Search Results for: food

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved reforms to the EU’s BSE control system that it anticipates will sail through the European Parliament onto the European statute book. A key aim of the changes to EU regulation EC/999/2001 is that they mirror new scientific and technical knowledge and give member states the flexibility to adapt their BSE monitoring systems to match the disease-threat on the ground.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RUSSIA is threatening to impose an import ban on all European Union (EU) meat products from January 1. Moscow has written to the European Commission warning of a potential embargo because of the admission that day of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU – Russia claims safety concerns over these country’s meat products, which would henceforth have free circulation in the EU.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RESEARCH has never been so important to the institutions of the European Union (EU), and this is not only reflected by the large budget of the oncoming seventh framework programme, but =its orientation towards projects aiding economic growth.…

BY RICHARD HURST, in Johannesburg

IN South Africa both animal rights groups and professional hunters are hoping that the government passes legislation banning the killing of lions bred in captivity, otherwise known as canned lion hunting. However, the debate has been raging for some years and despite assurances from government, it appears that the practice is to continue.…

BY MARK ROWE

CONFECTIONARY production is a never-ending battle to balance the ‘feel-good’ factor of products such as a chocolate and cakes with increasing consumer demands for healthy living and enhanced nutrition, according to a leading food scientist.

Dr Johan Ubbink, a senior research scientist and department group leader at the Nestlé Research Centre for Food and Life Sciences in Lausanne, Switzerland, acknowledged that, while chocolate cake would never be the healthiest thing you could eat, research was embracing new technologies that could mitigate the negative effects of confectionary.…

BY MARK ROWE

SAFETY testing of nanotechnology-based food ingredients is likely to prove difficult for environmental health officers, according to a leading expert in the field. In many cases, officers will be almost entirely reliant on the good faith of food manufacturers when it comes to the verification and approval of products for the consumer market.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

UNIVERSITY of Navarre researchers, Spain have identified an edible coating made from mesquite gum that bars moisture while maintaining food consistency. They say it would be well suited to high value confectionary lines, are examining how to wrap the coating around Navarre nougat.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is pressing MEPs and ministers to award it new powers over changing incoming European Union (EU) rules on food additives. It wants special ‘comitology’ powers to amend these newly agreed regulations, without asking the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Trade Organisation has moved to prevent a ban on Sri Lanka cinnamon exports to the European Union over food health concerns. In talks, Sri Lankan producers were persuaded to swiftly adopt international safety standards.

ENDS…

BY DAVID HAWORTH, in Brussels, and KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Agency (EFSA) is homing its ability to respond to GM contamination, according to its newly appointed executive director Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, who was speaking in Brussels last week (Wed 18-10).…