Reducing paperwork and consolidating laws could save industry about
£200m (€293) in the first year, the UK's food regulator said in
publishing a plan to simplify legislation.
Belgium and the Netherlands face another dioxin crisis, after the
cancer-causing chemical was detected in pig and poultry feed used
by hundreds of farms.
Another cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been
found in Canada, a second blow against the US' recent success at
regaining its international markets.
It is ten years since the first large-scale planting of genetically
modified (GM) crops. Food Navigator looks at both sides of
the argument to assess the future of the technology and its
implications for the European food industry.
With the ushering in of new hygiene laws at the start of this year,
food companies are now under tougher regulatory scrutiny to ensure
they do not send out poisonous products from their plants.
Processors who received meat and poultry from Euro Freeze in
Northern Ireland are currently checking the status of their
products after the company was closed down by the UK's food safety
regulator.
Now that the US authorities have issued final guidance under the
Bioterrorism Act, companies can now have assurance about the food
safety systems they have implemented or are about to put in place,
and the costs involved in complying...
A new report on animal by-products (ABPs) outlines additional
proposed regulations governing how processors may dispose of or
sell the left over materials produced by their plants.
Beef on the bone could soon be back on the list of products
processors can use under a European Commission proposal on relaxing
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) control measures.
A final ruling that requires all manufacturers to register with the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is designed to ensure that the
country's food supply remains safe from possible attack.
Europe's opposition to genetically modified ingredients will
significantly increase producers' costs over the next three years
as it becomes ever harder to secure GM-free supplies, says a new
report.
The European Commission yesterday authorised the import of
genetically modified (GM) oilseed rape for use in animal feed, the
third such product to be approved after current regulations came
into force last year.
European mistrust of GM ingredients is creating strong demand for
Chinese plant sterols and natural vitamin E, increasingly backed by
third-party certification, writes Dominique Patton.
Demands for both the US and Canada to take responsibility for
genetically modified (GM) food contamination and sign up to the
Cartagena Biosafety Protocol are likely to be frustrated, writes
Anthony Fletcher.
Published details of a Monsanto report are at the center of a new
storm over whether genetically modified (GM) food could be harmful
to human health, writes Anthony Fletcher.
Deep divisions over biotech food ingredients once again evident as
member states fail to approve a gene-altered corn designed by US
biotech giant Monsanto, reports Lindsey Partos.
Brussels clears new lab technology that can detect illegal GM
sweetcorn Bt 10 following the discovery of this unapproved maize in
Europe's food chain, writes Lindsey Partos.
Forcing the traceability card, the European Union has voted to
block imports of certain US grain unless they prove to be free of
the genetically modified maize Bt10.
Seeking to clear up confusion over approved GM ingredients, the
European Commission has published a list of the 26 biotech products
cleared for use across the EU 25 member nations.
Forcing the traceability card, the European Union has voted to
block imports of certain US grain unless they prove they are free
of the genetically modified maize Bt10,reports Lindsey
Partos.
Vulnerabilities in the international food chain are evident as an
unapproved genetically modified corn leaks into feed, flour and
oils; but Europe's food safety agency says this week the illegal
Bt10 corn is unlikely to pose...
Vulnerabilities in the international food chain are evident as an
unapproved genetically modified corn leaks into feed, flour and
oils; but Europe's food safety agency says this week the illegal
Bt10 corn is unlikely to pose...
With the countdown extended, talks continue this week in Geneva
between the US and Brussels to move the entrenched trade dispute on
genetically modified organisms forward.
UN-backed food organisation warns food producers and consumers to
stay calm, after a few cases of mad cow disease are identified in
Canada and the US, and last month the first case of Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in a goat.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is working with
Swiss experts to improve global BSE surveillance measures after a
spate of recent bad publicity.
Current science finds no link between goat meat and meat product
consumption and variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD). But a
group of experts calls for new research, to fully understand the
risk this meat may pose to the food...
Europe's food watchdog confirms the first case of mad cow disease
has been identified in a goat in France. This is the first case of
the disease identified in animals other than cattle.
Another case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been
reported in Canada, raising fears that public confidence in beef
could be further undermined, writes Anthony Fletcher.
The European Commission is set to fine chemicals firms Akzo Nobel,
BASF and Belgium's UCB for their role in fixing prices on choline
chloride, according to a report.
The British beef industry is hoping for a boost following
theannouncement of the start of a managed transition towards the
lifting of the Over Thirty Month (OTM) rule.
The European Commission has retroactively authorised Italy to grant
state aid of €169 million to counter the effects of the 2001 BSE
('mad cow disease') crisis.
The opening of the Community Reference Laboratory (CRL) for the
authorisation of feed additives follows recent concern over
additive and antibiotic residues entering the food chain.
EU health commissioner David Byrne has expressed his confidence in
the food chain as a contamination scare highlights the value of
traceability and the progress made in reducing risks to the complex
food production industry.
Europe's food watchdog reaffirms the safety of a GM sweetcorn
designed by biotech giant Monsanto on the back of new evidence
submitted by German scientists.
GM starch and corn oil are cleared for use in European food
formulations after Brussels gives the green light on a genetically
modified maize line from US biotech giant Monsanto, reports
Lindsey Partos.
Australia's food watchdog reassures consumers on the safety of a
genetically modified corn refined for use in a range of food
products after new research sparks rumours.
For the first time in Europe's history, and in the face of strong
opposition, European countries will be able to grow GM maize in
their fields as Brussels waves through a biotech corn into the EU's
catalogue.
Despite tough new rules on GM food labels, food makers will stick
to non-GM alternatives as new evidence from the UK shows British
consumers will continue to refuse to buy foods containing biotech
ingredients.
The world's watchdog for food rules has given the green light to
over 20 new and amended food standards covering animal feeding,
milk products and a newly adopted definition for traceability.
The unofficial ban on GM foodstuffs has ended but sceptical
European ministers yesterday failed to give the green light on a
biotech sweetcorn from Monsanto, reports Lindsey Partos.
Food makers likely to continue to reject GMO ingredients...
Food safety concerns rise in the UK as the Food Standards Agency
launches an investigation into the apparent failure by the meat
hygiene arm of the food watchdog to test some casualty cattle aged
between 24 and 30 months for BSE before...