Breaking News on Dairy Processing & Markets

Wiseman milks added value in the UK

Robert Wiseman became the second UK dairy processor to announce in line trading this week, thanks to success from its growing range of added value milk products.

Industry heavyweights push GDA labels in France

Big hitters in the food industry, including Danone, Unilever, Nestle and Coca-Cola, have announced they plan to roll out a nutrition labelling system based on Guideline Daily Amounts in France.

Lactalis promises innovation with Croatian acquisition

Safety and innovation were on the agenda this week, when the head of French dairy group Lactalis met with the Croatian vice president to discuss the company's plans for rejuvenating the country's dairy sector.

Fonterra innovation takes colostrum into functional beverages

Fonterra has developed a technique that allows colostrum to be added to ready-to-drink beverages with a longer shelf-life, opening up opportunities for new kinds of products and building sales of the ingredient in Asia.

Filling technology allows UHT milk with real fruit

A leading Chinese dairy firm has used filling technology from European group SIG Combibloc to create UHT milk containing real pieces of fruit.

Thermometer assists tracing in supply chain

A portable refrigerator thermometer allows processors to record temperatures more accurately and easily, improving the traceability of products, its manufacturer claims.

Tetra Pak to expand in China

Tetra Pak plans to tighten its grip on China's growing beverage and dairy markets with a €60m state-of-the-art packaging materials plant in the country, it announced Tuesday.

Dairy Crest upbeat on market prospects

Dairy Crest said trading during 2006 was in line with its expectations, and highlighted 'significant progress' made to transform its business, in a statement this week.

Labellers allow packagers to down tools

Two new shrinkable sleeve labelling systems can handle a variety of container shapes with tool-less changeovers, its manufacturer claims.

Weekly Comment

Swallow your tongue

Fluffy language is increasingly clogging up the information air passages, and the food and drink industry must accept blame like everyone else.

Commission plans to raise environmental taxes

New European Commission proposals on 'green taxes' to be made this week could eventually lead to an increase in the cost of doing business in the EU.

Danisco breakthrough could boost cultures' resistance

Scientists from Danisco have identified peculiar regions of a starter culture's genome that allow the bacteria to be resistant to infections by bacteriophages (bacterial viruses).

Review slams FDA report on food from clones

The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) risk assessment on meat and milk from cloned animals is based on "flawed assumptions and misrepresented findings", according to an independent review.

Nestlé milk factory can fight terrorism

Nestlé's new milk factory in Pakistan, set to be the world's largest milk collection centre, can help prevent more people from turning to Islamic extremism, the country's president has said.

Industry tackling UK food scientist shortage

One of Britain's top universities for food science says interest is growing in the subject, offering the industry hope of beating a severe shortage of recruits.

NEC succeeds in embedding RFID in bottle cap

Two Japanese companies have succeeded in developing a plastic bottle cap embedded with an radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.

Industry calls for clearer regulation on use of recycled PET

The EU should move quickly to introduce clearer regulation on the use of recycled plastic for food packaging, said an industry body.

Functional stabilisers nanoengineered for foods

Dairy proteins and polysaccharides can be nanoengineered as new functional stabilisers for foods and packaging, according to scientists working on a project in Finland.

Goat's milk ice cream targets speciality market

Danisco has developed a new ice cream based on goat's milk, plugging the formulation as a means for companies to target the growing demand for speciality products.

Leatherhead proposes pre- and probiotic collaboration

Leatherhead Food International is proposing an industry collaboration to identify end markets where use of prebiotics and probiotics are likely to offer growth opportunities for the future.

Weekly Comment

Rise and shine: the GM wake-up call

News that a variety of GM corn produced signs of liver and kidney toxicity in rats should be a wake-up call for better testing and more transparency from biotechs, if GMOs are to be accepted by increasingly sceptical consumers.

Nestle cuts water use at manufacturing plants

In a bid to cater to consumers' environmental concerns, Nestlé has pledged to further cut its water use and effluent discharges.

UK allocates CO2 emission permits, reducing levels

UK food and drink companies face further pressure to reduce their CO2 outputs next year, with more plants in the sector coming under the second phase of the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

Dairy UK to host cheese summit

A special summit on cheese will be held in the UK early this summer, reflecting the category's growing importance for dairy industry earnings.

Report tips top flavours for 2007

Ethnic flavours are expected to expand this year, together with an increased consumer demand for bigger, bolder tastes, according to a new flavours and ingredients report.

UK blocks infant formula breast milk claims

A crackdown by the Food Standards Agency will bar infant formula makers from making claims on products sold in the UK that draw on their similarity to breast milk, to avoid misleading mothers.

