Efforts to save money and make farm inspections more efficient in
the UK have seen the Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate merge with the
country's veterinary service this week.
Proposed EU legislation would define the manufacturing practices
the bloc's processors would have to take in ensuring that packaging
materials do not migrate into foods.
A "tasting" robot that can identify foods, drinks and their
ingredients through the packaging provides a glimpse into the
future direction of safety and quality control in manufacturing
plants.
China is preparing to launch a new national standard on raw milk to
prevent dairy products containing antibiotic residues from reaching
the marketplace.
New Zealand dairy Fonterra must add a warning label to its new
vitamin K-enriched milk and yoghurt to reduce the risk for people
taking the blood thinning drug Warfarin, said the New Zealand food
authorities yesterday.
A pathogen detecting system that uses scattered laser light can cut
costs and speed up safety checks for food processors, researchers
developing the technology claim.
Chocolate has a nice feeling to it - tasty, fun, luxurious and
slightly sinful. This is comfort food, accessible to all and
epitomised in the recent film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
A breakdown in the processing method of Unilever's Flora Original
Spread brand in the UK has led the company to recall some of the
product throughout the country.
A new approach to risk and crisis management for food and drink
companies has been unveiled at the UK's Campden and Chorleywood
Food Research Association (CCFRA).
Europe's food safety agency will begin a debate with processors on
formulating a common standard for assessing the health risks and
benefits posed by their products.
Levels of the cancer-causing PAH compounds in infant formula milk
on sale in Britain are below the limits set by the European Union
and pose no health risk, says the UK's food safety watchdog.
Dutch dairy group Campina has upgraded its new quality assurance
system for animal feed used by member farmers, re-iterating that
current checks in the sector were not good enough.
UK processor Dairy Crest has been fined £17,000 after food hygiene
authorities found mouse droppings on bottles of milk and packs of
cheese at one of its distribution depots.
The public's understanding of food risk issues is skewed towards
under estimating the danger from common pathogen contamination,
according to a research survey.
An EU-funded research project has developed micro and
nanotechnology portable devices to detect toxins, pathogens and
chemicals in foodstuffs on the spot.
A handheld sensor could help food companies quickly detect within
10 minutes whether their products are laden with Escherichia coli
or listeria -- before they are shipped out of the plant.
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.
The E-coli food alert on some French camembert brands has been
extended to more products in the UK, as the country's food watchdog
says batches may have found their way on to food fairs and farmers'
markets.
A dangerous strain of E-coli is feared to have contaminated
camembert cheese sold by more than a 100 British retailers,
including supermarket chain Waitrose, said the country's food
watchdog late Monday.
As fire from one of the biggest explosions seen in peace-time
Europe rages in Britain, food safety authorities seek to reassure
consumers about local dairy and food supplies.
Scientific evidence indicates that the presence of the ink chemical
isopropylthioxanthone (ITX) in packaged foods does not pose a
health risk, an EU regulator said today.
A EU food safety committee is meeting in Brussels today to discuss
the contamination of milk and other products with a chemical used
by Tetra Pak in its packaging process.
With an EU scientific study recommending that the European
Commission set up a system to track deadly listeria infections in
the bloc, processors will be under the gun to prevent the bacteria
from entering the food chain.
Freshly-formed Solbar subsidiary NutriCognia targets quality
control for the dairy industry, launching a rapid lactoferrin
glyco-analysis kit that claims to control production process and
product development.
New fundamental science reveals how the major foodborne pathogen
Listeria monocytogenes commandeers cellular transport
machinery to invade cells and hide from the body's immune system.
A new rapid testing method for Salmonella in food has received
approval from an international certification body, giving
processors a quicker way of ensuring the safety of their products.
The European Union is reportedly considering lowering the legal
levels of alkaline phosphates (ALP) in the dairy pasteurisation
process, presenting an opportunity for lab tech firms such as
Advanced Instruments.
One cannot envy the chief executive faced with a scientific study
that casts doubt over the efficacy or safety of his core product.
But avoiding a sales slump, media vilification and even charges of
fraud means squaring up to such...
A UK food research centre has endorsed a new sensory testing
procedure to help paper packaging firms meet EU standards on
packaging components passing into the foods they wrap, writes
Chris Mercer.
Tighter controls need to be adopted by both the food industry and
consumers to limit the spread of the harmful food pathogen
Listeria monocytogenes, concludes a new report.
A new DNA-based test machine for identifying deadly bacteria is
faster, easier to use and more precise than some methods currently
used by food and beverage processors, according to research by the
US's department of agriculture.
The US milk supply chain is still too vulnerable to a terrorist
attack, says new research, warning that stricter security could
save billions of dollars and thousands of lives, reports Chris
Mercer.
Food safety for Chinese milk powders hits the headlines again as
authorities detect excessive iodine content in another Nestle baby
milk powder, according to Chinese news reports.
Europe's food safety body backs proposals to introduce the concept
of Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) for the safety assessment
of microorganisms used in food production.
Dairy company Campina will require its member farmers to use a
higher quality of feed for their cattle than is currently required
in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, reports Ahmed
ElAmin.
In our current uneasy climate of product recalls, sensitivities are
high and Brussels can ill afford to fuel confusion, but in the
latest document from Europe's central alert system, the reference
to annatto, bixin and norbixin...
A new study suggests that Soleris technology is over five times
faster than conventional test methods in determining the shelf-life
of pasteurised milk.
