Four key factors will determine whether this week's EU discussions
regarding the sugar regime have been a success or a failure, says a
key industry body.
The European Commission has backed the exclusion of food and food
ingredients from the reach of groundbreaking EU chemical
legislation passed by parliament yesterday, providing a huge dollop
of relief for an industry concerned about...
The UK department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra)
claims that there is strong support for EU sugar reform, though
opinion across Europe remains divided.
A European Commission programme designed to promote EU food
products outside the bloc has been welcomed by the food industry,
though criticism over European bureaucracy remains a recurrent
theme.
Europe's watchdog continues to wade through the risk assessment of
1000 flavouring substances, concluding that seven out of eight in
the latest batch need more data to determine 'reliable exposure'.
Russian scientists say they have devised a cheaper and more
sustainable way of producing the common sugar substitute xylite, or
xylitol, by using left over grains from the brewing and spirits
industries.
Sugar reform may yet hijack December's WTO talks as Australia,
Brazil and Thailand again accuse the EU of shirking its obligations
by planning to increase sugar exports by two million tonnes.
A new centre-right government in Poland is unlikely to curb the
country's strong opposition to EU sugar reforms as Commission
representatives look for common ground to break the 'no' camp.
CSM's sugar beet processing plant in Hoogkerk, the Netherlands is
now fully online following the closure of the firm's Breda factory
earlier this year.
EU farm ministers met with African and Caribbean counterparts on
Monday to discuss the sweeping EU sugar reform that will bring
cheaper sugar ingredients into the bloc.
Oversupply of sugar in the EU and higher energy costs combine to
knock profits for the year at British Sugar, its owner Associated
British Foods warned today.
The UK's food processors will come under greater pressure to ship
their products in environmentally-friendly materials after
government announced a plan to increase minimum recycling targets
for glass and plastics packaging.
Although the EU's member states were due to impose tougher laws on
recycling packaging waste, only five countries have completed the
task, the European Commission said yesterday.
Dairy producer Arla Foods, which supplies butter to a number of
bakeries, has sent out one of the first signals that the dairy
sector is hurting from a reduction in EU agricultural export
subsidies.
As part of its work to ensure food safety within the EU, a
regulatory panel has given approval to four chemicals that may be
used by processors in packaging or in equipment that comes in
contact with their products.
Number one food enzyme supplier Novozymes likely to move production
to the US and China as a result of the new EU sugar reform, the
daily Berlingske Tidende reports.
The first wrangling over EU sugar reform proposals by agriculture
ministers saw protests and a passionate debate in Brussels
yesterday, but the opposition looks increasingly isolated,
reports Chris Mercer.
A new tool for food developers, Europe's food risk agency
recommends the launch of a harmonised food database across the EU
to shed light on favourable and adverse effects food ingredients
may have on our health.
Food makers and ingredients firms will benefit from a new European
platform that will prioritise research and development initiatives
to keep the €800 billion food and drink industry
competitive,reports Lindsey Partos.
Sweeping changes to Europe's subsidised sugar regime announced
yesterday will see sugar prices cut by 39 per cent paid to
companies that include sugar and sweetener suppliers Danisco and
Tate and Lyle, but will bring price relief...
Weak figures from the flavour division and a testing European and
North American market knock end of year results for Danish
ingredients and sugar player Danisco, but Rhodia acquisition starts
to pay off, reports Lindsey Partos.
Food and drink makers could soon expect cheaper sugar ingredients
with Brussels expected to publish its proposals on EU sugar reform
today, writes Lindsey Partos.
While the European Commission still seems far from producing a
proposal to amend rules on nutrition labelling, a new study
suggests costs of label changes for the food maker could hit €9000
a product, reports Lindsey Partos.
The EU's Sugar Management Committee has backed a new regulation
demanding that five of the new member states destroy their surplus
sugar stocks or face fines, reports Chris Mercer.
US ingredients player reaches deeper into Europe, clearing a deal
this week to buy industrial chocolate facility Schierstedter
Schokoladefabrik from existing customer, Ludwig Schokolade,
writes Lindsey Partos.
The European Parliament voted yesterday to radically modify the
proposed regulation on nutrition and health claims so that food
companies do not need to gain prior authorization for claims, nor
subject their healtlh products to nutrient...
Proposals to create a list of about 100 vitamins and mineral
substances that may be added to foods are being debated in the
European Parliament today, part of the long process of harmonising
food legislation in the bloc, reports Ahmed...
The first ever survey of research and development (R&D)
personnel across all industrial sectors in Europe reveals most
participants predict there will be little change in their
companies' R&D investment levels over the...
Alcan has acquired the assets of Parkside's flexible food packaging
plant in Zlotow, Poland in order to increase its presence in a
growing and competitive economy.
A total of €277.25 million of EU farm money misspent by Member
States is to be claimed back following a decision adopted today by
the European Commission.
Moves to reform the European sugar regime will accelerate after the
EU loses its appeal against a World Trade Organisation decision
that its handouts to sugar farmers are illegal, reports Lindsey
Partos.
Russia's United Confectioners, which has just won 20 awards for
quality production, has begun networking for a move into new
international markets as a complex standardisation programme across
its product range looks on course...
The value of the UK agricultural industry's gross output including
subsidies directly linked to product increased by 2.5 per cent to
£16.9 billion while intermediate consumption rose by 5.4 per cent
due in part to the rise in...
Swiss food giant Nestlé has boosted its Romanian production
capacity with the installation of a new chocolate wafer production
line at its Timisoara-based unit, Joe. The investment reflects the
rapid growth of the Romanian snack market,...
GM ingredients are here to stay as Brussels confirms 'full
confidence' in the regulatory framework that controls the entry of
biotech foodstuffs into the European food chain, reports Lindsey
Partos.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has dealt a blow
to sugar reform lobbyists across Europe and developing countries by
voicing her opposition to special arrangements for different states
when proposals are adopted later...
Chr Hansen's innovative Eastern European marketing campaign, which
kicks off today, should help the Czech Republic's dairy sector find
new ways of adding value to their products, writes Anthony
Fletcher.
Industry association Biscosuisse says that Swiss confectionery
sales have risen marginally in 2004, topping last year's
record-breaking turnover figure and notching up an increase in
domestic sales for the first time in four...
Food manufacturers need to consider a risk/benefit analysis of
activities on acrylamide, a harmful chemical recently identified in
carbohydrate-rich foods, conclude stakeholders after a recent
meeting in Brussels,reports Lindsey Partos.
Europe's food watchdog continues to trawl through its risk
assessment of 1000 flavouring substances, with 38 substances out of
51 requiring more data to complete the safety evaluation.
The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) has slammed new EU
packaging standards, claiming they are likely to encourage
increased packaging volumes and do little to facilitate greater
recycling.
Romanian sugar producers face a hard time in the run-up to the
country's predicted accession to the EU in 2007, with few firms
capable of the high level of investment that will be necessary to
compete with other companies from...
Mariann Fischer Boel, the EU's recently appointed agriculture
commissioner, has claimed that sweeping EU agricultural reforms
will provide UK farmers with a "better balance of support",
while forging a more competitive...
Non-nutritive sweetener neotame is on the agenda in Europe as
scientific experts meet today in Brussels to discuss the food
additive up to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar.
With the countdown extended, talks continue this week in Geneva
between the US and Brussels to move the entrenched trade dispute on
genetically modified organisms forward.