With stringent rules on the labelling of genetically modified
ingredients entering into force earlier this week, the European
Commission has laid out the framework for the tough new
regulations.
The safety of chicken eggs has been challenged by a UK
environmental pressure group, just weeks after figures showing the
lowest levels of Salmonella in years were published. The Soil
Association claims that as many as one in eight...
As Asia slowly recovers from the bird flu crisis, mounting corn
prices are now hitting poultry and other livestock producers as
they race to restock feed supplies. With corn stocks in China
hitting new lows, other feed alternatives...
Favourable news for the pro-GM camp as a team of British scientists
claims that genetically modified (GM) maize is less damaging to
wildlife than conventional varieties. At the same time, leading UK
organisations call on Tony Blair...
The decision by meat processing giant Tyson to consolidate two
poultry manufacturing operations in Mississippi represents yet more
upheaval for America's meat processing industry. The firm's
decision, which follows a comprehensive...
Monsanto will have to wait a little longer to find out if it will
be granted permission by the European Union authorities to import
its genetically modified (GM) maize NK603 into the trading bloc.
Canada is looking into regulations that would force companies to
use only non-food plants for producing industrial or pharmaceutical
products. The purpose of such a law would be to reduce any risk of
contaminating human food or livestock...
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...
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.
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...
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...
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.
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.
A project funded by the European development organisation Eureka
has helped scientists to produce a fortifying feed for piglets
without the use of antibiotics.
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.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)
said in a statement this week that the discovery of bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a cow in Canada should not
result in widespread hysteria in Europe and...
A US survey, sponsored by a leading organic produce supermarket,
has revealed that almost three quarters of Americans are concerned
about the presence of antibiotics in meat production, yet less than
half are aware that the meat they...
The European Court of Justice has this week annulled the
Commission's decision to end the ban on bovine products from
Portugal, following a French-led legal challenge. The ruling is
expected to have a European-wide impact on...
The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health at the
European Commission has adopted a series of transitional and
permanent implementing measures in preparation for the application
of the Animal By-Products Regulation...
As the GM debate takes to the road in the UK this week with
promises of consumer feedback via conferences and meetings, here
below we have selected an article by Lyndsey Greig of market
analysts Frost & Sullivan that takes a closer...
The whole infrastructure of European egg production will be
decimated ifcurrent legislation to improve animal welfare is
allowed to passunhindered into European law, without protection
against importsproduced to lower standards.
European ministers have reached a political agreement on
genetically modified foods and feed, paving the way towards some of
the toughest legislation on GMOs in the world. Although a supporter
of GM labelling, the European food industry...
Food and biotechnology industries in the US breathed a collective
sigh of relief this week as the voters of the US state of Oregon
voiced a resounding 'no' to Measure 27, an initiative that would
have required labels on...
The US has complained to the World Trade Organisation about the
recent decision in the EU to tighten the labelling restrictions for
GM products, increasing the likelihood of a new trade war between
the two blocs, warns Friends of...
Pilgrim's Pride, the US-based poultry producer, has announced that
following an outbreak of flu that decimated its stocks and
subsequent disappointing financial results, it is to consolidate a
number of its processing operations.
An advisory committee to the European Parliament has ruled that
draft rules on the labelling of genetically modified foods should
be toughened, to the delight of anti-GM campaigners throughout the
Union.
A new report presented to the US Congress has claimed that the EU
and other countries which have imposed bans on GM products because
of public health concerns are acting irrationally.
Consumers need clear information about genetically modified (GM)
food, but tough European Commission proposals planning compulsory
labels for all food products made from gene crops are unworkable, a
UK parliamentary report said.
Genetically modified foods pose no greater health risk than
conventional foods, but the US government should scrutinise more
closely the safety of new biotech products, the investigative arm
of Congress has said.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) on Monday announced
details of a comprehensive report from its BSE Sub-committee
looking at strategies to reduce the incidence of BSE in Ireland and
whether these would add value in terms...
Consumers are most concerned about issues such as food poisoning,
BSE and pesticides, reveals a recent consumer survey conducted by
the UK Food Standards Agency. Although they are more aware about
the meaning behind food labels there...
New research virtually eliminates the likelihood of mad cow disease
being transmitted from one generation of cattle to the next, a
senior British government adviser on the disease has reported.
The European Commission has unveiled a sweeping reform of food
safety legislation, giving itself more powers to take emergency
steps in crises such as the dioxin poisoning scare.
A senior official at Belgium's Agriculture Ministry has been
arrested following the discovery of new cases of pig feed that had
not been tested for cancer-causing chemicals.
A day after Italy's first human case of suspected mad cow disease,
the European Parliament has demanded new EU powers to help prevent
the consumption of contaminated meat, reported Reuters.
The United Nations world food body urged countries to remove the
antibiotic chloramphenicol from the food chain after events last
week led to a European food scare.
A consignment of fishmeal feed produced in Germany using some
ingredients contaminated with an antibiotic presents no danger to
public health, the Lower Saxony state agriculture ministry in
Germany said yesterday.
German authorities are searching for a consignment of imported veal
contaminated with an antibiotic which can halt production of human
blood cells, the federal Ministry of Agriculture and Consumer
Protection said.
