The number two vitamin maker BASF yesterday reported strong
earnings increases across the board although vitamin prices
continue to eat into profits at its fine chemicals unit, reports
Dominique Patton.
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.
China Food Industries has announced plans to triple the size of its
cold room facilities, despite announcing a fall in sales for the
full year ending in December.
US agri-food firm Cargill will consolidate its position in raw
materials - the building blocks for a range of common ingredients
also supplied by the company - with the acquisition of Italian firm
Pagnan.
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.
Up-and-coming Advanced Bionutrition (ABN) has captured the
attention of venture capitalists in the biotechnology field,
raising $7.5 million in a second round of private equity funding.
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.
Bunge Agribusiness Singapore, has agreed a 10-year exclusive
throughput agreement with Phu My Port inVietnam. The agreement aims
to enhance Bunge's position as the leading supplier of soybean meal
to the growing Vietnamese animal...
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.
UK food producer Cranswick has blamed its stuttering sandwich
business and high costs for a drop in first half profits, but says
it is quietly confident of further growth after securing an
exclusive deal to import specialist meat...
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.
Heavy summer rain has been blamed for hampering this year's UK
wheat harvest as early results show that quality is lower than the
national average for the last three years - something which has led
to price increases in the UK...
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.
DSM Nutritional Products has lifted its vitamin E capacity to
25,000 tons - the world's largest - at a new plant that is being
hailed for its production efficiencies, reports Dominique
Patton.
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.
Polish food oils manufacturer Elstar Oils has confirmed that it is
starting a joint venture company with the Malaysian palm oil giant
Premium Nutrients Berhadze.
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.
Premium Nutrients, a Malaysian producer of oils and fats, is
looking to step up its investment in the EU over the next three to
four years, with a resulting 10 per cent increase in turnover to
around RM56 million in 2005.
Brussels invests in the fat issue backing a five-year programme to
investigate the most effective way dietary fat change could impact
the current worldwide obesity epidemic.
The sale of Raisio's chemicals business has had a major benefit on
the firm's first half profits but new functional food launches and
sales of the Finnish company's cholesterol-lowering ingredient also
lifted earnings...
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.
Neogen, the US-based manufacturer of food safety and analysis
equipment, has developed what it claims is the world's first system
designed to read, store and analyse results from lateral flow
tests.
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...
As the anti-GM feel gains pace in Europe Britain's third largest
retailer Sainsbury has seized the moment launching onto the
supermarket shelves a milk produced from cows 'guaranteed to have
been fed a GM free diet'....
Whey protein is more effective than red meat in reducing body
weight gain and increasing insulin sensitivity, shows a new study
on rats. If the findings are confirmed in people, they could have a
significant impact on manufacturers...
A survey of attitudes to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme suggests
that many companies are not sufficiently prepared. Even though no
firm thinks that the EU ETS will be scrapped, only 51 per cent
think that they will be ready on time.
Accreditation of Genetic ID's testing for detection of genetically
modified materials in raw foods, processed foods, and animal feed
has been renewed by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service
(UKAS).
German chemicals company BASF is to participate in a new project
designed to trace Norwegian farmed salmon throughout the entire
production chain as part of a qualitative move to boost sales
through improving consumer confidence.
Dutch feed manufacturing firm De Heus-Brokking-Koudijs recently
installed two new high-tech roller mills at its Ravenstein plant
with the aim of producing poultry feed more efficiently. To carry
out the project, engineering firm Buhler...
The UK's environmental regulator has cautioned food and drink
manufacturers that if they fail to comply with essential
environmental legislation they risk hefty fines. The warning comes
as a website is launched to help small...
Equipment giant Buhler has supplied two vertical hammer mills to an
Australian feed mill with the aim of achieving higher capacity. The
challenge of the project was that the installation required
virtually no building modifications.
Grants have been made available in the US to enable small
businesses to invest in renewable energy systems. Food producers
could be in line to benefit most - the industry accounts for 10 per
cent of electrical load in many areas.
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) - the US' leading food processor - has
reported record third quarter results across all its segment
operations. The company's processing segments benefited from
rallies in corn and soybean futures...
