All news articles for May 2013

Paragon Quality Foods said claims its halal lamb burgers were contaminated with pork had 'unfairly damaged its good reputation'

Firm in pork halal lamb burger row plans legal action

By Mike Stones

Paragon Quality Foods – the meat processor accused of supplying halal lamb burgers contaminated with pork to Leicester City Council – is considering legal action after independent tests confirmed the authenticity of its products, its spokesman told FoodManufacture.co.uk.

Before the horsemeat crisis many food businesses over-relied on contracts to protect their interests, said Andrew Rhodes

Horsemeat webinar

Horsemeat webinar: food industry lacks self awareness

By Mike Stones

Some parts of the food industry lacked basic understanding of how the sector operated – until the horsemeat crisis forced people to grapple with its complexities, a food safety watchdog boss told Food Manufacture’s webinar last week.

Retailers denied operating double standards with regard to foreign objects in food

Retailers' food safety double standards

By Laurence Gibbons

Some retailers may operate double standards in demanding high levels of food safety from suppliers, while being unaware over the amount of products contaminated with foreign objects they sell.

Banks have been accused of needless delays in making compensation payments

Food manufacturers await bank compensation

By Mike Stones

Own-label food manufacturers, meat processing firms and bakery ingredients companies are among 40,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) still awaiting compensation after some banks mis-sold loan ‘protection’ products which proved both damaging...

Bakkavör’s broad portfolio helped it to offset the effects of bad weather and the horsemeat crisis, its boss claimed

Bakkavör says broad range beat poor weather and horsemeat

By Michael Stones

Chilled convenience food manufacturer Bakkavör claimed its wide product portfolio had allowed it to offset the effects of poor weather and the horsemeat crisis, after releasing first quarter results for the 13 weeks ended 30 March.

Food firms have been thrown a lifeline by the Pensions Regulator

Food manufacturers get pensions lifeline

By Michael Stones

Food companies struggling to address deficits in their pension funds have been thrown a lifeline by the government appointed watch-dog that oversees company pension schemes.

Morrisons expects deliveries to customers to start by January 2014 after its deal with Ocado

Morrisons strikes online grocery deal with Ocado

By Mike Stones

Supermarket Morrisons has agreed a partnership with the online distribution business Ocado – including the acquisition of its distribution centre – in a deal that will see deliveries to customers start by January 2014.

Greater interest and trust in British food will be a key benefit of the horsemeat crisis, said Mintel

Horsemeat webinar

Four ways horsemeat crisis will benefit UK food industry

By Mike Stones

The horsemeat crisis is bringing four benefits to the UK food industry, despite all the adverse publicity that followed in its wake, said speakers at Food Manufacture’s webinar – Horsemeat, learning the lessons of an avoidable crisis – held yesterday...

The growing demand for personalised nutrition is likely to bring big opportuities

Vitafoods 2013

Personalised nutrition demand to bring big opportunities

By Gary Scattergood

The key business challenges for food firms whose products aid disease management are overcoming the "huge disconnect" between the number of consumers who claim to be interested in them and the number who actually purchase them, while also making...

A survey of senior risk managers revealed that less than half of respondents said they were 'good' at crisis management

Top tips on crisis management in the food industry

By Richard Barker

Do you remember when sales of Perrier Water were hit in 1990 by traces of carcinogenic benzene found in the bottles? The company had to withdraw 160M bottles worldwide at a cost of £150M and saw sales tumble for four years. Or when Heinz had to withdraw...

Horsemeat fraud had been carried out by a 'big organisation and for a long period of time', according to Freeza Meats' commerical director

Horsemeat fraud blamed on big organisation, says Freeza Meats

By Laurence Gibbons

Horsemeat contamination, which has plagued Britain’s food sector in recent months, was clearly fraud perpetrated by a large organisation over a long period of time, according to one meat supplier at the centre of the scandal.

EFSA boss: 'Imprecise food characterisation can stop the approval process very quickly'

Vitafoods 2013

Food firms fail to tackle key health claim needs: EFSA

By Gary Scattergood

Functional food firms are failing to win health claim approval for their products because they are repeatedly neglecting two of the three key requirements for success, the man in charge of the process has revealed.

