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...
As an industry we spend a great deal of time and money developing ‘healthy’ food solutions and menus for schools and support the ‘food’ education of children in school. However, once a child leaves the school gate there is very little support and, in...
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.
Major food manufacturers are revamping their packaging amid concerns over the long term health hazards posed by mineral oils leaching from recycled cardboard into foods.
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.
The media described the recent incident concerning dioxin in pork and egg products from animals fed with dioxin-contaminated feed as ‘a scandal’. But this is compounded by the needless and wasteful slaughter of expensively reared animals and the destruction...
Trendy chefs who offer pâtés prepared with undercooked ‘flash-fried’ chicken livers are putting their customers at risk of food poisoning, a microbiological expert has warned.
Plans by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to review the delivery of food safety controls on businesses have raised concerns that any move to centralise work to ensure consistency across the UK might risk losing local expertise.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has been urged by experts in the field and members of its own Board to exercise caution in its use of 'intelligent software' to predict emerging food safety risks.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is consulting on its revised Strategic Plan for 2010–2015, following the transfer by the coalition government of its responsibilities for nutrition and health in England to the Department of Health (DoH).
The profile of food science is set to rise as a number of initiatives from a reinvigorated Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST) come to fruition.
Premium pudding firm Gü has “sincerely apologised” to consumers for a production error that means some chocolate truffles on UK sale could contain mould.
According to the BBC, the most boring day of the 20th century was Sunday April 11 1954 when the main news was Belgium’s fourth general election since the war and the theft of a cup worth £50. In those days food issues were not even on the radar. Food...
Liberal Democrat peer Lord Clement-Jones has called on the Department of Health to explain how spending £322,000 of taxpayers' money on a study addressing consumer concerns over aspartame represents value for money at a time when budgets are so stretched.
Food companies want the potential benefits of novel foodstuffs to be weighed against their food safety risks when they are being considered for approval by the regulatory authorities.
The Food and Drink Federation’s (FDF’s) allergens steering group has published a paper setting out a best practice approach to allergen management that aims to tackle excessive ‘may contains’ labelling.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) will have to trim its budget by at least 25% over the next four years, which means it will have to “hand a great deal of responsibility [for food safety enforcement] back to the industry”, according to chief executive Tim...
Management of food safety incidents should be far more effectively handled once the Food Standards Agency (FSA) installs new computer systems helping it to analyse extensive information contained within its own and external data banks.
Upon learning that responsibility for food labelling in England is to be distributed between three government departments, these words from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado sprung to mind: “but the laws of common sense, you oughtn’t to ignore”.
Farmers and food processors are waiting to hear what position the coalition will adopt on genetically modified (GM) foods, following its announcement that the public dialogue project on the subject was to be cancelled.
Agreeing on a legal definition of nanomaterials that satisfies food manufacturers, regulators, enforcement bodies and consumers will be hugely challenging, according to experts gathered at a nanotechnology workshop in Leatherhead last week.
No one is expecting food manufacturers to share commercially sensitive information about nanotechnology projects, but adopting a policy of radio silence on the subject will only reinforce the perception that they have something to hide, according to experts...
Own-label pizza manufacturer Freiberger has made massive strides towards hitting the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA’s) salt-reduction targets and now sells a range of pizza bases and sauces with minimal or no salt.
The European Parliament’s (EP’s) call for milk labelled as ‘fresh’ to be under seven days old raises the question of the meaning of ‘fresh’ in relation to any food.
Are you prepared for the next sudan-1 or melamine scandal? What are the food safety risks threatening the food supply chains of tomorrow, and do you have the technical and financial resources to deal them them?
Swingeing cuts to local authority finances risk creating another serious foodborne disease outbreak on a par with the E.coli O157 incident in Wales in 2005, food safety experts have warned.
Retailers are behind a core part of the Food Standards Agency's (FSA's) latest five-year strategy of targeting the UK's biggest source of foodborne illness. They have come up with a plan to work with their suppliers to substantially reduce...
As a consumer, caterer, chef and food developer, I have found the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to be a great source of clear and concise information that has helped me to make more informed choices and, more importantly, produce food safely. It has lived...
The government has confirmed that a slimmed-down Food Standards Agency (FSA) will survive with a renewed focus on food safety, but will lose its English responsibility for country of origin labelling and policy relating to food composition and nutrition.
As rumours circulate that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) could be dismantled, CEO Tim Smith has underlined efficiency gains and cost cutting achievements in its annual report.
Breaking up the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and shifting those parts responsible for food safety into the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) would be a mistake, according to DEFRA secretary of state Caroline Spelman.
Press reports suggesting that breaking up the Food Standards Agency (FSA) would constitute a ‘victory’ for the food industry are misleading and “very annoying”, according to the boss of the Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST).
Further questions about the government’s plans for the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have been raised this week as the Department of Health (DoH) prepares to unveil a white paper outlining its strategy for the health service.
Oh dear. The furore surrounding the Food Standards Agency's (FSA's) project on genetic modification (GM) is an unwelcome reminder of how a small group of campaigners remains absolutely determined to derail any sensible debate in the UK about...
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has “turned the tide” on UK salt consumption and delivered one of the most effective diet-related campaigns in history despite its limited funds, its boss has claimed.
The sharp rise in sales of salt over the past year is not a sign that consumers are increasingly compensating for the lack of salt in processed foods by adding more at the table, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has insisted.
The "likely source" of the glass that has allegedly been found in selected Hovis Hearty Oats loaves has been identified as refurbishment work on a storage silo, brand owner Premier Foods has revealed.
As the flurry of post-election activity culminated in the Queen’s speech last week, some areas of legislation impacting business in the UK are starting to take shape, but key decisions on food policy remain unclear.
The new coalition government will cut £270m from regional development agencies (RDAs), cut DEFRA's budget by £162m and slash £600m from quangos this year as it embarks on a radical cost-cutting drive to save £6.2bn.
The UK definition of 'ice cream' must be brought in line with the rest of Europe if the Food Standards Agency (FSA) wants manufacturers to make meaningful progress on saturated fat reduction, according to a leading supplier.
Barring another financial crash, the UK sandwich market should continue to see solid growth this year as shoppers tire of making their own packed lunches and look to retailers and caterers to provide an affordable alternative, according to one leading...
The percentage of new products launched in Europe containing low- or no-fat claims dropped from 8% in 2005 to just 5% in 2009, while the percentage containing ‘green’ messages has grown rapidly over the same period, according to Mintel.
The hung parliament has raised a large question mark over some key areas of food policy, with uncertainty surrounding everything from the future of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to the implementation of Labour’s 2030 strategy, according to law firm...
Small food manufacturers are not spending sufficient time analysing how reformulation programmes to reduce salt, fat and sugar are impacting the safety of their products, microbiologists at Campden BRI have warned.