Food safety and labelling

Rodda's says the new GI scheme would strengthen the global status of its Cornish clotted cream

Food firms back British GI labelling scheme

By Rod Addy

Processors including Rodda's Creamery and Anglesey Sea Salt have welcomed the British Geographical Indications (GI) scheme launched by the Government to help safeguard provenance and replace the EU system post-Brexit.

Miles: 'local authority food teams went into the pandemic already 20% below full strength'

COVID-19 depletes local authority food safety staff

By Rod Addy

The coronavirus pandemic has slashed local authority food safety staff numbers, which were already significantly below where they needed to be, according to Food Standards Agency (FSA) chief executive Emily Miles.

The webinar will include an extensive Q&A discussion to allow registrants to pose specific questions

Two days to register for Food Safety Briefing

By Rod Addy

Food Manufacture's free-to-access Food Safety Briefing webinar, which covers topics ranging from food fraud and detection and inspection to allergen and pathogen management, goes live in just two days.

Red meat shelf-life boost could benefit other meats

Red meat shelf-life boost could benefit other meats

By Michelle Perrett

The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) claims a move to convince the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to support extending chilled red meat shelf-life beyond ten days could benefit other meats too.

Vestey Foods' Thompson uses thermal processing and allergen control as examples

Technical Opinion

Food safety: why validations and 'worst-case scenarios' are vital

By Chris Thompson

Even technical experts sometimes confuse validations with verifications, but both are crucial aspects of food safety processes, as is the 'worst-case scenario' approach, argues Chris Thompson, technical manager at Vestey Foods UK.

More than 1m people have signed the NFU's petition calling for the safeguarding of food standards post-Brexit

Food standards petition reaches 1m signatures

By Gwen Ridler

More than 1m people have signed a petition urging the Government to ensure future trade deals do not lead to an increase in imported foods that would be illegal to produce in the UK.

Suppliers can use the Kitemark to assure shoppers about product attributes such as authenticity or provenance

BSI launches Food Assurance Kitemark

By Rod Addy

The British Standards Institute (BSI) has launched a Food Assurance Kitemark to help tackle food fraud and provide a way to communicate product credentials including food authenticity and provenance to consumers.

Top experts will address key product recall issues in the free one-hour webinar

Product recall webinar programme tackles allergens, labelling

By Rod Addy

Product recall guidance vital for tackling allergen contamination and labelling errors, plus advice on contingency planning and use of technology for cost-effective recall management were presented at an exclusive webinar on 17 March.

Concerns have been raised about social distancing and the lack of PPE in food plants

Measures for meat sector and general food production outlined

Coronavirus plans for meat plants and abattoirs

By Rod Addy

Coronavirus is hitting meat plant and abattoir operations as personnel contract the disease, but the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has contingency plans, FSA chief operating officer and COVID-19 incident director Colin Sullivan has claimed.

Shelf-life guidance prompts meat industry fears

Shelf-life guidance prompts meat industry fears

By Rick Pendrous

The proposed extension to the shelf-life of fresh meat is still overly cautious, would hinder the industry's international competitiveness and threaten retailers and processors with prosecution, according to food scientists.

Jackfruit is commonly used in south and south-east Asian cuisines

2020 FOOD TRENDS

Jackfruit, tempeh and seitan to lead plant-based boom

By Noli Dinkovski

The likes of jackfruit, tempeh and seitan are likely to appear much more frequently on supermarket shelves in 2020 as the plant-based boom continues, an ingredients supplier has claimed.

Shiga-toxin infected beef has been a cause of concern

EU germ threats ranked, with STEC now third

By Rod Addy

Shiga-toxin-producing E.coli (STEC) are now the third most common cause of foodborne disease, with campylobacter strains first and strains of salmonella second, according to the EU One Health 2018 Zoonoses Report.

Listeria outbreaks have claimed lives across the UK, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands this year

Court Order backs phage use against listeria

By Rod Addy

Food firms can keep using phages to fight listeria on ready-to-eat foods in the absence of a developed EU legal framework, according to a European Court of Justice Court Order.

Attendees can quiz all the speakers in a live Q&A session at the end of the webinar, which is also available to view via a playback facility after the live event

One day to go to Food Safety Briefing

By Rod Addy

Food Manufacture’s Food Safety Briefing is a day away from going live, with input from experts across the food industry, focusing on a range of core topics.

Numerous items of food were covered in mould at the bakery. Image from Stroud District Council's Twitter page

Mouldy food leads to £6k bakery fine

By Gwen Ridler

Mouldy food found in a bakery in Stroud, Gloucestershire has landed the producer with fines and costs of more than £6,000.

Suspended production throughout June has led to the closure of The Good Food Chain

The Good Food Chain enters liquidation

By Gwen Ridler

Sandwich producer The Good Food Chain has ceased trading with immediate effect, just days after being cleared of its involvement with a deadly outbreak of listeria by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The FDF has launched new guidance for the labelling of gluten in food

FDF launches new gluten guidance

By Gwen Ridler

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has launched new regulatory guidance for the labelling of prepacked foods that contain gluten and claims relating to the absence or reduced presence of gluten.

Adopting practices in the health sector can prevent safety-related product recalls

Avoid recall risk through ‘Never Events’

By Noli Dinkovski

Food firms can avoid serious safety-related product recalls by applying the ‘Never Event’ principle used in the health sector, a leading consultant in the field has argued.

On-pack cooking instruction work hand-in-hand with BRC Global Standards

BRC 8 benefits on-pack cooking instructions

By Greg Hooper

Campden BRI instruction services manager and microwave specialist Greg Hooper discusses the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety and its implication on manufacturers.

Cannabidiol is generating interest in the food and drink industry

opinion

Legislation on products containing cannabidiol

By Helen Arrowsmith

With increased media coverage and social media interest leading to rising consumer awareness of hemp derivatives, in particular cannabidiol (CBD), many in the food and drink industry are looking to develop new products containing this compound. But the...

Child obesity levels have hit a record high, according to a Public Health England report

Child obesity trends hit record high

By Aidan Fortune

Public Health England (PHE) is continuing to focus on calorie and sugar reduction as levels of severe obesity in children aged 10–11 have reached the highest point since records began.

There is a potential for food safety standards to drop once the UK leaves the EU warned FSS

FSS stresses Brexit food safety risks

By Aidan Fortune

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) has highlighted concerns over a potential drop in food safety and standards in the country once the UK leaves the EU.

The Queen's University Belfast has called for lower levels of arsenic in baby food

News in brief

Call for lower arsenic levels in baby food

By Noli Dinkovski

EU inorganic arsenic laws should be revised to ensure a lower concentration of the substance in baby food, an academic institute has argued.

The GFSI aims to drive continuous improvement in food safety management

Food safety culture leads sector challenges: GFSI

By Michelle Perrett

Safety culture, new technology and consumer trends are three key challenges facing the food sector today, Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) manager Anne Gerardi has told Food Manufacture.

The UK food supply chain should be reshaped on the basis of six principles, says professor Elliott

Feature

Six principles to reshape food supply chains: Professor Elliott

By Mike Stones

Six principles of food integrity – “akin to a new industrial revolution” – should be used to reshape the British food supply system in the run up to Brexit and beyond, according to Professor Chris Elliott’s keynote address at the Oxford Farming Conference...

The FSA believes third-party hygiene audits need to be more robust

Food Standards Agency reforms are not a ‘secret mission’

By Rick Pendrous

The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA’s) reforms under its Regulating Our Future (ROF) programme are about making the Agency “fit for purpose” and not a “back door” way of shifting the full cost burden of inspecting food businesses onto the industry while...