Hart set to create Tetra Pak rival with SIG takeover

New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart is now set to take over SIG Holding, creating a rival to Tetra Pak in the beverage packaging market.

Dairy calcium may reduce fat absorption from meals

Calcium from dairy sources, but not supplements, decreased excess levels of fat in the blood after eating, says research from Denmark that is yet another twist to the calcium-dairy weight loss debate.

Dairygold defiant as legal action looms

Irish dairy co-operative, Dairygold, has pledged to fight any court action brought against it in Wales over the closure of its cheese packing plant in the country.

UK blocks breast-similar claims on infant formulas

A crackdown by the Food Standards Agency will bar infant formula makers from making claims on products sold in the UK that draw on their similarity to breast milk, to avoid misleading mothers.

Healthy dairy drinks target UK school children

A new range of reduced sugar and probiotic dairy drinks will target UK school children as health trends continue to help the market expand.

New lubricant line extends durability, claims manufacturer

A new line of food-grade lubricants contains an antimicrobial preservative designed to increase the durability of greases used in plant machinery.

Research to develop organic processing standards

EU researchers will discuss ways to improve the safety and processing of organic and other "low-input" foods at an upcoming meeting in Stuttgart, Germany.

Weekly comment

GM: A healthy debate

The development of genetically modified crops to improve human health could be the golden ticket for advocates to persuade the wary public that GM is not a wholly nefarious idea after all. But will a new, healthy spin be enough to counter deep-rooted fears that genetic modification, by its very nature, poses an equal and opposite threat to human health?

New rival to take on world dairy market

One of New Zealand's leading meat processors plans to build a dairy business capable of supplying markets around the world, offering new competition to the established elite.

UK consults dairy sector on protein rules

Britain's Food Standards Agency has asked the country's dairy industry to comment on EU proposals that would set standard protein levels in dried and condensed milks.

Tesco raises the bar on milk prices

Milk producers in the UK have given a cautious welcome to milk price rises announced by Tesco this week, in the latest development on dairy farmer incomes.

EU considers allowing cloned meat, milk on market

Meat and milk from cloned animals could soon become available in the EU, depending on the outcome of a European Food Safety Authority scientific review.

International Women's Day

Report highlights continuing workforce gender gap

With the European Commission highlighting the wide gender pay gap across the EU on Women's Day, some countries are taking action to promote more workplace equality between the sexes.

Nutritionals offset Glanbia's troubled dairy division

Glanbia's nutritionals activities were a positive force in 2006, driving gains in operating profits for its ingredients division and staving off the impact of another challenging year for dairy.

Breakthrough technology

Probiotic encapsulation: Body armour for the bugs

From double coating with soy peptides, to protection with whey proteins, encapsulation of sensitive gut-friendly bacteria is breaking new ground for probiotic food applications.

ISO approves pasteurisation test

A test used worldwide to ensure pasteurisation has been completed properly has been officially endorsed by the International Standards Organsiation.

Food sector vulnerable to emergencies, says study

Being lean and mean in the food and drink manufacturing sector might pay off in terms of profits, but the practice has left the supply chain vulnerable to a crisis, according to a UK government report.

More support for prebiotic, probiotics for colon health

Daily intake of prebiotics and probiotics may reduce the production of potentially toxic or carcinogenic compounds by suppressing the activity of certain enzymes, says new research from Belgium.

France launches 'healthy' advert rules

All adverts for food and drink in France must now carry healthy eating messages or companies will face fines, under rules launched by the government to tackle obesity.

Weekly Comment

No excuses for illegal labour

There is no legitimate defence as to why some companies continue to use illegal labour. This isn't the vice trade, this is the food industry: no excuses.

Arla absorbs boycott loss

Profits were better than predicted for Scandinavian dairy group Arla Foods last year, prompting optimism about the firm's ability to bounce back from a consumer boycott in the Middle East.

International focus boosts Emmi

Swiss dairy group Emmi said it planned to expand in the US over the next year as it looked to continue promising growth in its international division.

Organic milk boom is not over, says OMSCo

Claims that organic milk sales may have peaked after a dramatic slow-down in sales have been rejected by the Organic Milk Suppliers Co-operative.

Demand for aluminum foil reaches record high

Despite the continuing high price of aluminum foil, demand for the packaging material continues to rise, Europe's industry association said this week.

Report slams Filipino infant milk campaigns

A UN expert has slammed a Filipino advertising campaign for breast milk substitutes as "misleading, deceptive, and malicious in intent."