment work on a storage silo, brand owner Premier Foods has revealed.
The much-anticipated EU parliament vote on amendments to the proposed food information regulation came down on the side of the industry’s own GDAs – to the chagrin of health groups believe traffic lights are more accessible.
Members of the European Parliament have voted to put back clauses on nutrient profiling into the proposed food information regulation, after Environment Committee members voted to take them out – but it was a close call.
Food manufacturers are stepping up lobbying efforts to persuade the government to amend legislation giving agency workers the same pay, overtime and breaks as permanent staff before it comes into force next year.
Union members at Nestlé’s York chocolate factory have rejected an offer from company bosses of a 1% pay rise but agreed to resume talks.
There has recently been “a significant increase in dairy prices, and in particular in the price of cream”, which will have to be passed on to customers, chilled food maker Uniq has warned
While shoppers’ enthusiasm for low-fat, low-sugar or low-calorie claims (‘minus’ claims) or added functional ingredients claims (‘plus’ claims) has waned; their interest in natural claims has continued to grow, according to Mintel.
Enfield-based chocolate manufacturer Chocolaterie Casemir is developing prototype bars and gift boxes targeted at the supermarkets as part of a strategic plan to diversify beyond the hospitality sector.
Sugar Puffs and Poppets maker Big Bear Group has “no plans to re-open the IPO [initial public offering] process” for the business, director Paul Wilkinson has insisted.
Plants native to the British Isles from wild raspberries and elderflowers to seaweed could prove just as exciting to food developers as the exotic flora and fauna of South America and Africa, according to experts at Kew Gardens.
Consumers, observed Mintel’s David Jago at a Leatherhead Food Research conference on natural trends last week, want foods that are ‘wholesome’, ‘authentic’, and above all ‘natural’, although few of them can articulate what this actually means.
Six-out-of-10 food manufacturers are planning to pump more cash into improving the quality of product data exchanged with customers this year, according to Food Manufacture’s annual state of the nation survey.
Dairy Crest has sold the bulk of its stake in Irish milk, cheese and cream maker Wexford Creamery to help pay off debts and reduce its exposure to “volatile commodity markets”.
Peppersmith - the premium gum firm created by former Innocent Drinks executives Mike Stevens and Dan Shrimpton – has secured its first supermarket listing.
Regulatory definitions of 'natural' are not in line with consumer understanding of the term, a discrepancy that is causing big headaches for the food and drink industry, according to one senior executive at Coca-Cola.
Food companies will increasingly have to pool resources and work with each other in order to fund the kind of human intervention studies required to support health claims, according to Coca-Cola Europe functional ingredients and external technology acquisition director Dr Michele Kellerhals.
Northern Foods bosses "have not and are not looking to sell" Holland's Pies, the firm has insisted following its controversial decision to suspend the pie maker's md.
Lighthouse Caledonia is on track to reopen its refurbished, Marybank processing plant in Stornoway, which was mothballed in 2008.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched a fresh assault on foodborne illness with a new five-year strategy for reducing food poisoning.
We risk becoming a “scientifically illiterate society”, warned David Gregory, chairman of Assured Food Standards, in this year’s Institution of Food Science and Technology’s annual lecture.
The much heralded take-off of high pressure processing (HPP) so-called cold pasteurisation in the UK has at long last occurred, with news of the first commercial machine having recently been installed in an unnamed UK food processing operation.
Dairy processor Milk Link has reported a modest 1.7% rise in earnings* to £28.7m on sales up 0.5% to £547m in the year to April 3.
Scientists exploring how to improve the fatty acid profile of beef by manipulating the diets of cattle are confident they can deliver meat containing enough healthy fat to make ‘source of omega-3’ nutrition claims on pack.
Small and medium-sized food manufacturers have made significant savings on indirect expenditure areas such as telecoms and stationery by collaborating to secure preferential buying terms.
Polyphenols can be absorbed into the blood stream when consumed from a beverage, showing the potential to deliver the antioxidants via a juice, says a new study from Coca-Cola.
Coconut water holds considerable potential as an ingredient in energy drinks, according to the UK boss of Colorado-based energy drinks maker Go Fast.
The European Commission has published precise recommendations for the monitoring of acrylamide levels in food products, as the reduction of levels is patchy across categories.
Salad maker Kanes Foods has installed a second cross-flow membrane bioreactor for recycling waste water at its plant near Evesham.
Arla Foods has marked the start of commercial cream production at its new £70m creamery in Leeds with the launch of new injection-moulded, in‐mould label pots.
Garlic prices could be "up to double the early 2009 season rate" this season, a new entrant to the market has predicted.
