The European Commission today backed a proposal to allow imports of
Bt-11, a genetically modified (GM) maize type. This represents the
first step towards lifting the EU's five-year unofficial ban on new
GM crops and products....
A US delegation, which is in Japan this week to convince the
country to open the gates to US beef imports, may have its plans
scuppered as the Japanese farm ministry says it is very wary of
more BSE cases in the US.
Legislation in the Netherlands has been passed that substantially
reduces the number of ingredients that can be used in the
manufacture of livestock feed. Food processors in Europe will be
looking closely to see whether such legislation...
In a bid to win back slashed beef sales, the FDA's head honcho will
travel to Japan today to discuss recent events linked to the first
case of mad cow disease in the US.
The Russian government recently lifted import duties on soybeans,
corn and fishmeal for nine months starting 25 January, reports the
American Soybean Association, opening the way for soy movements in
the East.
Adding vitamin E to the diets of turkeys may reduce the likelihood
of consumers contracting a serious foodborne illness from the meat,
according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in the
US. Researchers made the discovery...
As the United States deals with the fallout from the first case of
mad cow disease to hit the country, an international organisation
warns countries to stay on the alert and buck up controls.
French-based technology group BioMérieux is developing gene chips
that can be used to ensure food safety and enhance traceability.
The company, which is set to launch the product next month, is
keeping tight-lipped about the product,...
Rocketing feed costs are pushing up poultry production costs,
making a substantial price increase in poultry meat inevitable,
warned the British Poultry Council (BPC) this week. Widespread
drought in the UK and across cereal producing...
For the seventh consecutive year, farmers around the world
continued to plant genetically modified (GM) crops at a
double-digit pace, with the 2003 total up 15 per cent to 67.7
million hectares, according to a report released this...
A row over the safety of farmed salmon has flared up in the UK amid
concerns over the levels of cancer-causing toxins present in the
farmed variety compared to its wild sister following findings from
a new US study.
DNA evidence suggests - to a high degree of certainty - that the
BSE-positive cow found in Washington State originated from a dairy
farm in Alberta, Canada, according to the USDA. The department also
believes that the safeguards put...
Uncertainty about recent EU proposals for health claims legislation
presents a major challenge to players in the probiotics market,
suggests a new market analysis.
Organic meat sales are set to surge in the United States as BSE
sparks consumers' fears for food safety, reports UK research
company Organic Monitor. Late last month the US government
confirmed the country's first mad cow...
MEPs last week voted to adopt a contentious report calling for
rules to be established at the community level on the coexistence
of genetically modified (GM) crops with ordinary crops. A move that
squares up against the Commission...
New data from a survey of animal health companies show that the
volume of antibiotics used in animals in the US was virtually
unchanged in 2002 compared to 2001, after two consecutive years of
declines. The report from the Animal...
If nothing else, the opening decade of the 21st century will go
down in the annals of time as the period the world went to war over
GMOs. When it comes to genetically modified organisms, passions run
deep and the path to reconciling...
Tekes, the national technology agency in Finland, is currently
funding an investigation into the use of rare sugar components -
previously deemed as unimportant by-products - as a useful raw
material in food and pharmaceutical industries.
The EU is to take a vote next week on seed thresholds. With rules
for growing gene crops and legislation on feed containing GMOs
already in place, the Commission's standing on the subject is to
become clearer.
A suspected mad cow has shocked the Czech State Veterinary
Authority (SVS) by being only 3 years old. Previous cases of the
disease in the state have always dated back to cows born between
the years 1995 and 1997.
Balchem Encapsulates, a business segment of Balchem Corporation,
has released a feed stable version of Reashure Choline that can be
used for transition and lactating cow management.
Burgeoning private agribusiness Cargill saw net earnings slip in
the first quarter of 2004, but performance remained on track
topping last year's figures by a wisp.
Burgeoning private agribusiness Cargill saw net earnings slip in
the first quarter of 2004, but performance remained on track
topping last year's figures by a wisp.
Limited consumer awareness threatens to restrain the development of
probiotics markets, finds a new Frost & Sullivan report, yet in
Europe the food ingredient is still set to more than triple in
value over the next six years.
Limited consumer awareness threatens to restrain the development of
probiotics markets, finds a new Frost & Sullivan report, yet
sales of the healthy ingredient are still set to almost triple in
value over the next six years.
The European Union has given its first indication that it may lift
its five year block on GMOs, stating that the ban could be lifted
before the end of the year.
European Commissioner David Byrne welcomed the Agriculture
Council's decision this week on new rules to cut the incidence of
foodborne diseases in the European Union. Salmonella alone costs
the EU an estimated €2.8bn.
Balchem has revised its outlook for the third quarter, following
continued softness in the encapsulated and nutritional products
segment, said the firm yesterday.
Germany's third largest chemical company Degussa is to invest a massive €350 million in a new amino acid plant, representing the merged company's biggest single investment to date.
Germany's third largest chemical company Degussa is to invest a
massive €350 million in a new amino acid plant, representing the
merged company's biggest single investment to date. Degussa - the
world's biggest producer...
A project funded by the European development organisation Eureka
has helped scientists to produce a fortifying feed for piglets
without the use of antibiotics.
Ending months of speculation Dutch life science products company
DSM announced today that is to pay CHF 3.5 billion (€2.4 billion)
for Roche's vitamins and fine chemicals division.
When Roche launched the sale of the division...
US company Reilly Industries is to buy Degussa's Belgium-based
vitamin B3 business for an undisclosed sum, giving the US firm the
world's largest capacity for food grade vitamin B3.
The Agricultural Council has made the final adoption of an EU
Regulation controlling the use of additives in animal feed which
specifically targets antibiotics being used as growth promoters.
The Council of Ministers yesterday formally adopted two European
Commission proposals on genetically modified organisms,
establishing a clear EU system to trace and label GMOs in food and
feed products.
Around €17.5 billion is to be poured into food-related research as
the European Commission announces initial investment in the first
year of the EU 6th Research Framework Programme (FP6).
Funds topping €17,5 billion will be poured into food-related
research as the European Commission announces first slice of
investment in the first year of the EU 6th Research Framework
Programme (FP6).
Representatives from 169 countries gathered in Rome yesterday for a
week of talks led by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. High on the
agenda, food safety, biotechnology, food irradiation and an
overhaul of the Codex structure.
BASF Fine Chemicals division said this week that it will
temporarily suspend lysine production at its Gunsan, Korea plant
due to essential maintenance work. The lysine plant will be
shutdown at the beginning of August for up to 3...
