Search Results for: food

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Office International des Épizooties (OIE), the world animal health organisation, have warned bird flu has mutated, with a new variant – called Fujian virus – becoming the dominant strain in Asia.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved a directive on farmed fish health and aquaculture disease control, laying down common high standards on monitoring and controlling pathogens, the first comprehensive EU measure controlling this growing food industry.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WITH global trade ever increasing, and the power of brands to generate massive profits made starkly clear with every company report, the counterfeiting of goods is one of international organised crime’s major boom areas.

It is a serious problem for legitimate business, especially those based in developed countries with tough piracy controls, who are seeking to export to poorer countries where intellectual property crimes are a low priority.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

PRACTICAL and scientific advice has been issued by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to national governments in the European Union (EU) on reducing the exposure of their citizens to animal and food-borne disease. In supporting the European Commission strategy of setting reduction targets for salmonella in poultry, EFSA identified "contamination animal feed as an important route for introducing salmonella into livestock" and hence into food.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has reported a fall in seizures of counterfeit goods by European Union (EU) customs authorities, with the number of articles seized in 2005 being 73% over 2004 numbers, although the final 2005 tally was still 75 million.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) anti-fraud unit OLAF is investigating China garlic smuggling, with low production costs and high EU duties generating high illegal profits. OLAF claims Euro 60 million in duties are being lost, with only meat (of all kinds) and sugar subject to more food-fraud inquiries – 17 are ongoing into garlic.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has cleared the safety of a new feed additive for salmonids – ‘L-histidine monohydrochloride monohydrate’, which is being produced by Japanese company Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Ltd. EFSA concluded that the amino acid-derived product was considered safe for the target animal, consumer, user and the environment.…

BY ANDREW CAVE, in Bologna

ENFORCEMENT of the incoming European Union (EU) regulation on nutritional and health claims on food labelling will be a major issue for local authorities, according to European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) official Albert Flynn.

Mr Flynn, chair of EFSA’s dietetic products, nutrition and allergies panel, said in an interview with Environmental Health News at an EFSA conference in Bologna, Italy: "This is an important issue that is outside the brief of EFSA."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Office International des Épizooties (OIE), the world animal health organisation, have warned bird flu has mutated, with a new variant – called Fujian virus – becoming the dominant strain in Asia.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has warned of a boom in counterfeits of food and drink products entering the European Union, with more than 5 million fake items seized by customs officials last year. This is 118% more than the numbers of seizures in 2004, the first time the food/drink category has exceeded 5 million.…