A leading UK bakery, sugar and ingredients company is set to open a new factory this month to develop a larger range of artisan bakery goods which were identified as the source of strong first half performances in 2010.
Scientists at Dutch food research organisation NIZO are teaming up with the University of Cambridge as they embark on the first leg of an EU project exploring overeating.
Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) faces industrial action at 12 UK plants this summer after unions launched a strike ballot in a bid to secure national bargaining over pay and pensions.
Sector skills councils need to work more closely together to provide the cross-industry skills essential to the future of the nation, according to the chairman of Assured Food Standards.
New functional foods on a body-shaping platform could hit UK supermarkets late next year now that a fat-busting ingredient derived from safflowers has been given an initial safety thumbs up from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Waitrose has begun a trial of Carrier's Vector technology within its 320-strong fleet of refrigerated trailers. The retailer has had 25 new trailers delivered, each mounted with Carrier Transicold's Vector 1850 multi-temperature low-noise refrigeration systems.
Plans are underway to overhaul Warburtons' bread plant at its site in Bolton. The investment is estimated to be around £25M and the new facility should be up and running by the end of next year.
The European Union and China yesterday reached an agreement to boost research into consumer safety and explore the potential risks from nanotechnology.
An auction to sell off kit from Daniels Chilled Foods' soup factory in Hythe Road, London, kicks off on Wednesday (June 9) following the recent closure of the site with the loss of 40 jobs.
Southall-based sandwich maker Bream Foods has been fined £20,000 after pleading guilty to a string of offences from failing to tackle an “uncontrolled mice infestation” to washing salads in sinks lined with grease.
Anglo Beef Processors (ABP) has applied to Shropshire County Council for planning permission to demolish its abattoir at Hordley, near Ellesmere, and replace it with a modern, more energy efficient complex.
Contract packing and re-working is proving lucrative for Culina Logistics, with the firm's annual turnover from these services set to total £7-8m, having established a deal to grow this business earlier this year.
Meat processor Kookaburra has installed a revolutionary automated waste management system at its site in Peterlee, Durham, slashing cleaning times and costs for waste treatment, chemical and water usage.
The acquisition of National Starch appears to be off the agenda at Tate & Lyle, with the firm now "set to fall into enemy hands", according to analysts at Investec Securities.
I was in Frankfurt chairing a conference on low fat, salt and sugar when the Icelandic volcano discharged its cloud of volcanic ash.
'Academic' references provided by the food industry to support applications under the EU health claims Regulation included excerpts from the Old Testament, Wikipedia, a Tea Association press release, a Royal Air Force report and the American Heritage Dictionary, it has emerged.
The second issue of the Food Standards Agency's magazine Bite focused on nanotechnology and its potential for developing novel foods.
A new innovation centre at Norwich Research Park with space to house up to 300 staff will be fully operational next month.
This is your chance to register your vote for the individual you believe has done most over the past year to raise the profile of food and drink manufacturing.
A total of 314 jobs are being created at Longbenton Foods in North Tyneside, as the factory continues its multi-million pound recovery from the fire that forced it to close in early 2009.
Swiss firm Genorel Soft Drinks has boosted its supply chain operations using NetDespatch web systems with outsourced warehousing from Surrey-based Streetwise Couriers.
When Japanese food wholesaler Harro Foods moved to larger premises to meet demand, it realised a computerised system would offer a number of benefits.
Grains of rice have been produced weighing as much as 78mg each. This is way above the typical weight of 23mg per grain.
Top food manufacturers have saved millions by using its category management software tool, according to Cosmic Solutions.
At last month's Total Processing & Packaging show, Bosch Packaging Technology gave pride of place to its portfolio of delta robots.
When it comes to the various indicators of a brand's ethical credibility, packaging can punch above its weight, according to research from Datamonitor.
The recent Loughborough University report on oxodegradable plastics was supposed to draw a line under the long-running argument between the champions of different types of degradability.
As we enter what many pundits are hailing as a new era in politics, many in our sector are trying to assess what it all means for food manufacturing.
A university was granted approval to begin anti-obesity experiments on humans last month, after it discovered that seaweed could reduce fat digestion by around three quarters.
Industry should no longer ignore the growing body of evidence suggesting that coffee has a protective effect on cognitive health and diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's, urged an industry expert.
A new fruit juice with an extended shelf-life has been launched in the UK, thanks to a novel processing technique.
The number of products related to gut and digestive health benefits launched globally has doubled from 2,000 to over 4,000 in the last five years and the stream shows no sign of abating, according to a leading research firm.
