Search Results for: food

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, in New Delhi

THE INDIAN army has launched an extermination attack on an exploding rat population in India’s northeastern hills, using mass poisoning and traps to avert an environmental disaster. Specialists say the unprecedented swarms of rats in the forests of Mizoram and Manipur states have been caused by the rare flowering of bamboo plants, which grow in thousands of square miles bordering
Myanmar (Burma).…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

A PLASTICS ingredient linked to chemicals banned in the European Union (EU) for toys can continue to be used by the food industry, because it is currently rarely utilised in Europe. The conclusion follows a detailed European Commission review of certain phthalates and other plasticisers that have been restricted over their incorporation in toys mouthed by children, sometimes causing illness.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union food safety alert service RASFF has warned of nut aflatoxin contaminations, as global food standards agency Codex Alimentarius develops guidelines on the problem. RASFF highlighted aflatoxins in Iranian pistachio nuts, Israeli groundnuts, and Azerbaijani hazelnuts sold in Italy; Iranian pistachios sold in Spain and Germany; American almonds in Spain; amongst other incidents.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN AMERICAN soya company has unveiled a new fake-meat manufacturing process that uses a blend of soya and meat protein to make faux beef and chicken. The Solae Company, which was formed by food industry giants Du Pont and Bunge Limited, launched SoleCina(TM), at the annual meeting of the US Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), in Orlando.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a comprehensive report on veal production, that warns of serious risks to livestock quality and health through intensive calf rearing systems. EFSA’s panel on animal health and welfare has listed probable risks, which include inadequate ventilation, exposure to pathogens causing respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders and others.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE PRODUCTION of tallow and gelatine from cattle vertebral columns is safe for human consumers regarding BSE exposure and no special rules on the age of processed livestock are required, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

TOUGH tariff cuts for all kinds of food products will be required by a successful Doha Development Round at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), with their range at last becoming clearer, with the release of a draft agreement today (June 22).…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

WORLD food standards body Codex Alimentarius’ committee on food additives and contaminants is proposing two new standards affecting fish farmers, on maximum cadmium levels in marine bivalve molluscs (except oysters and scallops), and a ceiling for lead contamination in all fish.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE COMMITTEE on milk and milk products of world food standards body Codex Alimentarius is developing a new draft standard for blends of evaporated skimmed milk and vegetable fat. Assuming it is adopted, it would define these products as “recombining milk constituents and potable water, or by the partial removal of water and the addition of edible vegetable oil…fat or a mixture”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ALBANIA – one of Europe’s poorest countries – will receive its first modern high quality supermarket chain, forcing local food manufacturers and distributors to raise their standards. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to lend Euro 10 million and buy a Euro 1.5 million equity stake in Albanian chain Euromax.…