Breaking News on Dairy Processing & Markets

UK investigates baby milk marketing enforcement

16-Mar-2010 - A UK government committee looking into European Union baby milk marketing laws has raised issues with local enforcement procedures which it says need to be addressed.

Flexible dual freezing system boosts capacity and efficiency

16-Mar-2010 - A unique two-in-one cryogenic freezing system offers cost savings and optimises efficiency, while its versatility allows producers to adapt to changing market demands, said manufacturer Air Products.

Nampak builds biggest milk bottle in-plant in Ireland

12-Mar-2010 - Nampak Plastics has invested £3m to build what it claims will be the biggest milk bottle in-plant in Ireland at a Dale Farm dairy.

News in brief

Nestle doubles capacity of Indonesian milk-processing plant

10-Mar-2010 - Nestle has spent $100m doubling the capacity of a milk-processing plant on the island of East Java in Indonesia.

Weekly comment

EFSA’s antioxidant rejections could be blessing in disguise

08-Mar-2010 - Timber! The latest axe blow from EFSA has fallen, and this time it has taken one of the biggest trees in the nutrition forest: Antioxidants. But let’s not mourn the loss of the tree; let’s look forward to the new opportunities a clear view of the sky can give.

News in brief

Dairy firms sign up to new UK carbon targets

05-Mar-2010 - Arla, Dairy Crest, Danone Dairies, Muller Dairies and Robert Wiseman were among the signatories to a new voluntary agreement in the UK to reduce the carbon impact of grocery packaging by 10 per cent over the next two years.

Senator Gillibrand backs dairy COOL

04-Mar-2010 - New York’s Senator Gillibrand has added her voice to a call for country of origin labeling (COOL) to be expanded to dairy products, following a further recall last month of melamine-tainted milk from China.

Inulin-blend offers low-fat dairy opportunities: Study

04-Mar-2010 - Low-fat dairy products that taste like their full-fat varieties may be formulated with a blend of long and short-chain inulin, says a new study from Spain.

Dairy avoidance health impacts poorly understood: NIH panel

25-Feb-2010 - A National Institutes of Health panel has called for more research into lactose-restricted diets to better quantify their public health impacts, as more people are choosing to exclude dairy from their diets.

New DairyCo report assesses performance of milk processors

24-Feb-2010 - In an effort to push farmers to ask more of milk buyers, DairyCo has released a report detailing the financial performance and business strategy of the leading dairy processors in the UK.

EFSA chief: many dossiers in new batch of article 13.1 opinions "insufficient"

24-Feb-2010 - The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) executive director, Catherine Geslain- Lanéelle, has told the Nutrition and Lifestyle conference in Brussels this morning that many of Thursday’s article 13.1 opinions have "insufficient evidence".

Danisco doubles freeze-dried cultures capacity at French plant

22-Feb-2010 - Danisco has doubled its freeze-drying capacity at Dangé-Saint-Romain, France, to support growing demand for ripening and protective cultures.

Lakeland prepares to move Irish milk drying facilities

19-Feb-2010 - Lakeland Dairies is preparing to close one of its processing plants in Ireland and transfer production to a new, state of the art facility in Bailieboro.

Dairy UK pushes for consolidation-friendly competition policy

18-Feb-2010 - Dairy UK is pressing politicians on the need to “rebalance competition policy” to permit further consolidation, claiming that this is vital to allow processors and producers to compete globally.

Reducing meat and dairy makes case for fortification

17-Feb-2010 - Reduction of meat and dairy intake on climate change grounds would pose nutritional concerns for some nutrients but better public health advice on alternative sources and fortification could bridge the gap, write nutritional and climate experts from the UK.

Bag-in-box specialist targets Russian market

16-Feb-2010 - DS Smith has set up a Russian subsidiary that will enable bag-in-box specialist Rapak to develop its position in the region.

Weekly comment

Do drink makers have stomach for anti-obesity fight?

15-Feb-2010 - Bravo! The beverage industry has responded enthusiastically to Mrs. Obama’s campaign to tackle childhood obesity - but there’d better be more than froth behind that sparkling rhetoric.

USDA issues final rule on organic dairy

15-Feb-2010 - The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has unveiled new rules for organic livestock production, with the aim of setting consistent standards for pasture use across the dairy industry.

Dairy players speak out on impact of volatility and deregulation

12-Feb-2010 - A European Dairy Association (EDA) seminar has illustrated how different actors in the dairy supply chain are being affected by price volatility and deregulation.

Study adds to 'compelling' CLA safety evidence

11-Feb-2010 - Daily intake of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) does not affect kidney and liver function, says a new study with humans that adds compelling support to the safety of the ingredient.

Danone resubmits Actimel probiotic immunity health claim

10-Feb-2010 - Ten months after it withdrew its marquee probiotic submissions from the European Union health claims process for reconfiguring, Danone has fully re-entered the game by lodging a tweaked dossier for its drinking yoghurt, Actimel.

Codex committee drops processed cheese standards

09-Feb-2010 - The Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products (CCMMP) has recommended that all Codex Processed Cheese standards be scraped.

Weekly comment

US military may enlist Omega-3s to boost performance but why wait?

08-Feb-2010 - “An army marches on its stomach.” This advice, from French military adventurer Napoleon, seems to have impressed the US military which is considering fortifying troops’ rations with omega-3 fatty acids. What is it waiting for?

EFSA health claim opinion

EFSA rejects Danone’s infant immunity prebiotic claim

05-Feb-2010 - Danone Baby Nutrition says the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) failed to engage in “direct scientific dialogue” in the lead-up to the agency’s scientists handing it a negative opinion for a prebiotic-infant immunity health claim in December.