Fats & oils

Saturated fats in dairy products like cheese have long been demonised

Dairy bosses welcome new sat fat study

By Nicholas Robinson

Dairy bosses have welcomed a new study that suggests saturated fats in foods like butter and cheese are not bad for heart health.

NBPO posted 'disappointing results' after a difficult year, said Panmure Gordon

New Britain Palm Oil reports ‘disappointing results’

By Michael Stones

Sustainable palm oil manufacturer New Britain Palm Oil (NBPO) has reported “disappointing results”,  partly due to difficult weather, concludes City analyst Panmure Gordon, after the firm posted preliminary results for the year ended December 31 2013.

The rules cover fat, collagen and gristle labelling for minced meat

Shoppers ‘guaranteed’ low fat minced meat

By Nicholas Robinson

The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) has welcomed government changes to minced meat labelling, giving shoppers more assurance lean options are low in fat.

AAK, which signed a supply deal with Premier Foods earlier this month, is working on techniques for fat and waste reduction that will help firms to meet voluntary industry targets

AAK targets waste and fat reduction

By Rod Addy

AAK is developing techniques for fat and waste reduction that will enable food manufacturers to meet voluntary industry targets much more effectively.

Premier Foods brands include Ambrosia custard and Mr Kipling

AAK deal will double supply to Premier Foods

By Rod Addy

Premier Foods’ tie-up with AAK, the fats and oils supplier, will double AAK’s volume sales to the branded foods manufacturer and could strengthen collaboration on areas including shelf-life and fat reduction.

Saturated fats do cause obesity and heart disease, says PHE

Public Health England rejects sat fat reduction critics

By Rick Pendrous

Public Health England (PHE) has challenged the article in the British Medical Journal online, which criticised the government’s drive to cut saturated fat in foods, claiming it was not the main cause of obesity.

Brain function can be boosted by a range of ingredients, studies claim

Food firms get aid for brain claims

By Rod Addy

Leatherhead Food Research (LFR) is working on a project to support food and drink processors seeking to make cognitive performance claims for their products.

Certificate of approval: Andy Green presented the certificate to Liz Moore

Warning: get sustainably certified or lose business

By Lorraine Mullaney

Food manufacturers have been warned to get sustainably certified or lose business, as the deadline approaches to meet retailers’ 2015 commitments to source sustainable produce.

Omega-9 rapeseed oils have 'cost in use benefits,' says Dow Seeds

Slash saturated fats with latest oils

By Gary Scattergood

The next generation of omega-9 rapeseed and sunflower oils can help manufacturers slash levels of saturated fats by up to 70%, according to figures from Dow Seeds.

The new supply deal will help to remedy the shortages of sustainable palm oil that have been blamed for its relatively low uptake

Sustainable palm oil deal brings 100% target closer

By Mike Stones

Meeting the target of 100% sustainable palm oil within two years has moved closer with a deal between New Britain Palm Oil (NBPOL) and Olenex – a joint venture between Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) and Wilmar International.

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.

Health minister Anna Soubry: 'I'm not a food fascist … I’m never going to say to anybody ‘you should not eat this’

Health minister urges food industry action to avoid regulation

By Rick Pendrous

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...

Critics have slammed the palm oil agreement as 'weak'

Manufacturers sign up to ‘weak’ national palm oil pledge

By Gary Scattergood

Food manufacturers, government and supermarkets have today (October 30) “stated their ambition” to ensure palm oil used in food production is responsibly produced and does not contribute to deforestation by 2015. But a leading retail organisation has...

Obesity is not a them-and-us problem, claim researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Why feeding fat people equals 1bn extra mouths

By Mike Stones

Feeding rising global numbers of people who are overweight places the same strain on world resources as would an additional 1bn mouths, warn researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Unilever’s Jan Kees Vis acknowledged the size of the challenge in growing supplies of sustainable soya

Soya: the ‘huge’ challenge of sustainable supplies

By Mike Stones

Food manufacturers and others face “very big” challenges in developing supplies of sustainable soya, according to Jan Kees Vis, Unilever’s global director of sustainable sourcing development.

Cold-pressed rape seed oil developed for food manufacturers

'Healthy' oils for food manufacturing

Norfolk-based cold pressed rapeseed oil producer Larchwood Foods has developed two oils to meet the requirements of the food manufacturing sector: Larchwood Foods Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil and Larchwood Foods Extra Virgin High Oleic Cold...

