The Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) has criticised “UK government plc” for what it describes as a damaging and misleading response to the deadly European E.coli crisis that has left this country's fresh produce industry in turmoil.
I was just about to put pen to paper for this month's column, when the news broke about the Harvard research paper in the New England Journal of Medicine (June 23, 2011) on the cause of long-term weight gain in non-obese individuals.
The European Commission (EC) has banned imports of certain types of seeds and beans from Egypt, after the European Food Safety Authority announced yesterday that fenugreek seeds from the country are the most likely cause of deadly E.coli outbreaks in...
The current UK date labelling regime confuses food businesses, increases consumer risk by “diluting key food safety messages”, and costs industry millions of pounds a year.
If you listen to Chris Evans on Radio 2, you'll be familiar with the classic 1951 song "How d'ya like your eggs in the morning?" To Helen O'Connell's question, Dean Martin croons: "I like mine with a kiss!"
The recent E.coli outbreaks in France and Germany have put food safety back in the headlines. This makes Food Manufacture's Product Recall 2011 conference even more apt.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is advising consumers not to eat raw sprouted seeds such as beansprouts, alfalfa and fenugreek, after an E.coli outbreak led to the hospitalisation of eight people in Bordeaux, France.
A European taskforce has been assembled to pinpoint the source of any contaminated beansprouts after the same potentially deadly strain of German E.coli that killed scores has surfaced in an outbreak in France.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published new research showing that most participants with 'life threatening' nut allergies believed that products without allergen advice boxes posed no danger.
Sausage manufacturers have hit back after a report accused them of producing products with dangerously high salt levels, and say that the results are misleading, while 2012 reduction targets risk going too far.
UK Salads technical director Mark Lever says that parts of the UK fresh produce sector are still on their knees after the devastating German E.coli outbreak that left 35 people dead.
A scientist who chairs the UK's independent Committee on Toxicity (COT) says the European Commission’s (EC’s) move to ban the import of baby bottles using Bisphenol A (BPA) is not based on scientific evidence, and has rejected calls to ban its use...
Dairy UK, which represents the UK's milk supply chain, has called on the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to support a ban on the retail sale of unpasteurised milk.
UK salad producers hope the European Commission (EC) will part-fund an awareness campaign to persuade consumers that their products are safe, and expect compensation after revealing that sales here have plummeted up to 60% by value since the E.coli crisis...
Retailers remain concerned about selling food derived from the offspring of cloned cattle and pigs after the Food Standards Agency's (FSA's) confirmation that such products need no special approval.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has denied a suggestion by two MEPs that it may have lost data relating to a previous safety evaluation of the high intensity sweetener aspartame (E951) and that it failed to examine it properly in the first place.
European Union proposals for a €150m-compensation package for farmers wer rejected by Spain and France yesterday as pressure intensified for Germany to identify the source of the E.coli outbreak that has now killed 23 and sickened 2,429.
Europe’s agriculture ministers are to hold an emergency meeting today on the E.coli outbreak as authorities continue their efforts to pinpoint the source of the bacteria that has killed 22 and sickened almost 2,300 people.
Despite initiatives such as the Rapid Alert System for Food & Feed (RASFF), the EU food chain is still vulnerable to malicious activity for the sake of profit or terrorist type activity, according to a leading food safety expert.
Beansprouts grown in northern Germany could be the cause of the deadly E.coli outbreak that has so far killed 22 and sickened 2,263, officials in the country said yesterday.
As UK sales slide, fresh produce industry players say they are disappointed by the German and EU authorities’ variously indecisive and misleading steps when dealing with the German E.coli outbreak that has seen 16 people die and around 1,614 fall ill.
Assuming the European Commission, Parliament and Council can agree on some outstanding issues, the EC Food Information Regulation will be adopted shortly.
Asda has settled its long-running legal dispute with ingredient supplier Ajinomoto out of court, FoodManufacture.co.uk has learnt, after the latter took legal action against the retailer for describing aspartame as a ‘nasty’ on own-label product packaging.
Work is underway to foster closer collaboration over salt, fat and sugar reduction as deadlines loom, according to Clair Baynton, head of the Department of Health’s (DoH’s) Nutrition Science and Delivery branch.
An innovative, low-cost, washable polyester glove liner has been developed, which is set to cut the rising costs of the throwaway cotton glove liners used in food manufacture.
Cloning is unlikely to form part of Ireland's armoury of technological weaponry as the country seeks to expand its meat and livestock exports over the next decade, says Padraig Brennan, a senior analyst for Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board
Mooching through Chinatown in London a few weeks ago, I entered a labyrinthine store and picked up a box of what I thought (my Mandarin skills deserting me) were teabags, but turned out to be sachets of freeze-dried cane sugar, glucose and wild hawthorn...
The BRC claims its new Global Standard for Food Safety will prioritise auditor training and time on the factory floor, but one technical manager has dismissed it as a "complete sideshow", as large food manufacturers struggle with more thorough...
Growing scrutiny of food suppliers means an increasing focus on food safety issues. In this special edition article on risk, we look at how producers can communicate potential risks to consumers while protecting their brand reputation, in the event of...
Nilojan Food has been fined £55,000 after health inspectors found putrefying fillings at its Luton premises. But the former md has told FoodManufacture.co.uk that he wished the local council had been "a little bit more understanding".
Despite Food Standards Agency (FSA) screening of food imports from Japan, UK sushi producers speaking to FoodManufacture.co.uk off the record say there has been no consumer backlash against ‘nuclear' sushi.
The increasing number of SALSA approved businesses over the past 24 months and greater retailer recognition are indicators of both the scheme's growth potential and its suitability for the SME sector, claims one of the trade groups behind the scheme.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says its new strategic plan to 2015 reflects recent changes in nutrition responsibilities in the UK, with principal spending areas covering its core remit of effective regulation and food safety.
Michael Meacher MP says he worries that not enough research has been done on the long-term effects to human health of eating foods produced from animals fed GM soy, after it emerged that many such branded items may be on UK sale.
The European Union is to step up controls on food imports from Japan in the wake of the nuclear accident at Fukushima – but stressed there was no evidence that consumers in the region were at risk from radiation-contaminated food.
Consensus Action on Salt & Health (CASH), a leading UK health group which campaigns for reduced levels of salt in processed foods has welcomed the targets announced in the Public Health Responsibility Deal for food, published by health secretary Andrew...
The UK’s Food Standards agency has reiterated its guidance to feed babies only breast milk or formula up to around six months of age, as there is evidence that there may be an increased risk of coeliac disease if gluten-containing foods are introduced...
Dairy UK has notified the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that the salt content of mature cheddar should be increased, following an incident in which a child suffered an allergic reaction to Co-operative cheddar with high levels of histamine, FoodManufacture.co.uk...
With food manufacturers busy reformulating or developing products to cut ‘nasties’ such as salt and sugar, Leatherhead Food Research has warned that associated food safety issues should not be an afterthought.
Mouldy fresh fruit could become a thing of the past thanks to cold plasma beams that extend its shelf life by up to five days, according to an academic heading a new study into the technology.
Increasingly frequent food fraud incidents and urgent demand for allergen and genetically modified ingredient testing have spurred on a government initiative to boost the robustness of DNA sequence testing for food
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is investigating whether a controversial ice cream made with donated breast milk, and sold in a London restaurant, breaches food safety regulations.