Search Results for: food

BY KEITH NUTHALL

STATISTICS showing European Union (EU) laying hen flocks to be riddled with salmonella have had their effect, with the European Commission proposing a crackdown on salmonella contamination. It has laid down reduction targets for member states, with the steepest falls demanded of countries with the worst problem.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed that rules to approve the use of new additives in the EU are streamlined, so it can authorise new substances, with the agreement of the EU’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain.

ENDS…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DETAILS of a comprehensive plan to mitigate environmental and social problems caused by a planned Vietnam fluorspar (and tungsten) open cast mine have been released by the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which is expected to support the project.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD’S trade ministers will this autumn consider whether they want to restart the WTO’s Doha Development Round, which has been suspended amidst disagreement over its final food trade goals. Key players such as the USA, the EU, Australia, India and Brazil were unable in last-ditch talks to meet each other’s demand to cut food production subsidies, food tariffs and industrial duties.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BRITAIN and the 172 other member countries of world food standards body Codex Alimentarius are now considering how to implement new approved regulations mandated by the organisation’s ruling commission that should reduce risks posed by traded foodstuffs. Standards passed notably set maximum allowable amounts for contaminants in a wide range of products and commodities.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed overhauling the European Union’s (EU) legislation on flavourings, capping levels of potentially harmful substances. The proposal will also clarify legal definitions and insist the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) screens new flavourings. Brussels has also proposed streamlining rules so it and the EU’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain can authorise new substances.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed overhauling EU legislation on flavourings, capping levels of potentially harmful substances. The proposal will also clarify legal definitions, for instance on flavouring substances, preparations and processes, saying when companies can claim flavourings are "natural".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE APPOINTMENT of a new executive director of the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) has come at a crucial time for this important European Union (EU) body. It is now four-years-old and so its future role and function can be moulded with the hindsight of experience.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WORLD food standards body Codex Alimentarius’ ruling commission has passed draft standards setting maximum allowable amounts for contaminants. These included maximum limits for lead in fish; cadmium in rice, marine bivalve molluscs and cephalopods (such as squid); and codes of practice for reducing aflatoxin contamination in Brazil nuts; and dioxin and dioxin-like PCB contamination in food and feed.…

BY JULIAN RYALL, in Tokyo

INTRODUCTION

JAPAN’S whaling fleet returned to port in August with around 2,000 tons of whale meat. Japan describes it as "scientific whaling" that helps monitor numbers and breeding patterns; environmentalists and other governments say it is commercial whaling.…