Derek Wiles, operations manager

The oil business

By Rod Addy

Derek Wiles shares his stories of life in the fresh olive oil business. Rod Addy reports

Just Crisps reports significant growth of products, which are fried in cold pressed extra virgin rapeseed oil

Fat rewards for healthy crisp makers

By Rod Addy

Crisp makers are hitting back at their unhealthy image with new varieties of crisp substituting traditional oils such as sunflower oil with alternatives that are much lower in saturated fats.

Weighty argument: Food and drink manufacturers insist the responsibility deal is delivering results

Food manufacturers reject Which? obesity claims

By Mike Stones

UK food and drink manufacturers have rejected claims by campaign group Which? that the government’s Public Health Responsibility Deal has made inadequate progress at reducing what it describes as “the national obesity emergency”.

Public health role for food industry

Public health role for food industry

By Rick Pendrous

The food industry must get much more closely involved in public health issues if we are to deal with the problems of obesity the nation faces, the co-chair of the government’s food Public Health Responsibility Deal (PHRD) Network has argued.

Obese people ‘failed’ by government strategy

Obese people ‘failed’ by government strategy

By Rick Pendrous

The government has been slammed for spending huge sums on trying to reduce the weight of people across the population rather than focusing attention where it is needed most - on those who are seriously obese.

Child obesity is continuing to rise

Government has to act to boost nation's health

By Rick Pendrous

The government must adopt a more unified policy framework to improve the health of the nation and curb the growth in obesity, food policy experts have urged.

TV chef Jamie Oliver said the Public Health Responsibility Deal was “worthless, regurgitated, rubbish”

Food guru slams government’s food policy

By Dan Colombini

UK food policy has taken a backward step under the coalition government, according to Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, London.

Fat lot of good: Experts have claimed the introduction of a fat tax in the UK would not work.

Fat tax could ‘cripple’ UK manufacturers

By Dan Colombini

The introduction of a fat tax in the UK would be “very difficult for the industry to stomach” and could “cripple” some food and drink firms, experts have said.

If nudging people towards healthier lifestyles fails, it should be replaced by legislaton, warns a cross-party group of MPs

Public Health Responsibility Deal ‘no silver bullet’

By Mike Stones

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has welcomed comments from the Health Select Committee about the government’s Public Health Responsibility Deal describing the plan as “no silver bullet” to tackle obesity.

Is the government's obesity Call to Action sound sense or

Manufacturers come out fighting in obesity row

By Dan Colombini

Food firms have rejected criticisms that the industry is failing to combat obesity after the government’s framework to tackle the problem drew flack from campaign groups.

David Cameron pledged to consider a fat tax to curb the UK's obesity crisis

Prime minister chews over UK fat tax

By Mike Stones

Prime Minister David Cameron is considering the possibility of introducing a Danish-style fat tax to tackle the nation’s £9bn obesity crisis.

Denmark is getting to grips with fat tax legislation

Danish fat tax divides UK opinion

By Mike Stones

News that Denmark is to become the first country in the world to introduce a tax on foods with saturated fat, in a bid to foster healthy eating, has sharply divided British opinion.

Sustainably Cornish. Ginsters has become the first manufacturer to secure 100% sustainable palm oil in savoury pastries

Sustainable palm oil coup for Ginsters

By Rod Addy

Ginsters has overcome supply issues to become the first manufacturer to secure 100% sustainable palm oil in the category of branded savoury pastries, in co-operation with fats and oils supplier AAK.

Why the UK could be waddling towards a fat tax

Why the UK could be waddling towards a fat tax

By Graham Holter

The prospect of a fat tax has lurched back into view following a damning Lancet editorial claiming the food industry is failing to tackle the UK’s obesity “pandemic”.

AAK Bakery Services supplies fats for the bakery and confectionery production

Oldham site threat as AAK reviews UK operations

By Ben Bouckley

40 jobs could be lost at AAK Bakery Services in Oldham in March 2012 after Swedish parent AarhusKarlshamn revealed it could close the business following a UK operational review.

Bakery fats now include RSPO-certified palm oil

Bakery fats now include RSPO-certified palm oil

In March, edible oils and fats manufacturer AAK UK announced that its entire range of bakery fats and many other standard product lines contain sustainable palm oil that has been certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).