Archives for March 18, 2013

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EU protected food and drink products worth €54.3bn

By Caroline Scott-Thomas

The sales value of European foods and agricultural products protected under the EU’s geographical indication (GI) scheme hit €54.3bn in 2010, according to a new report.

Manufacturing firms employ more women bosses

By Mike Stones

Manufacturing businesses in the FTSE 100 have more women on their boards than other firms but more should be done to boost their numbers, according to a new report.

Research

Kids with easy access to sweet drinks 5x more likely to overindulge

By RJ Whitehead

Primary and secondary school students are five times more likely to be high consumers of sugar-sweetened drinks, such as soft drinks, if these drinks are available in their homes, according to a University of Sydney study published in the journal...

Campden BRI forecasts promise of cold plasma

By Rod Addy

Food industry advisory body Campden BRI is exploring the effects of cold plasma technology on specific surfaces and microorganisms to help food manufacturers wage war on pathogens.

Bird flu outbreak in the Netherlands

By Carina Perkins

More than 80,000 chickens have been destroyed on a farm in the Netherlands following an outbreak of low pathogenic avian influenza virus.

Toy-filled chocolate egg approved for sale in US

By Oliver Nieburg

New Jersey-based Candy Treasure has overcome a US ban on toy-filled chocolate eggs dating back to 1938 after its Choco Treasure surprise eggs were deemed safe for sale.

Focus on New Zealand: Carbon commitment

By Carina Perkins

New Zealand’s agriculture sector has sidestepped the country’s Emissions Trading Scheme, but farmers are clearly committed to working on their carbon footprint, with some good results achieved to date.

Manila madness

Using foresight to shift attention from oversight

By RJ Whitehead

The Philippines’ embattled agriculture secretary is clearly clairvoyant, otherwise he would never have come out with such a grand prediction as he did last week—that his government plans to shelve rice imports in 2014.

Food security institute opened in Northern Ireland

By Alyson Magee

A new £33m ‘food fortress’ aimed at improving sustainable, safe and secure global supplies of quality food, was officially opened by Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke in Belfast last week (14 March).

Food and drink exports tough out the recession

By Mike Stones

Britain’s food and drink exports are remaining resilient during the recession – with total UK food and non-alcoholic drink exports for last year maintaining their value of £12.1bn, according to the Food and and Drink Federation (FDF).

Hain Celestial: ‘Chia is red hot… Coconut's been on fire’

By Elaine WATSON

Hain Celestial has unveiled a raft of new products utilizing hot ingredients from chia and quinoa to coconut pulp and almonds, including organic gluten-free chia seed corn tortilla chips under the Garden of Eatin' brand, and coconut almond butter under...