All news articles for November 2017

FW Capital’s Keith Charlton (left) and Lindsey McMenamin (right) with Hooba founder Jay Croslegh and UNW Michael McCulloch (centre)

Meat alternative firm Myco Foods gets funding to grow

By Rick Pendrous

Darlington-based food manufacturer Myco Foods plans rapid growth after securing £250,000 worth of funding from NPIF – FW Capital Debt Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).

Food firms have been advised to promote from within their organisations

Promote from within, food and drink firms advised

By Noli Dinkovski

Food and drink manufacturers should focus more on developing their existing workforces rather than sourcing staff externally to combat the skills shortages they face within the industry, an expert in the field has claimed.

Some butchery skills – such as deboning carcasses – are more difficult to automate than others

Feature analysis

Food processors seek efficient and hygienic kit

By Alyson Magee

Processors want equipment that is efficient and hygienic, and a reduction
in manual handling. But they also need sustainability, says Alyson Magee.

Most manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises receive little interest from their current accounts

Small firms are ‘missing out on better bank interest levels’

By Noli Dinkovski

Most UK manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) receive little interest from their current accounts, while many are increasing their risk of exposure by leaving all of their money in one place, a survey has revealed.

Compostable film from Futamura (formerly known as Innovia Films)

Call for oxodegradable plastics ban wins support

By Paul Gander

More than 150 organisations, including leading UK brand-owners, have backed a November call by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) for a ban on oxodegradable plastics in packaging, including carrier bags.

Disease associated with obesity costs the NHS about £11bn a year, said Susan Jebb

Smartphone app to help switch to healthier foods

By Rick Pendrous

People who are overweight and identified as being at higher risk of cardiovascular disease could soon have access to a smartphone app that provides them with advice about swapping to healthier foods, thanks to a collaborative research project involving...

Products of depolymerisation: EG on the left and PTA on the right

Microwave catalyst in recycling PET

By Paul Gander

A new EU project aims to construct a demonstration plant for the depolymerisation of polyesters, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), applying microwave technology.

Minimum unit price for alcohol: ‘unlikely’ in England

England ‘unlikely to get minimum booze price’

By Noli Dinkovski

The adoption of a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol in Scotland is unlikely to be replicated in England under the current government – but Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to follow suit – a leading academic behind the research into its effectiveness...

At least 50% of CCEP’s bottles will be made from recycled PET by 2025

Coca-Cola sets higher green targets

By Rick Pendrous

A new sustainability action plan covering drinks, packaging and society has been jointly launched by The Coca-Cola Company in western Europe and Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP), in a move that is claimed to be the first initiative of its kind.

Food safety problems could arise from relying on old, paper-based data capture systems

Food safety needs a boost from more robust data capture

By Rick Pendrous

Many UK food and drink manufacturers are putting themselves and their customers at risk by relying on outdated paper-based systems to capture data and monitor their operational performance and product quality, warn several suppliers of software to the...

Professor Buttriss: ‘A diet rich in fibre, fruit and vegetables is linked with lower risk of diseases’

OPINION

A healthy diet: why the sum is greater than the parts

By Judy Buttriss

Aspects of diet are often considered in isolation. However, this risks overlooking the likelihood that nutrients and other food components interact, either in the food matrix itself or when the food or meal has been consumed.

Raw cured bacon is one of the foods that could be affected by the guidance

New botulinum guidance could hit cured meat shelf-life

By Rick Pendrous

Cured meat manufacturers are worried that revised guidance for manufacturers from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on controlling the dangerous bacterium Clostridium botulinum in their products could result in dramatically reduced shelf-life.

Professor Christine Williams: ‘Many young people coming into research today are actually put off’

Food scientist industry link attacks unfair: professor

By Rick Pendrous

Nutrition scientists must not be “pilloried” for working with industry on research projects that could lead to advances in public health and a reduction in obesity, a leading academic in the field has argued.

