Search Results for: food

BY MONICA DOBIE
SMOKING bans can significantly improve the health of restaurant and bar workers according to research performed by the USA’s University of Kentucky. Researchers collected and analysed hair samples of service workers in Lexington, Kentucky, four months before a municipal public place smoke-free law took effect and then three months after the enactment.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE BIOHAZ (biohazard) panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has recommended that more research be carried out on the risks of goats contracting BSE, following last year’s confirmed case in France. The panel says, for instance, that goats should be given BSE in an experiment, to check how the disease develops.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) will in September publish a new standard for food safety management systems, designed to ensure there are no weak links in food supply chains, including packaging. A final draft is being checked by national member organisations.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued detailed and practical guidance on improving the welfare of livestock in transit, following a review of current practice. It recommends special checks for longer journeys, particular care against the risk of bone breakage amongst smaller animals and poultry, for instance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE DUTCH government is pushing for a rewrite of 1990 and 1991 European Union (EU) poultry marketing regulations to make sure it is illegal across the EU to label defrosted poultry as “fresh”. Representatives called for action at last week’s EU Council of Ministers (agriculture), claiming there was “a lack of clarity” within current rules.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE THREE key international organisations fighting bird flu have agreed a global strategy preventing the disease spreading worldwide and jumping species to humans. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Office International des Épizooties (OIE) – the animal health organisation – approved the plan at a conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has accepted amendments to food labelling regulations approved by the European Parliament. They would compel manufacturers of vitamin and mineral-enriched foods to print recommended daily intakes on labels, alongside a warning not to exceed this allowance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority wants tougher assessments into using antibiotics in livestock feed, saying they should evaluate the difference between a bacteria’s natural resistance to a drug and artificial resistance, caused by genetic mutation. Where resistance has been acquired bacteria usually killed by an antibiotic, there is more risk of eroding a drug’s human effectiveness.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WORLD sugar prices are likely to be stable until 2014, remaining between US$165-195/ton, predicted an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and UN Food and Agriculture Organisation study. The market “will be well supplied” it said.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW network of EU food researchers has been launched, tasked with not only developing bright ideas, but also ensuring they generate marketable products to boost the EU food sector. The ‘Food for Life technology platform’ will attempt to unite food industry specialists from both the public and private sectors.…