Juice Doctor co-founded by Olympic gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave is launching a range of isotonic hydration drinks.
As delegates heard at a recent British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) conference, consumers are born with an innate preference for sweet tastes, perhaps because in evolutionary terms it signals safe food and energy provision.
Pesto manufacturer Sacla has launched a new variant: Wild Garlic Pesto.
Young's is launching a range of microwaveable fish meals. The 'It's In The Bag' range includes two recipes: salmon pasta and seafood paella.
The Big Kitchen has launched a premium, frozen pâté selection. The range includes three varieties: a coarse farmhouse pâté; a smooth Brussels pâté, which is made to a traditional Belgian recipe; and liver and mushroom pâté.
Gaudins Patisserie has manufactured celebrity chef Shaun Rankin's new Bakewell Tart. The tart is the second in the range, following the launch of Rankin's Treacle Tart the dessert that was described as "high art" when he made it on the BBC2 programme Great British Menu.
Around 2.3m women admitted eating chocolate more than three times a day, but over 70% of all women said they felt guilty for eating it, with health and weight-management cited as the top reasons for feeling guilty, new research shows.
Ethnic breadmaker Honeytop Speciality Foods has moved into the morning goods sector after making a major investment in its Dunstable factory. This has resulted in some "exciting new product launches", according to Honeytop's new product development manager Sally Lawrence.
UK food processors need manual as well as automated processes to deliver the high quality that customers demand, according to Zeina Foods' boss Saafa Ali.
I was disconcerted to read Mark Rigby's opinion piece in Food Manufacture (April issue, p15) in which he reiterated the oft-quoted misconception: "In 50 years there will be no wild fish."
The plastics industry wants the new government to do more to promote plastic packaging as a solution to food chain waste, rather than see it as a source of the problem.
The plastics packaging industry has called on the new government to make new decentralised waste-to-energy plants a central part of its energy policy.
Work has begun to erect a wind turbine at a Dewlay's Lancashire cheese-producing site, making it the first UK cheese maker to be powered by renewable energy, claimed the manufacturer.
The University of Reading is opening a new Centre for Food Security, which will address future food supply challenges. Research at the centre will focus on three main areas: diet and health; biodiversity; and sustainable agriculture.
Food scientists fear the failure to correct claims that the cancer reduction benefits of eating fresh fruit and vegetables have been exaggerated could put people off eating more fruit and veg.
Freshway Dairy could face a fine of up to £270,000, after 24 men were arrested at its manufacturing site for immigration offences.
Hundreds of former Dairy Farmers of Britain (DFB) workers are claiming up to eight weeks' pay from the government, after a recent tribunal finding awarded them compensation.
A brewery in Wales has reduced its carbon emissions by 40% and water consumption by 46%, following a £1.4M investment in new technology.
Increased demand for poultry meat sourced from Thai processors, growing interest in home-sourced supplies and unfavourable exchange rates are boosting business for the UK's poultry meat suppliers, according to Kookaburra.
The dairy supply chain is on track to meet its 2010 Milk Roadmap targets, and could raise the bar even higher for the future.
Organic dairy manufacturer Yeo Valley has saved £30,000 and 368t of carbon dioxide by replacing old compressors with more energy-efficient versions and installing variable speed drives on condenser units.
Müller Dairy UK has vowed to pursue automated solutions provider RTS Flexible Systems for "substantial damages" following the outcome of a UK Supreme Court verdict on a costly legal dispute.
The legal dispute between Ajinomoto and Asda over the right to call aspartame 'nasty' has taken a radical new turn following a Court of Appeal judgment effectively overturning last year's High Court ruling.
Staff at Greencore’s Hull cake factory have agreed to work to a new shift pattern proposed by company bosses, FoodManufacture.co.uk understands.
Nestlé UK and trade unions are to meet next week in another effort to come to an agreement over staff pay.
R&R Ice Cream will play a central role in the consolidation of the European ice cream market over the next decade as smaller players struggle to compete in a market dominated by a handful of major supermarkets, its boss has predicted.
Working with academics and other partners to develop “game-changing” technologies could give Northern Foods a real point of difference in the ready meals market, bosses have claimed.
The UK market for yogurt products has seen a modest growth over the past year, led by strong sales of bio and luxury products, according to the latest market data.
The man who heads up Zeina Foods tells Rod Addy the history of how he grew his business to a £12M turnover firm and what his plans are for the future
A Spiroflow flexible conveyor has been installed at Jacob's Bakeries factory in Aintree, Liverpool.
Processing 4,500kg of rice of consistent quality each hour can present a challenge for ready meal processors.