New Zealand’s sheep exports have flourished since subsidies were lifted, claims the former New Zealand high commissioner

UK should ‘learn lesson’ from New Zealand over subsidies

By Noli Dinkovski

Removing subsidies and opening up markets post-Brexit is likely to result in increased domestic food and farming productivity while boosting food security, the former New Zealand high commissioner to the UK has argued.

Evidence grows on reversing type 2 diabetes by sustained weight loss

Dietary evidence for diabetes reversal

By Rick Pendrous

Evidence has emerged and more is expected over the next few months to prove that dietary changes using low and very low energy diets in the initial stages of clinical interventions can be used to reverse type 2 diabetes and then sustain it in patients.

Sharing intelligence should become the food industry norm: Food Manufacture editor Rick Pendrous

Opinion

Intelligence sharing must become the norm

By Rick Pendrous

The findings of the report from the House of Commons’ Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) committee inquiry into the alleged food safety failings identified by the undercover press investigation into 2 Sisters Food Group’s West Bromwich poultry...

Tesco group chief executive Dave Lewis will give the City Food Lecture

Tesco boss to discuss supplier partnerships

By Rick Pendrous

Tesco group chief executive Dave Lewis will use the City Food Lecture 2018 to offer his views on the ‘essential’ role supplier partnerships will have on the future of the UK’s food supply chain.

2 Sisters is to create 100 new jobs at its Flixton factory

2 Sisters to create 100 new jobs

By Gwen Ridler

2 Sisters Food Group is to create 100 new jobs at its East Anglian chicken processing facility, following an upgrade of the factory ahead of the busy Christmas period.

Kellogg announced plans to cut the sugar content of three of its top children’s cereals

Kellogg cuts sugar in top three children’s cereals

By Gwen Ridler

Kellogg has revealed plans to cut the sugar content of three of its top selling children’s breakfast cereals by up to 40% by the end of next year, as it drops cereals high in sugar from the range.

The Food Standards Agency’s remit should be expanded in the run up to Brexit: DWF

Stronger FSA needed to avoid Brexit ‘quagmire’

By Noli Dinkovski

The remit of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) should be expanded to stop the industry sleepwalking into a “regulatory quagmire” after the UK has left the EU, a leading food lawyer has claimed.

Norsleand ceo Nigel Meadows collected the award from Food Manufacture’s publisher Sonia Young and awards host Matt Dawson

FMEAs 2017

Norseland wins dairy manufacturing Oscar

By Mike Stones

Global speciality cheese business Norseland has won the coveted Dairy Manufacturing Company of the Year trophy in the industry’s Oscars – the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards (FMEAs) – at The Hilton on Park Lane in London at the beginning of this month...

Meat firm Cranswick has revealed plans for a new £54M poultry plant in Suffolk

Cranswick reveals plans for £54M poultry plant

By Gwen Ridler

Cranswick has revealed plans to build a new £54M poultry processing plant in Suffolk, as it posted a £133.8M rise in sales for the six months ended September 30 2017 in its interim results.

Greencore has published its full year financial results

Greencore posts £2.3bn sales growth in full-year results

By Gwen Ridler

Convenience food manufacturer Greencore has revealed sales growth of 56.5% over the past year to £2.3bn in its full-year results, boosted by a rise in US sales following the acquisition of US firm Peacock Foods at the end of last year.

Weetabix ceo Giles Turrell is backing tommorrow’s third Leadership Symposium

Weetabix boss backs Leadership Symposium

By Mike Stones

Weetabix ceo Giles Turrell is backing the third Leadership Symposium – which takes place tomorrow (November 28) at Rothamsted Research Centre – as a place to update food and drink industry leadership skills.

Frozen food boss’s call to arms

Iceland Foods boss takes over at frozen food federation

By Rick Pendrous

Nigel Broadhurst, the newly elected chairman of the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) board, has called on collaboration between all parts of the frozen food industry to promote the benefits of frozen foods to consumers.

Food industry must notify the FSA when serious food safety risks are identified

Food industry must share more data with the FSA

By Rick Pendrous

Food safety experts have welcomed recommendations from a select committee of MPs that there should be a far more systematic process for sharing data and intelligence obtained from private sector audits of food businesses with the Food Standards Agency...

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