Dr Liz Goodwin, chief executive of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), has insisted that the organisation has the funds to take its work on tackling food waste forward, despite this year’s budget cuts.

At the start of the year, WRAP revealed that the government had asked it to cut its annual budget by a quarter – or £15M. However, speaking to Food Manufacture, chief executive Dr Liz Goodwin said: “We have got a budget for food waste to do what we possibly can to push progress as far as we possibly can do.”

However, Goodwin said that WRAP had been forced to refocus on core priorities, as would be revealed in its business plan, which was scheduled to be published on June 11. The plan will be made public at the Chartered Institute of Waste Management conference in Torbay, Devon.

Opportunities for a range of UK convenient and snack food ingredient suppliers have opened up, thanks to the expansion of the Foo Go retail food brand.

The man accusing Butt Foods of infringing his design patent with its edible bread bowls has abandoned his legal action against the company owing to escalating costs.

Asda has asked for more time to defend itself in a defamation case brought against it by one of the world’s leading suppliers of the sweetener aspartame.

Guinness brewer Diageo is to spend £520M between 2009 and 2013 on the renovation of its world-famous St. James’s Gate brewery and the construction of a new multi-product brewery close to Dublin.

Sandwich sales through Subway stores have been soaring ahead, with sales double those of its nearest rival Tesco, according to the results of a new report from the British Sandwich Association (BSA).

Processors have rushed to back a two-year project to develop basic courses in skills such as maths, English and IT for workers in the food and drink industry in Wales.

Food and Drink Federation (FDF) president Iain Ferguson has stressed his support for a front of pack labelling scheme that changes consumer behaviour, rather than one that most appeals to shoppers.

Speaking at the FDF president’s dinner at the Waldorf Hotel, London, on May 1, Ferguson said a front of pack labelling scheme should primarily influence people to eat more healthily. He cautioned that Food Standards Agency (FSA) consumer research that is currently underway and expected to be completed early next year should bear this in mind.

The debate about Guideline Daily Amounts labelling versus a traffic light system highlighting risky levels of ingredients such as fat, sugar and salt should be balanced, rather than “a battle”, he said.

Ice cream maker Hill Station has significantly improved operational efficiency at its Cwmbran plant in recent months following a review of its manufacturing processes and planning and purchasing strategies.

Five people have now been arrested in connection with the ‘rogue traders’ incident earlier this year, following allegations that a potato supplier had paid bribes to secure business with Sainsbury.

Evidence is growing that the increasingly sterile environment we live in is contributing to spiralling levels of allergies, claimed a leading expert in the field last week.

A single international food safety standard took another significant step forward last week with the announcement of a strategic alliance between the US National Restaurant Association (NRA) and the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

Proposals to privatise the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), which oversees hygiene controls within Britain’s abattoirs, are likely to be ditched when the Food Standards Agency (FSA) Board meets on Wednesday.

A new benchmarking guide developed by Envirowise and Dairy UK Dairies could help dairies cut costs and achieve a reduction in water use and effluent generation of up to 50%.

The Food Ethics Council has launched a toolkit for the food industry to help processors make ethical decisions about their businesses.

Ice cream maker Hill Station is "absolutely confident" of securing additional funding for its business after bankers capped an invoice discounting facility last month.

Chief executive Cliff Carter said that the information contained in the May issue of Food Manufacture magazine, which suggested that the company had been unable to secure alternative lines of funding, was now out of date, and therefore gave a misleading impression.

He said: "We are in advanced discussions with a number of alternative invoice discounting facility providers and the board is absolutely confident that we will agree terms with one of them and will be making an announcement shortly to that effect.”

Despite the ethical market’s strong growth, consumers have blasted Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Cadbury, McDonald’s and Tesco for failing to do enough to champion ethical values, according to new market research.

A growing body of evidence shows many small and medium-sized food manufacturers are struggling to stay afloat as commodity costs rise and banks slap restrictions on lending facilities.

Mars has launched a six-point environmental initiative, ‘Mars on Earth’, to demonstrate its environmental credentials.

The jury is still out on safe dietary intake levels of acrylamide – a known carcinogen formed during frying, baking and roasting – and cancer, claimed a leading medical epidemiologist who said there was currently no consensus on the issue.

Nairns’ oat products, Montmorency’s Cherryactive juice drink and Croda’s Incromega omega-3 ingredients are the first products to pass educational charity Food for the Brain’s new audit process.

Dutch food giant Vion remained tight-lipped on its rumoured purchase of the UK’s Grampian Country Food Group – a deal reportedly worth £350M – as it posted improved trading results for 2007.

The UK’s first prosecution of illegal gangmasters is set to begin on April 29 at the Sheriff Court of Tayside, Central and Fife at Forfar, with more cases pending.

What is believed to be Scotland’s biggest food and drink promotional event to date took place on April 22–24 in George Square, Glasgow, supported by Tesco.

Waitrose is working on a smaller format of upmarket stores, which has been given the provisional title Waitrose Marketplace.

It is still cheaper to set up shop in Poland and ship products across Europe than build a new factory in the UK, according to Associated British Foods (ABF), which has just opened a new plant in Poland to make ethnic foods under the Blue Dragon brand. ABF, which recently closed two factories in Wales in order to transfer production to its Polish site, said the reduced operational costs more than offset the transport costs of shipping products back to the UK.

