European salt trade body EUSalt admits the “battle is lost” to prevent mandatory EU-wide salt labelling on food products after Guideline Dietary Allowance (GDA) measures were approved as expected in a European Parliament vote this afternoon.
The long journey to European Union acceptance for the natural, intense sweetener, steviol glycoside, shortened significantly yesterday when the EU’s 27 member states backed its safety at a European Commission (EC) committee meeting.
The amount of packaging sent to landfill by EU-15 members dropped by 43 per cent in just over a decade thanks to soaring recovery and recycling rates, said the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment (Europen).
Requirements for food packaging inks under Swiss national legislation have been in force for over one year, while new rules on food packaging inks exist in Germany but in draft form; we hear about the implications of these developments for the industry.
The European Commission has defended its decision to release thousands of tonnes of sugar on to the market after accusations that the move would have a detrimental impact on the yeast industry.
A major plastics trade body has called for a Europe-wide ban on landfill while highlighting the key role of the private sector in driving recycling and recovery innovation.
European Commission measures to open a further 200,000 tonne import quota for raw or refined sugar at zero import duty and the possibility for further imports at reduced import duty via a tendering system have been backed by member states.
A host of major food companies will be among those eagerly watching developments after antitrust officials from the European Commission raided a number of container liner shipping firms over suspicions that competition rules had been breached.
Aid agencies should join forces with companies to develop packaging industries in developing countries as part of a strategy to cut food waste across the globe, said EUROPEN chief Julian Carroll at a top level summit this week.
Cereplast has announced plans to build a new bioplastics manufacturing plant in Italy with an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes as part of its strategy to meet burgeoning European demand for the material.
The United States lists sodium on nutrition labels while salt is more common in the European Union. Salt and sodium are not the same, and a standardized term would only cause confusion.
Kemin has debuted a clean-label version of its Fortium rosemary extract in the cereals market, with initial tests showing product integrity after three months compared to controls.
The Northern European dimension of an industry led EU initiative to restrict snack advertising to children has been further strengthened by the decision of snacks maker Chips Group to sign up, said the European Snacks Association (ESA).
All is not well down on the novel foods farm. If food innovation in Europe is to thrive anew, MEPs and the Council need to get past the recriminations over the failed talks and remove the troublesome question of cloned foods from the negotiating table.
A UK pressure group against the use of processing aids in bread production is backing a proposed amendment to EU regulation that will require foods frozen, and then defrosted before sale, to be labelled ‘defrosted’.
Royal Cosun has struck a deal to sell Unifine to US bakery products and equipment supplier Dawn Foods, as it repositions to focus on processing of arable crops.
Last ditch efforts to salvage the novel foods regulation were derailed yesterday after the European Parliament and Council failed to reach agreement over the issue of cloned animals – with each side blaming the other for the impasse.
EU food industry representatives have termed ‘premature’ the proposal by the European Commission (EC) to allow 650,000 tonnes of out of quota sugar exports from October.
People with food allergies and intolerances in the UK have the more new products to meet their dietary needs than consumers in other major European markets, indicates data from Mintel, but there has been a general increase in launches across the EU in...
The European Commission has launched a call to tender for a study on measuring water content in poultry meat after German research suggested the figures on which guidelines are based may no longer be valid.
A European Commission initiative to release 500,000 tonnes of out of quota sugar onto the EU market has been backed by member states in the EU sugar management committee today.
Sugar supplier to the bakery and confectionery industry, Ragus, said it expects further commodity price hikes and contests whether proposed EC intervention on import duty tariff reductions would have the desired effect on the deficit in the EU market.
In a move to ease EU market pressures, the Commission has announced that it is to suspend import duties on low and medium quality wheat and barley from next week until the end of June.
The food industry has warned that new pollution charges for heavy goods vehicles in the EU have the potential to distort competition and increase retail food prices.
Current uncertainty suggests further price gains are likely in wheat over the coming months with EU prices expected to set record highs prior to the new crop harvest, predicts agri commodity specialists Rabobank, who foresee a downward movement on sugar...
The food and drink sugar users lobby has warned the European Commission that any further delays in intervention to remedy the sugar deficit in the market could result in even greater supply repercussions this autumn.
The European Commission, in a policy about face, said it may open the import quota or allow the sale of out-of-quota sugar into the bloc - a move that would bring relief for bakers and other food makers set to negotiate new sugar contracts.
A move by the EU Ministers to back a draft regulation dubbed the most significant change in food contact legislation in 20 years should ease its passage into European law, said Nick Kernoghan of Pira International.
The Commission is failing to recognise the urgency of the sugar supply deficit in the EU in its deferral of a decision regarding the hike in the sugar export quota until January, claims the CIUS, which represents sugar using food and drink industries...
European policy makers need to be aware that taking conflicting approaches on sustainability could affect the free flow of packaged goods, according to the managing director of Europen.
Indulgence Patisserie is pumping £0.75m into converting a former metal fabrication facility adjacent to its current site into a second desserts manufacturing facility that will more than double its production capacity.
The “vast majority” of cereals and cereal-based foods in the UK contain mycotoxin levels below regulatory limits, according to a survey from the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
The hand on the tiller that is food safety in Europe has been left somewhat unsteady by the recent regulatory actions taken by the European Commission on BPA and food colours – moves that are pandering to consumer fear and showing contempt for the food...
The CIUS is calling for the European Commission to act now to keep sugar supplies within the EU market rather than export the sweetener, with it claiming that EU based confectioners and other food and drink manufacturers are facing sugar supply difficulties.
Galam Group has signed an agreement with Czech company VUC Services to develop new liquid sweetener blends, as part of its strategy to spread its reach into new European markets.
The leading traders of physical raw sugar claim that the commodity is likely to surge to a 30-year high in the coming months, with all eyes on the pending Indian sugar crop output which is hoped will ease supply pressures.
Potato processor Lamb Weston/Meijer (LWM) said it has completed a deal to buy a controlling stake in Austrian outfit Frisch & Frost (F&F) after being given the go-ahead by Brussels.
Concern around stock levels of commodities such as sugar, wheat and corn, is claimed by ingredients group Jungbunzlauer as the rationale behind its 10 per cent hike in the price of its xanthan gum, erythritol and citric acid products.
A scientist at the Fraunhofer Instituteas developed new antimicrobial active packaging film that targets microorganisms on the surface of meat, fish and cheese to extend product shelf life.
To BPA or not to BPA? While the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) backed the continued use of bisphenol A last week, the real question is whether the verdict was a full-blown reprieve for the controversial chemical or merely a stay of execution.