Breaking News on Prepared Food and Meat Processing

Consumers suspicious of nanotech, irradiation and cloning

05-Mar-2010 - New technologies such as nanotech, animal cloning and irradiation trigger feelings of “unease, uncertainty, and sometimes outright negativity” among consumers, said a new report from the UK.

US government to hold food safety meetings

04-Mar-2010 - Federal agencies in the US have announced two major public meetings later this month will look at progress on the success of food safety measures, including the tracing of E.coli contaminated products.

Foodborne illnesses cost United States $152bn a year- report

03-Mar-2010 - Acute foodborne illnesses cost the United States a staggering $152bn a year, with almost a quarter of this burden attributed to fresh, canned and processed produce, said a report from Produce Safety Project (PSP).

News in brief

Spotlight on new packaging regulation at Foodex

03-Mar-2010 - Foodex this year sees a series of seminars on the latest regulation pertaining to third party inspection certification and packaging aswell as new food hygiene initiatives, research and innovation developments in packaging and processing and shelf life evaluation.

Third party food safety certification vital for consumers

26-Feb-2010 - Evidence that food product safety has been verified by a third party certification scheme is more important to consumers than brand name, proof of traceability or government inspection, said new research.

FSA sets out new food science strategy

25-Feb-2010 - Now a decade old, the UK’s Food Standards Agency is counting its achievements and scoping out new challenges ahead. It has set out a new strategy for science and evidence, which will underscore its methodologies for the next five years.

News in brief

Fast and sensitive test for E.coli in beef, lettuce and spinach

24-Feb-2010 - A new test to check for E.coli 0157:H7 contamination in beef, lettuce and spinach is both speedy and sensitive, said manufacturer DuPont Qualicon.

Weekly comment

Banning energy drinks is a doomed shot in the dark

22-Feb-2010 - Energy shot drinks have come under fire from German authorities which are employing an old-school prohibition logic that history has repeatedly dunce-hatted.

Study warns of future threats to food safety

19-Feb-2010 - Experts from Unilever, the Food Standards Authority (FSA), National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST) have mapped out future threats to food safety and strategies to tackle them in a new study.

Salami salmonella suspicion expands to red pepper

17-Feb-2010 - Crushed red pepper is now under suspicion for a multi-state salmonella outbreak that has been linked to salami, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has said in an investigation update.

Massive recall triggers more questions over US meat safety

15-Feb-2010 - Huntington Meat Packing Inc has recalled a further 4.9 million pounds (2.2m kg) of meat that was not processed in line with the company’s HACCP plan over the course of almost a year, said US authorities.

Black pepper producers reject salmonella allegations

11-Feb-2010 - Black pepper has been named as the likely cause of a salmonella outbreak traced to salami, but Vietnamese pepper producers have rejected allegations that they are to blame.

Cargill to video meat safety practices

10-Feb-2010 - Cargill is piloting the use of video monitoring at its US beef plants in order to reduce the risk of E.coli and salmonella contamination.

ConAgra blast prompts calls for national safety changes

05-Feb-2010 - A US federal agency has said vital new gas safety measures should be introduced across the country in the wake of the deadly explosion at a ConAgra meat processing plant last summer.

Meat irradiation petition on hold as parties blame each other

05-Feb-2010 - Confusion continues to surround the lack of progress on a US meat industry appeal to allow electron beam irradiation as a meat processing aid – with each side blaming the other for the delay.

Get in for the pathogen kill with cold plasma technology

04-Feb-2010 - An increasing number of manufacturers are investing in cold plasma technology to kill pathogens in the air and on the surface areas of processing plants, reports sister title Food Manufacture.

Supermarket buying policy key to cutting campylobacter

02-Feb-2010 - The UK Food Standards Agency has urged supermarkets to overhaul their poultry purchasing policies in a bid to combat the problem of campylobacter throughout the supply chain.

News in brief

Salami Salmonella recall expanded as illnesses rise

01-Feb-2010 - US authorities confirmed the outbreak of Salmonella Montevideo linked to Daniele International Inc salami products has now hit 202 people in 42 states as the company recalled more products.

Chicken major source of campylobacteriosis in EU

29-Jan-2010 - Chicken meat could account for almost a third of all human cases of campylobacteriosis in the EU said the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Canadian food safety system slammed

27-Jan-2010 - The Canadian food safety system is a fragmented patchwork of regional structures that has failed to keep pace with advances in knowledge, according to research published this week.

FSA agrees to lobby EU for change in ‘smokies’ law

27-Jan-2010 - The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has said it will campaign for a change in European law to allow the production of smoked skin-on sheep meat for human consumption.

Mocon buys into Irish bioscience firm

22-Jan-2010 - Mocon Inc has prioritised the development of a pathogen screening process for a range of foods after announcing it has acquired a 16.9 per cent stake in Irish company Luxcel Biosciences Ltd.

Elanco to launch food safety business

20-Jan-2010 - Elanco has announced plans to launch a food safety division focused on the meat and poultry sectors in response to heightened concerns over foodborne pathogens.

New cleaner tackles zero trans fat oil stains on machinery

13-Jan-2010 - A breakthrough cleaning gel has been developed to help food processors deal with the growing problem of cleaning zero trans fat oils from machinery and surfaces, said manufacturer Ecolab.