Search Results for: food

BY PHILIP FINE

IN what critics will say is a response to the fast-food industry’s role in rising obesity rates, McDonald’s Corp. has named a director of worldwide nutrition. Cathy Kapica was previously director of nutrition education at Quaker Oats. Her role at

McDonald’s comes amidst other changes at the restaurants, including a company health programme, a nutritional advisory council and low-fat menu items such as smaller, all-white-meat Chicken McNuggets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority is moving into larger temporary premises in Brussels as the agency grows from its current 50 staff to a planned 200-300 in 2005. EU ministers have yet to choose a city for its permanent home.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations is warning that without speedier action by the US-run Coalition Provisional Authority to assume the responsibilities of the UN Oil for Food Programme, a November 21 scheme closure deadline could be missed. UN Office of the Iraq Programme executive director Benon Sevan also blamed deteriorating security.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MOROCCO and the European Union have struck a food trade deal that will lead to both sides lowering their respective tariffs and widening import quotas for poultry meat. The deal is expected to boost the trade between them in all meats.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament has agreed to allow the use in the European Union (EU) of the new sweeteners salt of aspartame-acesulfame and sucralose, but has used its political muscle to insist on a safety review. This would be staged two years after market approval is finally secured.…

BY PHILIP FINE

WITH organic food consumption rising in the US, some companies are taking more risks and expanding their operations. Organic producer, Dakota Beef Company, LLC has announced the acquisition of a 20,000 square-foot plant that will be retrofitted to an organic operation, the company’s first of three planned processing facilities in South Dakota.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL and PHILIP FINE

AN ATTEMPT is being made to rally all 50 US state governors to lobby the American government to lift a ban on importing lower priced Canadian drugs. Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich is trying to build support for the idea and recently went to Washington to push the idea.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority has ruled that the presence of semicarbazide – a chemical produced in the heat treatment of jar and bottle rubber sealants – should be reduced in foodstuffs and drinks, for health reasons. The foods concerned are fruit juices, jams, honey, baby-food, mustard, sauces, ketchup, pickles, sterilized vegetables and mayonnaise.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CONCERNS have been raised in Norway about an increased risk of food poisoning from eastern European meat imports following the accession of former communist countries to the EU next May. Professor Eystein Skjerve, of the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, told the Norwegian press that these countries did not have adequate food safety systems.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
RETAILERS cannot be forced to stock a food or drink brand in freezers or fridges, even when they are lent for free by a food manufacturer, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled. It found against Unilever, (acting for Van den Bergh Foods, previously HB foods), which is arguing for the legality of “exclusivity” contracts.…