At the cutting edge: NIAB's new superwheat could boost yields of UK breadmaking wheat

New UK superwheat could boost breadmaking

By Andrew Williams

A new non-genetically modified (non-GM) ‘superwheat’ developed for growing in the UK, which yields 30% more than traditional wheats, could be of a quality suitable for breadmaking, according the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB).

The humble BLT is Britain's favourite sandwich filling

BLT is Britain’s favourite sandwich

By Andrew Williams

BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) tops a somewhat conservative list of Britons’ favourite sandwich fillings, with prawn mayo and ham and cheese featuring highly on the glamour-free list.

To register for the free one-hour webinar on lessons learnt from the horsemeat crisis, see the end of this article

Horsemeat crisis: have your say

By Michael Stones

Have you got a burning question about the horsemeat crisis that you want answered? Then, ask our expert panel of speakers during Food Manufacture Group’s free one-hour webinar to be staged at 11am GMT on Thursday May 16.

Teresa Dolan cautioned against adopting ‘the nuclear option’ of dismissing staff and re-employing them on new contracts

Food manufacturers warned about ‘nuclear’ HR policy

By Gary Scattergood

Food firms should be aware of the reputational and brand risks of using the “nuclear option” of dismissing staff and re-employing them on new contracts as a way of forcing through changes to employee terms and conditions.

Food foods should embed sustainability into the DNA of their businesses: Driscoll

Collaboration key to sustainable food system

By Laurence Gibbons

Food manufacturers need to work more closely with government, civil society and research organisations to build a sustainable food system, according to Forum for the Future.

Saucy trends: Globalisation is leading consumers to choose more flavoursome foods, according to Stephen Romero

Globalisation spices up the market for hot foods

By Mike Stones

Globalisation is leading to more adventurous consumers who are increasingly prepared to try spicy foods, including hot pepper sauces, according to the McIlhenny Company, maker of Tabasco pepper sauce.

The Courtauld Commitment targets a 5% reduction in household food and drink waste

Food firms sign up to new Courtauld waste commitment

By Michael Stones

Food manufacturers and retailers have demonstrated commitment to reducing food and drink waste as 45 companies have signed up for the third phase of the Courtauld Commitment, which was launched yesterday (May 9).

Symbol stores need a 'new recipe' to compete successfully with convenience stores operated by the multiples retailers: IGD

Symbol store own-label food quality needs to rise

By Rick Pendrous

Own-label food manufacturers need to raise the image and quality of products supplied to ‘symbol’ stores if they are to convince shoppers that they are as good as those offered by multiple supermarket chains.

The soft drinks industry rose by 3.3% last year, according to the 'Refreshing the nation' report

Soft drinks industry value rises 3.3% to £15bn

By Laurence Gibbons

The value of the soft drinks industry rose by 3.3% to nearly £15bn last year, according to a new report published by the British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) today (May 8).

Taxes on foods will not help fight obesity, claimed Frewen

Food taxes will not beat obesity: manufacturers

By Laurence Gibbons

Food taxes introduced by some EU member states to discourage the consumption of ‘unhealthy’ foods will not tackle obesity and risks hindering the competitiveness of EU food and drink industries, warns the manufacturers’ organisation FoodDrinkEurope.

Justin King – 'the grandad of UK supermarkets' – is likely to remain at the helm of Sainsbury at least for the short term, said Shore Capital

Sainsbury ‘grandfather’ praised for sound results: City

By Mike Stones

Sainsbury boss Justin King – “the grandfather of UK supermarkets” – has drawn praise from City analyst Shore Capital, after the nation’s third largest retailer reported sales, including fuel, up by 4.5% to £23.3bn for the year to March 16.

Horsemeat crisis – as it happened

Horsemeat scandal – in pictures

By Laurence Gibbons

The horsemeat scandal has proved to be the biggest crisis to afflict the UK food industry since the BSE furore of the 1990s. Here, we chart in photographs how the crisis unraveled.

Establishing a safety culture is key

It's time to renew trust in the food industry

The horsemeat scandal has severely damaged consumer confidence in the industry's ability to regulate itself and will have major implications for the way food safety is regulated in the future.

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