Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
PILGRIMS PRIDE
BY PHILIP FINE
RUSSIAN officials have asked the United States Department of Agriculture for a more detailed explanation of the recent Pilgrim’s Pride mass meat recall. Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency reported that the Russian Veterinary Service has filed an official inquiry to better understand the October 12 recall of more than 27 million pounds of ready-to-eat turkey and chicken.…
ORGANICS FEATURE
BY PHILIP FINE
HEINZ did something this year that its rival large USA-based food producers seem to be shying away from. They put their own name on an organic product.
One would think other US companies would have, by now, employed the same strategy as Heinz: use organic-friendly Europe as a test-market for an eventual US launch of an organic product, but the idea seems to be slow in catching on.…
FRESH BREAD
BY PHILIP FINE
THE AMERICAN Bakers Association has been told that its members can now employ the words ‘fresh bread’ on their products. Since 1993, the ABA has had to settle for ‘freshly baked’ thanks to the preservative calcium propionate, which the US Food and Drug Administration said disqualified bread from being called ‘fresh.’…
KUAT
BY PHILIP FINE
COCA-COLA is trying out a popular Brazilian drink on US consumers. Earlier this month, Coke began selling Kuat, (pronounced "kwatch"), a guarana-flavoured drink, as a test marketing exercise in Texas, Florida and in parts of the US eastern seaboard’s mid-Atlantic region.…
CLONED ANIMALS
BY PHILIP FINE
THIS past year, a senior American scientific panel studied the idea of consumers
eating food derived from cloned animals and they came up with an answer. At the end of the summer, they said they could find nothing unsafe about it.…
GENERAL MILLS
BY PHILIP FINE
THE DOUGHBOY is getting thinner. Since acquiring biscuit and brownie maker
Pillsbury last year, General Mills has announced four plant closures. More
may be in store, according to a regulatory filing to Washington. The company says it is
evaluating plans to further consolidate manufacturing, warehouse and distribution activities.…
ORGANIC SALES
BY PHILIP FINE
WHILE it may seem that big brand names have been shut out of American confectionary shelves of health stores, in reality several multinational food giants have been very actively pursuing the organic foods sector, albeit through the back door.…
AIRPORT WATCH
BY PHILIP FINE
The US Transportation Security Administration wants pilots who fly small private planes to report suspicious activity at airports. A new programme called "Airport Watch" will launch in December with a free-phone number. The idea was conceived by members of the US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, who were concerned that terrorists might use small aircraft in an attack.…
SEVESO II
BY ALAN OSBORN
FOLLOWING outrage over the explosion at the AZF fertiliser plant in Toulouse, France, which killed 29 people and injured 2,400, EU ministers have acted to tighten the so-called Seveso Two directive which forces companies to install safeguards to prevent industrial accidents and to minimise their effect.…
STAPLES DEAL
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has cleared the acquisition by US office supplies firm Staples of the office supplies distance-selling business of French company Guilbert. Brussels agreed that the take-over did not pose competition problems, because, although it would boost Staples’ position in Europe, the giant would still face strong rivals, notably the US-based Office Depot.…