An Ishida tray sealer and checkweigher/metal detector combination has reduced giveaway and improved speed at Mash Direct, a quick-serve mashed potato and vegetable manufacturer based in Northern Ireland.
Hosokawa has launched the Granulyser Type EGT 100/25, a novel concept laboratory machine designed to provide a standard and repeatable test method to predict the strength and behaviour of granule.
Investing in an automated system to load and unload baked products to an oven has saved Fosters Bakery 50% of its energy costs and increased the capacity of a reel oven by 80%.
When New Zealand's North Island Mussel Processing (NIMPL) firm planned to expand its production of Greenshell Mussels, it wanted to take the lead technologically.
Equipment suppliers must comply with stringent demands on hygiene to prevent contamination with microbiological, chemical and physiological contaminants.
Improved energy efficiency of greater than 30% is the main claim for a new range of oil-free positive displacement screw blowers, which is likely to find use for pneumatic conveying applications in fermentation and distillation processes.
Milk Link has created Grip Strip packaging, using a 'Velcro' style hook and loop system it claims is easier to reseal, in partnership with specialist technology firm Aplix.
Fitting a weighing system to an existing silo, hopper or tank using a conventional load cell system can be expensive, disruptive and sometimes even impossible. That's why UK sensor expert Applied Measurements is using a simple bolt-on load transducer.
Seymour Manufacturing says its Tempro Back-Stop curtain is the first insulated cold stop device designed to save energy loss from the back of a chilled or frozen vehicle. The curtain is available for new trailers or trucks, or can be retrofitted to existing vehicles.
A cheesemaker since 1911, Long Clawson of Melton Mowbray has recently embraced the modern technology of temperature monitoring.
Linpac Storage Systems has recently completed one of its highest ever VNA racking solutions at the 310,000 sqm Midland Distribution Centre (MDC) of United Biscuits in Ashby de la Zouch.
Jungheinrich has launched a new electric-powered pallet truck.
When it comes to media whipping boys, the breakfast cereals sector is up there with Gordon Brown and speed cameras.
Home to some of the UK’s largest food and drink processors, opportunities abound in the Midlands region. Rod Addy reports
Can the humble forklift truck be improved with smarter software? John Dunn reports
Inaccurate product data is costing the food industry millions, says Michelle Knott
A £2m investment, plus a complete makeover for firm and factory has borne sweet fruit for malt loaf business Soreen. Rod Addy reports
When it comes to reformulating products, the gap between big and small presents formidable challenges, says Rick Pendrous
QV Foods has bought potato packer Taypack Potatoes, which has a factory at Inchture, Perthshire.
William Reed Business Media - the publisher of Food Manufacture - has launched an iPhone application enabling job seekers to search its job websites using the iPhone, iPod Touch or the new iPad.
Premium chilled desserts firm Kensey Foods one of three Samworth Brothers West Country businesses in Launceston has become the first UK centre approved to offer the new Food Manufacturing Excellence qualification.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is working on a wide-ranging study designed to map out the challenges facing the UK food industry in the near future.
The coalition government is unlikely to ditch the sustainability goals of the last administration, although it is likely to put its own stamp on them, industry experts and officials have suggested.
Shoppers abandoned discount retailers and budget brands and returned to premium offerings in the first quarter of 2010, according to Sarah Mitson, global account director at Kantar Worldpanel.
Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) aims to reduce its UK water footprint to 1.3l of water per litre of product by the end of 2010.
Silver Spring is poised to reinvigorate the flavoured water market after a phoenix-like rise from the ashes of administration, according to md Neill Cotton.
Lion egg product producers now account for 70% of UK egg product supply, after new members D Wise, Lowrie Foods and Ready Egg Products joined the British Lion Quality accreditation scheme, which also includes Framptons and Noble Foods.
Regional development agency, One North East has pledged almost £10m in support for the dairy sector.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is adopting a more targeted approach to reducing foodborne illness in the future by concentrating on campylobacter and Listeria monocytogenes, in a significant strategy change.
The Food Storage and Distribution Federation (FSDF) has revealed a wide ranging strategy targeting crucial environmental, economic and training issues in the chilled and frozen supply chain in coming years.
R&R Ice Cream is expanding its reach abroad with the planned acquisition of France’s third largest ice cream manufacturer.
The performance of the UK soft drinks market will continue to improve over the next three years, despite a shaky record since 2007, according to commentators and industry bosses.
As the flurry of post-election activity culminated in the Queen’s speech last week, some areas of legislation impacting business in the UK are starting to take shape, but key decisions on food policy remain unclear.
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