GM ingredients are here to stay as Brussels confirms 'full
confidence' in the regulatory framework that controls the entry of
biotech foodstuffs into the European food chain, reports Lindsey
Partos.
Compound ingredients for the snack industry, inulin and sugar
activities lift operating profit in 2004 for Dutch ingredients and
foodstuffs group Royal Cosun.
New opportunities have emerged for British wheat growers after an
industry association used a new classification system to
successfully negotiate the export of UK wheat to Egypt, the world's
second largest buyer, reports Chris...
This Thursday we will be focusing on the opportunities and
challenges, the strengths and weaknesses of the Czech food
industry, with exclusive interviews and analysis, writes Anthony
Fletcher.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has dealt a blow
to sugar reform lobbyists across Europe and developing countries by
voicing her opposition to special arrangements for different states
when proposals are adopted later...
Chr Hansen's innovative Eastern European marketing campaign, which
kicks off today, should help the Czech Republic's dairy sector find
new ways of adding value to their products, writes Anthony
Fletcher.
Food manufacturers need to consider a risk/benefit analysis of
activities on acrylamide, a harmful chemical recently identified in
carbohydrate-rich foods, conclude stakeholders after a recent
meeting in Brussels,reports Lindsey Partos.
The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) has slammed new EU
packaging standards, claiming they are likely to encourage
increased packaging volumes and do little to facilitate greater
recycling.
Mariann Fischer Boel, the EU's recently appointed agriculture
commissioner, has claimed that sweeping EU agricultural reforms
will provide UK farmers with a "better balance of support",
while forging a more competitive...
Increases in European steel values have made the EU the most
expensive market in the world, with inevitable consequences for the
region's packaging industry. Anthony Fletcher reports.
With the countdown extended, talks continue this week in Geneva
between the US and Brussels to move the entrenched trade dispute on
genetically modified organisms forward.
China is becoming more than just a low-cost manufacturing
destination; its firms are locating in Germany as a means of
gaining access to the EU market and tapping into technical
know-how, writes Anthony Fletcher.
The Competition Commission (CC) today announced it has
provisionally cleared the completed acquisition by Napier Brown
Foods (NBF) of James Budgett Sugars (JBS), but voiced concerns
about the lack of competition in the UK sugar...
Poland's EU membership will present new opportunities for packaging
companies as food producers look to increase the amount of packaged
food on the market, in order to meet higher standards and take
advantage of a richer population...
A reputation for quality and efficiency across Europe and Asia have
helped Swiss baker Hiestand to predict it will beat its own
earnings targets for 2004. But the company's biggest challenge is
deciding where to go next, writes...
Strong year-on-year sales growth and a major new plant expansion at
premix leader Fortitech's Europe base demonstrates the insatiable
appetite for fortified foods in the region, writes Dominique
Patton.
EU25 fish production fell by 17 per cent between 1995 and 2002
while world production rose by 17 per cent over the same period,
according to recent EC figures.
The European Commission has approved the acquisition of Hendrix
Meat Group (HMG) by Sovion, a move that will create the largest
meat processor in the Netherlands and one of the largest in
Northern Europe.
Scottish fisheries minister Ross Finnie has underlined the Scottish
Executive's opposition to the proposed closure of certain areas of
the North Sea to fishing.
The controversial issue of nutritional profiles will remain one of
the biggest hurdles for EU legislation on health claims but recent
reports suggest that Germany may be ready to concede some elements
of profiling, reports Dominique...
Food and ingredients producer Greencore has warned early that its
Irish sugar business could be seriously damaged when the EU finally
implements its sugar reform, expected next December, writes
Chris Mercer.
An illegal red colour identified in a popular food oil prompts a
recall in the UK, the latest in a series of similar moves by the
country's food watchdog.
Driving research in the area of chemical contaminants, nutrition
and microbiology the UK's food agency is calling for scientists to
fulfill a batch of new research requirements.
Plans for EU sugar reform are unfair and would only benefit the
biggest producers, say 10 member states as new discussions split
opinions across Europe,reports Chris Mercer.
Plans for EU sugar reform are unfair and would only benefit the
biggest producers, according to 10 member states including
Slovenia, Hungary and Latvia, as new discussions split opinions in
eastern Europe, reports Chris Mercer.
The first ever EU conference on control with remote sensing (CwRS)
of area-based subsidies held in a new member state takes place in
Budapest, Hungary today.
US giants PepsiCo and General Mills have bought their way in to the
Romanian snacks market in anticipation of strong growth in the next
few years, though analysts warn that growth is far from that of the
Czech Republic, the regional...
The rise of snacks as grazing food has seen the Czech Republic,
recently identified by the European Commission as having the
longest working hours in Europe, emerge as one of the region's most
dynamic savoury snacks markets,...
A combination of increasingly fast-living lifestyles and weird and
wonderful flavours is helping Poland, Hungary and the Czech
Republic to emerge as some of the most dynamic savoury snacks
markets in Europe, writes Chris Mercer.
The European Commission will this week host a major conference on
the challenges for diabetes research, in a bid to raise political,
academic and industrial awareness of the disease.
Coca-Cola Services S.A. has applied to the UK's novel foods
committee seeking approval to market fruit juices, fruit nectars
and tomato juice with added plant sterols.
A recent EU survey suggests that consumers would pay more to have
higher quality meat and vegetables, and would trust them more if
the EU could guarantee the origin or the way a product is produced.
The EU Commission's announcement this week that Germany will be
referred to the European Court of Justice unless it establishes an
effective, simple and non-discriminatory deposit system for
beverage packaging is music to the...
A popular food oil used extensively in food formulations is the
latest product-type to be pulled from the UK supermarket shelves as
the country's food watchdog identifies the illegal carcinogen Sudan
IV in a batch of palm oil...
Brussels will fight to appeal against a new decision by the World
Trade Organisation that rules the EU illegally subsidises exports
of sugar, ruling in favour of a legal challenge by Australia,
Thailand and Brazil, the world's...
Slovenia's wine makers, buoyed by the news of EU funding for their
vineyards, face a long struggle if they are to conquer foreign
markets and compete effectively against the titans of the world
wine business - but one man is...
Gel-forming additives used widely in jelly mini-cups have been
permanently banned within the European Union following a ruling in
the summer by the European Food Safety Agency that they constituted
a choking hazard.
In her introductory speech before the European Parliament last
week, farm chief designate Mariann Fischer Boel signalled that
sugar reform and defending EU products at WTO talks were among the
key challenges for EU agriculture over...
This year's Czech harvest has been hailed as the best since 1993,
producing almost nine million tonnes of crops, showing that the
farming industry has recovered well from a poor 2003 and the
disastrous floods of 2002 - just in...
Steel packaging recycling in Europe increased by 1.3 per cent last
year to reach just over 2.1 million tonnes, though the EU15
countries remain way ahead of new member states.
Hungary's accession to the European Union has already led to
increased competition in the food industry there, prompting one of
the country's leading food manufacturers, Pick Szeged, to embark
upon a two-year restructuring...
Croatian food group Podravka says it is looking to expand
production at its Polish production facility to keep up with
demands in the Polish market and to increase exports to other EU
countries.
The majority shareholder in Danish vegetable oil firm Aarhus United
could soon place its considerable stake on the market, citing a
potential difference in long-term investment interests.
Revenues from Czech dairy exports might have increased by 30 per
cent in the first six months of the year, but the Czech Dairy
Association says it is increasing dairy prices, not higher volumes
due to accession, that is boosting the...
