Food audits are a day-to-day reality in the modern food processing industry, as consumer and regulatory expectations become ever-more demanding. But what is it like for the people who spend their lives inspecting plants?
The food safety management scheme FSSC 22000 is set for explosive growth over the next three years as increasing numbers of major food processors and retailers switch to using the system, said the organisation’s chief Fons Schmid.
The number of food factories certified to the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety is up more than 20 per cent on last year to 13,923 but doubts remain over the quality of the audits.
EU food industry representatives have termed ‘premature’ the proposal by the European Commission (EC) to allow 650,000 tonnes of out of quota sugar exports from October.
Recent seizures of jelly mini-cups in the UK has prompted the food safety regulator to issue a warning reminding local authorities of the ban on their sale and the importance of import controls.
The German cartel office’s fine of €38m imposed on Kraft Foods, Unilever and Dr Oetker for illegal disclosure of ‘competition relevant information’ may act as a deterrent to other brand owners and help end such practices, claims an antitrust expert.
A member of the House of Commons select committee that questioned Kraft executives on the Cadbury takeover this morning has told FoodManufacture.co.uk that he is concerned by the company's failure to commit to safeguarding UK jobs beyond 2012.
Executives at US food group Kraft have been recalled by the UK parliament’s Business, Innovation and Skills Committee to give evidence again in relation to certain aspects of the controversial takeover of Cadbury last year.
Kraft Foods is facing another potential grilling about its takeover of Cadbury in early 2010 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) examining its actions in relation to India under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
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.
Risks to consumers and young children in particular from consumption of hard sugar ball confectionery are minimal but should be eliminated completely, claims Germany’s federal risk assessor.
A federal appeals court in San Francisco has overturned a previous ruling to destroy genetically modified (GM) sugar beets, ruling in favor of Monsanto and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
A European Commission initiative to release 500,000 tonnes of out of quota sugar onto the EU market has been backed by member states in the EU sugar management committee today.
Sugar supplier to the bakery and confectionery industry, Ragus, said it expects further commodity price hikes and contests whether proposed EC intervention on import duty tariff reductions would have the desired effect on the deficit in the EU market.
A new international study has shed light on food allergy sufferers' preferred formats for receiving information on allergens in food products, and indicated that novel intelligent communication technologies, such as hand-held scanners, are not suitable...
The food and drink sugar users lobby has warned the European Commission that any further delays in intervention to remedy the sugar deficit in the market could result in even greater supply repercussions this autumn.
The European Commission, in a policy about face, said it may open the import quota or allow the sale of out-of-quota sugar into the bloc - a move that would bring relief for bakers and other food makers set to negotiate new sugar contracts.
US Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced a new bipartisan bill in the Senate this week intended to phase out the sugar support program, claiming sugar prices are artificially high and cost American jobs.
The deficit in the EU sugar supply could put production at risk for confectioners and other food and drink industry users of the commodity if market intervention does not occur, said Irish trade body FDII, who are calling on the EC to keep out-of-quota...
A new study on the public health impact of fat tax and subsidies for healthy options concludes they should be included as a suite of policy measures to encourage healthy eating – even though they may have a negligible effect on disease risk.
The European Commission is still unable to say when the controversial nutrient profiling model in the EU health claims Regulation will be finalised, two years after food manufacturers were told it would be published.
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.
Proposals to overhaul the fee inspection regime at food and feed facilities in the UK would result in a more consistent and clearer system - but one that would cost businesses more, said the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
A wide-ranging regulation that would see the overhaul of rules governing food contact plastics in the European Union (EU) has taken a major step towards becoming law later this year.
The Commission is failing to recognise the urgency of the sugar supply deficit in the EU in its deferral of a decision regarding the hike in the sugar export quota until January, claims the CIUS, which represents sugar using food and drink industries...
A new approach for detecting ochratoxin A (OTA) levels in licorice root is said to provide sensitivity, simplicity, speed, and accuracy at lower costs, claims its developers.
Chocolate figurine shapes are not distinctive enough to merit trademark protection in the European Union, according to a ruling last Friday from the bloc's second-highest court.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has removed saccharin and its salts from its list of hazardous substances, saying that the sweetener is no longer considered to be harmful to human health.
Liberal Democrat peer Lord Clement-Jones has called on the Department of Health to explain how spending £322,000 of taxpayers' money on a study addressing consumer concerns over aspartame represents value for money at a time when budgets are so stretched.
Italy has lost a long-running legal battle after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the nation's chocolate producers were guilty of breaking union regulations relating to pack labelling.
The Spanish government has introduced new regulation to make chewing gum less sticky in a bid to reduce the high cost of street cleaning in the country.
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...
Manufacturers waiting to find out whether they will be allowed to use terms including ‘no added salt’ and ‘low-Gi’ under the EU health claims Regulation will now have to wait until next year for a decision, it has emerged.
French supplier Roquette is hailing the potential of polyols to boost dental health, following recent article 14 positive opinions for sugar-free gum from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Caobisco has announced its support for Environmental Justice Foundation’s (EJF’s) call for a global ban on Endosulfan, an insecticide that EJF claims is “highly toxic”.
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.
Danish firm Jemo-Pharm has lodged an article 13.5 health claim dossier linking a reduction in halitosis with consumption of a zinc iron-based supplement.
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...
EFSA has agreed with JECFA that 10 of the latest 22 flavouring substances to undergo re-evaluation pose no safety concern at estimated intake levels, but more info is required to complete assessment on the remaining 12.
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.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has approved a health claim for xylitol, sorbitol and mannitol-based sugar-free chewing gum that it reduces the risk of tooth decay.
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.
Sara Lee has become the latest food manufacturer to join the voluntary Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) that aims to restrict advertising of junk food to children.
The decision by the Finnish government to reintroduce a tax on sweets, chocolate, cocoa products, ice cream, and ice lollies is unfair and will discriminate against individual companies in the food industry, said the Finnish Association of Biscuits and...
