Breaking News on Dairy Processing & Markets

No excuse for ‘narrow minded’ Irish raw milk ban, shout opponents

06-Oct-2011 - The prospective ban on raw milk sales to consumers in Ireland has upset some dairy farmers and processors, who have criticised the measure as “narrow minded”

'Total' war in yogurt fixture as Fage tackles General Mills in trademark dispute

06-Oct-2011 - One of the nation’s biggest yogurt brands has launched a blistering attack on the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) after it sided with General Mills in a ruling that has prompted two lawsuits in less than a fortnight over the use of the word ‘Total’ on food packaging.

EC prefers corporate profits to baby health: pressure group

03-Oct-2011 - The European Commission (EC) has surrendered consumer production to business gain in discussions ahead of a key meeting today on revising the EC directive on baby milks and foods.

EFSA health claim opinion

EFSA on Valio peptide claim: “No convincing evidence for a mechanism”

03-Oct-2011 - The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has rejected a peptide-blood pressure health claim submitted by Finnish dairy group, Valio, saying the dossier containing 21 intervention studies failed to demonstrate an effect.

Pressure group claims university ‘worryingly close’ to dairy industry

30-Sep-2011 - A row has erupted after Wageningen University rejected pressure group claims that its academics are “worryingly close” to the dairy industry, after the institution issued a press release that allegedly exaggerated research findings.

FSA warns consumers over ‘killer’ ice cream

23-Sep-2011 - The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has warned allergic consumers to check ‘dairy-free ice cream’ ingredients to ensure products don’t contain milk protein.

News in brief

Blaze wrecks Adams Foods’ cheese warehouse

21-Sep-2011 - More than 100 fire crew spent last night fighting a blaze at a cheese warehouse in Somerset operated by Adams Foods.

Carrefour recalls cheese after Listeria contamination.

20-Sep-2011 - Supermarket chain Carrefour has recalled a range of cheeses from stores in France and Monaco, after they were found to contain potentially deadly Listeria Monocytogenes bacteria.

NZ carbon tax will damage dairy competitiveness, Fonterra warns

19-Sep-2011 - Dairy giant Fonterra is concerned that applying ‘carbon costs’ to New Zealand's agriculture sector will make it harder for dairy firms to compete and push production to less emission-efficient countries.

EC expects "smooth adoption" of article 13 health claims list in Q1 2012

16-Sep-2011 - The European Commission’s directorate for health and consumer affairs, DG Sanco, has said it is close to finalising the 2758 claim-strong list of generic claims for publication in the European Union register of claims.

Dairy UK supports DEFRA date-marking changes

15-Sep-2011 - Trade body Dairy UK says its supports the UK government’s new initiative on date marking as a “major step forward in reducing food wastage in the home”.

Brussels looks set to end sugar quotas by 2016

08-Sep-2011 - The EU is set to abolish the system of sugar production quotas for the bloc as well as guaranteed minimum prices from 2016, according to a Brussels source.

UK children could exceed ADI levels for Sunset Yellow, finds EFSA

06-Sep-2011 - A decision is awaited from the Commission on the use of Sunset Yellow FCF (E 110) in non-alcoholic flavoured drinks following a revised exposure assessment from EFSA showing some children in the UK could still be over the ADI levels for the additive.

Allergen labelling in UK under the spotlight

05-Sep-2011 - Allergen labelling comes under the spotlight in the UK, with a new Food Standards Agency (FSA) survey aiming to get insight into the relevance of current approaches.

EFSA stands by probiotic cheese rejection

01-Sep-2011 - The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) health claims panel says there are no grounds for it to alter its rejection of a claim that sought to link probiotic cheese consumption and healthy blood pressure.

Infant product group criticises German ‘children’s milk’ findings

23-Aug-2011 - An infant product and specialty nutrition association have criticised a German government agency report that found formulated milk products aimed at over-1-year-olds were no better than cow’s milk for containing misleading statements.

Regulator assesses code change for raw milk in Australia

19-Aug-2011 - Food safety authorities are calling for public comment on changes that would allow raw milk (non-pasteurised) products to be processed and sold in Australia.

“Milk drinks for infants are not necessary“: German agency

17-Aug-2011 - Infant milks for over-1s are not better than regular cow’s milk, a German government agency has found after analysing their nutritional properties.

Dairy Farmers of America backs bipartisan dairy reform proposal

16-Aug-2011 - Controversial proposals to reform the US dairy market have gained the backing of leading dairy marketing cooperative, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA).

How to win yoghurt health claims: “Keep it simple”

16-Aug-2011 - “Keeping it simple and straightforward” is the takeaway message from a new report targeting yoghurt makers in search of health claim success within the European Union’s strict new claims regime.

Tesco threatens legal recourse after OFT 'absurdity'

11-Aug-2011 - Tesco has expressed "surprise and dismay" at an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) ruling that it must pay £10.43m for allegedly colluding with other retailers and suppliers to fix cheese prices in 2002 to 2003.

Dairy industry source slams Arla for CO2 ‘greenwash’

10-Aug-2011 - A well-placed dairy industry source has attacked Arla for publishing what he describes as ‘greenwash’ in its 2011 report detailing progress on environmental targets.

Breakthrough natural preservative kills foodborne bacteria - research

10-Aug-2011 - A new naturally-occurring preservative that could be added to food during processing has the potential to kill deadly pathogens and extend shelf life, said the US scientists behind the discovery.

UK govt turns down plea for ice cream VAT cut

03-Aug-2011 - An appeal to cut VAT for ice cream has been turned down by the UK government.