Scotland's food policy must deal with some serious infrastructural constraints, if it is to have a healthy future, the industry has warned.

European biofuel targets should be scrapped unless second generation sources of biofuel that don't take land away from food production can meet demand, according to the Food and Drink Federation (FDF).

Frustrated nutritionists from leading food manufacturers and caterers have set up a new group to urge the School Food Trust (SFT) to "take a more pragmatic approach" to meals provision.

Processors and retailers risk alienating shoppers from locally and regionally produced food and drink because of lack of availability and high prices, according to exclusive research for Food Manufacture.

The first UK implementation of pulsed light technology to tackle spoilage in food will launch at an undisclosed factory next month.

Berkshire-based sauces, pickles and dressings manufacturer English Provender Company (EPC) is reviewing its production operations, since the acquisition of competitor Alembic Products in Chester last year.

Transport secretary Ruth Kelly has indicated that she is against the use of longer, heavier goods vehicles on Britain's roads. She was responding to a parliamentary question last month, asking when a much delayed report on the subject would be published.

The turnover of regional food and drink distribution service Tastes of Anglia Table has exceeded £1M.

A new round of the Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme was launched last month.

The Food Standards Agency has launched a searchable database to help local authority officers enforce controls on food being commercially imported into the UK from non-EU countries.

European competition authorities have approved Marel Food Systems’ acquisition of the Stork Food Systems division of Stork.

Only 13% of male and 16% of female European adolescents eat at least 200g of vegetables and at least two pieces of fruit each day, according to a study by the European Food Information Council. The Helena Study reported that a disturbing 50% of adolescents had fat intakes that were higher than 35% of their total energy intake.

Bakers are setting up a steering committee to drive a comprehensive training strategy by establishing an academy for the baking sector.

Glasgow-based seafood processor Dawnfresh Seafoods has bought the trout and salmon processing and marketing co-operative Scot Trout for an undisclosed sum.

Scheff Foods has announced plans for a £1.5M Black Country food factory, bringing up to 30 new jobs to the area.

The Corporate Manslaughter Act, which came into force on April 6, will have a big impact on manufacturers. Any workplace fatality is now likely to be investigated by the Health & Safety Executive and the police to identify any management failings. If any gross breach of the employer’s duty is discovered, the employer could be charged with corporate manslaughter.

The lack of clarity on front-of-pack nutrition labelling in the new EU food information Regulation could be an indirect barrier to trade and a headache for manufacturers, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has claimed.

Consumers are increasingly turned off by cakes and biscuits making low sugar and low fat claims, preferring instead those boasting intrinsic health benefits, according to new research from Mintel.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has reassured manufacturers that it will not use 'shock and awe' tactics in its forthcoming campaign to educate consumers about the perils of excess saturated fat consumption.

Scottish fine food and game producer Braehead Foods is celebrating its successful growth with a move into a purpose-built 2,700 metres squared factory, giving it production facilities six times those of its existing factory.

Britain's pig producers and processors face a bleak future unless better prices can be obtained, claimed a new report.

Entries are now being sought for the 2008 Food Manufacture Excellence Awards.

Food manufacturers need to build better relationships with students, trainers have claimed.

The infection Clostridium Difficile (C.Diff), mainly associated with antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and colitis in hospitals among elderly patients, could become an issue for the food industry, according to a leading scientist.

The first application of radio frequency ID tagging (RFID) in the cheese industry has been trialled at Melton Mowbray-based Long Clawson Dairy.

Seafood processors are misleading consumers and risking prosecution by ignoring Food Standards Agency (FSA) guidance on fresh food labelling, the Trading Standards Institute has warned.

Manufacturers are increasingly concerned about how health claims will be scrutinised under the EU Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation, given the regulators' tight timetable.

Marks & Spencer (M&S) Food may struggle as consumers feel the pinch, City analysts have warned.

Sir

Chilling headlines about global food supply have been hitting the press. "Soaring price of food leads to riots" (Telegraph); "Rice traders hit by panic" (FT); "Egyptians riot over bread prices" (Telegraph), and so on. Other reports concern shortages of corn, beef, fish and milk.

New claims by environmental lobbyists that genetic modification (GM) does not increase crop yields or reduce pesticide use have been dismissed by plant breeding experts as “total nonsense”.

According to the Soil Association (SA), “the yields of all major GM crop varieties in cultivation are lower than, or at best, equivalent to, yields from non-GM varieties”, while “any initial reduction in pesticide use is short-lived and often reversed as new pests arrive and old ones adapt”. Its comments came in the wake of recent moves to reignite the GM debate by scientists claiming that transgenic crops could boost agricultural productivity in the face of global food shortages and climate change.

The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA’s) call for an EU-wide ban on the six colours used in the University of Southampton study was based primarily on “consumer concerns” rather than a scientific assessment of risk, it has revealed.

The food industry must actively rebut the increasing number of scare stories that appear in the popular press, which are frequently based on false scientific claims, a leading science writer has said.

Symington’s, the Leeds-based dried food manufacturer, has acquired the Sammy’s couscous brand from Bristol-based First Quality Foods for an undisclosed sum.

Despite increased interest in ethical foods, price premiums are a barrier to growth in certain categories, according to a senior market analyst.

Fresh food processors can now trace the condition of their products throughout the supply chain, with the UK launch of a low cost smart card data recorder that monitors time and temperature.