The search is on for the UK’s greenest butcher as part of this year’s National Butchers’ Week, which takes place between March 15-20. Now in its third year, National Butchers’ Week will be hunting for the nation’s most environmentally responsible meat retailer for the first time. Are you Britain’s greenest butcher? Are you doing your part to help the environment? If so, MTJ wants to hear from you to help ensure National Butchers’... read more →
The European Food Safety Authority has completed its review of 11 smoke flavourings in use in the EU, finding only two to have large enough safety margins not to give rise to safety concerns. (foodproductiondaily.com) The European Commission plans to establish a list of smoke flavourings that are authorised for use in foods. The two flavouring with adequate margins are Scansmoke SEF7525 and Smoke Concentrate 809045. Klaus-Dieter Jany, chair of EFSA’s expert... read more →
New pathogen reduction performance standards have been developed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the control of Salmonella and Campylobacter bacteria in chilled carcasses at young chicken and turkey slaughter establishments that are eligible for agency verification sampling. (foodproductiondaily.com) The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said that these new standards respond to certain key recommendations of the President’s... read more →
The food industry has been criticised for being secretive about its use of nanotechnology by the UK’s House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. (bbc.co.uk) Lord Krebs, chairman of the inquiry, said the industry “wants to keep a low profile” to avoid controversy. While there were no clear dangers, he said, there were “gaps in knowledge”. In its report Nanotechnologies and Food, the committee suggests a public register of... read more →
Innovation is expected to be revitalised this year with a run of new product development launches that focus on a number of trends from exotic chocolate to brain health functionality, according to reports from Leatherhead Food Research (LFR). (foodmanufacture.co.uk) However, Chris Brockman, market research manager of LFR, also warned that the ongoing EU health claims saga “may dampen down functional food developments and push the innovation emphasis... read more →
Food security is set to become a big issue at a time when the population is rising fast, oil and gas prices are volatile and climate change is having an increasing impact. It also raises huge environmental questions related to chemicals and energy use, the demand for land, and emissions of greenhouse gases. In the UK, we discard about a third of our food and drink — that is, about 8.3m tons, at an annual cost of about £12 billion. For the average family... read more →
