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Lobbyists, start your engines: Can a new health claims formula be won in the European Parliament?
12-Dec-2011 - Five years ago the European Union nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR) became law. Around the bloc, hopeful EU healthy foods and supplements stakeholders submitted more than 44,000 health claim applications.
EU researchers revolted as EFSA clears health claims vault
04-Jul-2011 - The European Food Safety Authority last week delivered the fifth batch of article 13, general function health claim opinions bringing the total issued to 2723. There are just 35 to go – to be published next month in a final mini-batch that will conclude the task begun in August 2008.
Risk, rationality and that schizophrenic beast called the food industry
27-Jun-2011 - If the food industry wants journalists and consumers to get real about risk, then it has to get real too.
Sodium vs. salt: Let’s agree to disagree
02-May-2011 - The United States lists sodium on nutrition labels while salt is more common in the European Union. Salt and sodium are not the same, and a standardized term would only cause confusion.
Drawing a line between imitation food and innovation
20-Apr-2011 - ‘I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter!’ When it comes to transparency you can’t get much clearer than Unilever’s famous exclamation-turned-margarine-brand. But new labelling rules to prevent one food masquerading as another should distinguish between intent to mislead and innovations that may benefit consumers.
Novel foods progress may mean removing clones
04-Apr-2011 - All is not well down on the novel foods farm. If food innovation in Europe is to thrive anew, MEPs and the Council need to get past the recriminations over the failed talks and remove the troublesome question of cloned foods from the negotiating table.
Too early to start praising PepsiCo for new plant bottle
28-Mar-2011 - The new PepsiCo plant bottle appears to tick all the “green” boxes for a disposable drinks bottle but the innovation should not be taken too seriously until it arrives on shelves.
Women. The most wasted resource in food production
08-Mar-2011 - Today is Pancake Day. It is also International Women’s Day. An important date, then, not just for food lovers in countries where Mardi Gras is a big deal, but a day to consider the role – and the potential – of women involved in food provision all over the world.
The balancing act of allergen labelling
01-Mar-2011 - The food industry has a responsibility to label allergenic ingredients as big and bold as they can – but also not to over-egg the slimmest of slim possibilities that a trace amount of an allergen may have slipped into a product.
Arab Revolt underlines the need for action to remedy high food prices
21-Feb-2011 - When Tunisian street vegetable vendor Mohamed Bouazizi chose to end his life in fiery suicide, no one could have foreseen the firestorm his death would unleash across the Arab world. But, two months later, as the Arab Revolt shows no sign of fading, the lessons to be drawn about food security are becoming abundantly clear.
Why local foods systems are an opportunity for industry
07-Feb-2011 - The food industry should not rage against the idea of professionalised local food systems, nor unleash its lobbying force to uproot them before their green shoots can reach maturity. Rather, it should explore ways to benefit from local foods and, in turn, foster their development.
Sugar: regulatory sweet nothings leave food and drink makers in limbo
02-Feb-2011 - Jazz singer Nina Simone’s plaintive, “I want a little sugar in my bowl”, will strike the right note with Europe’s beleaguered sugar industry.
The naked truth about kids’ food advertising
24-Jan-2011 - It was an Emperor’s New Clothes moment for the US food industry last week, when it was revealed that a major initiative touting its responsible advertising to kids actually allows promotion of many unhealthy foods. Is anyone really surprised?
EC complacency on dioxins weakens Europe’s food safety standing
19-Jan-2011 - The complacency being exhibited by Brussels over the ongoing dioxin contamination incident is every bit as concerning as the carcinogenic chemical that has found its way into the food and feed chains since the end of last year.
Healthy food vouchers are no golden ticket
03-Jan-2011 - Change4Life healthy food vouchers are just the ticket for food industry marketers. But changing eating habits requires consistent, co-ordinated policy – not hand-outs to ease the population’s post-Christmas conscience.
The food industry in 2010: A retrospective
20-Dec-2010 - As 2010 draws to a close, our journalists look back at the issues that have topped agendas across the food, beverage and dietary supplements industries in the last 12 months. Commodity prices, Bisphenol A, obesity, health claims, safety regulations, and more…
PepsiCo pays a high price for a gamble in Russian dairy
08-Dec-2010 - When PepsiCo put up $5.4bn last week to acquire Wimm-Bill-Dann, it was seduced by the promise of high revenue growth but like any high-yield investment the Russian deal does not come without risks.
EU food safety left rudderless by Commission move on BPA
29-Nov-2010 - The hand on the tiller that is food safety in Europe has been left somewhat unsteady by the recent regulatory actions taken by the European Commission on BPA and food colours – moves that are pandering to consumer fear and showing contempt for the food safety agency it created.
Local food doesn’t mean safe food
23-Nov-2010 - All food, if not properly handled, has the potential to cause foodborne illness – so why does local food get special legislative treatment?
For front-of-pack labels, smart choices take time
02-Nov-2010 - Uh-oh, surely not another industry-sponsored front-of-pack nutrition label! Food industry engagement is welcome, but let’s take it slowly – no one benefits until we figure out a system that works.
Regulatory clarity for nutricosmetics proves elusive
14-Oct-2010 - Somewhere, in some time, there exists a land of beauty and promise for nutricosmetics products, where beauty supplements, foods and drinks can frolic, happy in the knowledge of their justifiable claims.The problem is that getting to this promised land appears to be somewhat complex.
Bisphenol A on the brink?
05-Oct-2010 - To BPA or not to BPA? While the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) backed the continued use of bisphenol A last week, the real question is whether the verdict was a full-blown reprieve for the controversial chemical or merely a stay of execution.
High fructose corn syrup: A sugar by any other name
28-Sep-2010 - Once upon a time sugar was sugar, and sugar was most definitely not good for you. So the Corn Refiners Association move to rebrand high fructose corn syrup as corn sugar is a daring move – but should do little to sweeten its reputation.
Why cavemen could hold the key to healthy eating
20-Sep-2010 - There’s something incongruous about the hi-tech modern food industry sniffing around the Palaeolithic era for the next big consumer trend. But hold the side order of cynicism. There might just be some logic to good old-fashioned instinctive eating.
Time to embrace balanced kids’ marketing regulation
13-Sep-2010 - Kids are not going to stop liking chocolate, pizza, ice cream, or fries. Heck, neither am I. So why is industry so afraid of mandatory restrictions on marketing to children?
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