Iceland has confirmed that meat with higher than allowed levels of dioxins have been put onto its domestic market and exported abroad - but said there was no immediate hazard to human health.
Foods tainted in the wake of the dioxin contamination scandal in Germany pose no health threat to consumers, said the country’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) following the first detailed appraisal of the incident.
The approval of measures to boost dioxin monitoring by Germany last week has so far failed to stem the unease sparked by the situation as thousand protested in Berlin over the weekend and Russia announced a ban on German pork imports.
The complacency being exhibited by Brussels over the ongoing dioxin contamination incident is every bit as concerning as the carcinogenic chemical that has found its way into the food and feed chains since the end of last year.
The European Commission has given its strongest signal yet that legislation tightening up the monitoring of dioxins in the food and feed chain will follow in the wake of the German crisis.
A further 934 pig and poultry farms were closed in Germany over the weekend following the discovery that previously unknown batches of dioxin-contaminated feed had been sold.
The German government has pledged to “significantly increase safety standards” after today publishing an action plan to boost dioxin controls in food and feed.
The first discovery of dioxin-tainted pork, a move by the Chinese to suspend German imports and proposals from the animal feed sector to boost controls on the toxic chemical were just some of the developments yesterday in the contamination scandal that...
The European Commission is exploring ways to boost dioxin monitoring procedures after it was confirmed that products containing the toxic substance had reached the food chain and been sold to UK consumers.
Eggs from farms affected by dioxin-contaminated feed have been and mixed with products to be used in processed foods and exported into the UK, food safety officials said yesterday.
German authorities have said up to 3,000 tonnes of dioxin-contaminated animal feed additive may have been sold – almost six times more than previously estimated - as more details about the crisis emerged yesterday.
German prosecutors have opened an investigation following the discovery of dioxin in eggs and meat in the country in the past week, with the contamination reported to have stemmed from feed contaminated with industrial fats.
Europe’s food import controls are fit for purpose but their fragmented and complicated nature means they are inconsistently applied across the economic bloc, according to a report from the European Commission (EC).
Complementary food for infants in developing countries, especially where corn is a staple food, should be protected against the mycotoxin fumonisin, according to an international team of scientists.
Two analytical methods to measure mycotoxins in infant food have been adopted as the European benchmark test by the region’s standard setting committee.
Dutch ingredients giant Royal DSM met growth targets in four of the past five years and its transition from chemicals to life sciences multinational is on track, board member Stephan Tanda told NutraIngredients this morning.
A leading economist says that industry sources and analysts predicting the Russian wheat export ban will have little impact on EU food prices are “naïve”, and overlook the fact that major futures contracts for Russian wheat are now worthless.
Fish, raw milk, dairy and egg products are foods containing the highest levels of non dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (NDL PCBs), while fruit and vegetables have the lowest traces, said the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
A food safety research project in the UK is to investigate ways of identifying E. coli and salmonella-contaminated meat, poultry and eggs by using fluorescent imaging to spot chlorophyll markers administered through animal feed.
The European Commission authorized six genetically modified (GM) maize varieties for food and feed use on Wednesday after member states failed to return majority decisions for or against on three occasions.
The tolerable daily intake (TDI) for melamine has been cut by 60 per cent after new research suggests the chemical may pose health risks at lower levels than previously thought, said EFSA.
Excessive levels of dioxins were detected in eight per cent of thousands of foods sampled over a nine-year period, said EFSA. But the food safety watchdog has challenged the significance of its own findings.
Nizo Food Research has found that lactoferrin and thymol can work together to protect foods against E.coli, a promising result that could help food formulators reduce costs without having to resort to chemicals.
The European Union said measures to step up border controls on a range of imported foods of non-animal origin in a bid to boost food safety came into effect yesterday.
Trade body Dairy UK has challenged the conclusions of a recent report assessing how the food industry can cut greenhouse gas emissions, claiming it included “dangerous” and “alienating” principles.
Foodborne diseases are a risk to global health security and any solutions to bolster food safety must be international ones, a World Health Organisation (WHO) report has said.
Climate change is already affecting American food production, according to a report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), released to coincide with the Copenhagen climate change summit.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has reaffirmed the safety of Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) GT73 oilseed rape, stating that it is unlikely to have a detrimental effect on human or animal health or the environment when used for food...
The European Commission has approved Syngenta’s genetically modified (GM) maize to be processed for food and feed use in the European Union – which could enable the resumption of soy imports for animal feed.
Consumers think that current labelling regulation for genetically modified (GM) foods is inadequate, according to a new report from the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA).
The amount of radiation absorbed by the UK population through the food chain remains low and poses no health concerns, said the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
The European Commission last week approved three varieties of genetically modified maize for import and processing for food and feed uses, as soy imports into the EU were held up by the bloc’s zero tolerance policy.
Spanish consumers report not knowing much about genetically modified foods, but being very concerned about potential effects on human health, says a new study that suggests more policies are needed to open up the market.
Archer Daniels Midland has made a new move to increase its precence in the Eastern European oilseed processing by acquiring assets of ViaChem Group in Olomouc, Czech Republic.
Wild varieties of lupin seeds could be tapped for their high quality protein content, report researchers in Spain, and could reduce the need to import soybean to Europe from places such as the US, Brazil and China.
Brenntag UK has purchased Cargill’s packaged glucose syrup business for the UK and Northern Ireland, taking direct responsibility for customers as of next month.
Increased ozone levels as predicted by global climate change experts could cut oil seed rape yields by up to 30 per cent by the end of the century, according to new research.
Morrisons supermarket is set to open a 700 acre farm to research farming efficiency and sustainability in Scotland – and is seeking another site in England.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has reaffirmed that two antibiotic resistance marker genes, nptII and aadA, pose no threat to humans or the environment.
The current system for monitoring and tracing Irish pork is inadequate and should be overhauled urgently, a highly critical report from the country’s Parliament has said.
Developing an official ‘label’ for organic conversion-grade produce would let farmers secure price premiums while they are going through the organic conversion process, claims a new European study.
Monsanto has filed a lawsuit against the German government after the EU member state banned planting of its genetically modified MON810 maize last week.
The Irish pork crisis has consumers staring at the prospect of an empty table at Christmas, and industry doing sums on how much the so-called ‘biggest meat crisis since BSE’ is going to cost. It’s no wonder new questions are being asked of food safety...
The profile of dioxins found in the tainted Irish pork meat is similar to those found in electronic transformer oils, claims the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).
French claims that a genetically modified maize product poses a potential health risk have been disputed by a newly published scientific report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Ingredients firm Cargill yesterday completed the expansion of its
Polish wheat processing facility, designed to meet consumer demand
across the European bloc.