Savoury ingredient supplier Jardox has completed a £1 million factory upgrade project that has doubled its production capacity. (Foodnavigator.com) The modernisation programme, which has just been finished, includes production areas, staff facilities and new equipment to improve efficiencies at the firm’s Sevenoaks, UK base. As a leading supplier into the UK chilled ready meal, soup and sauce market, Jardox provides wet stocks, pastes and dry ingredient... read more →
A UK-based bagel bakery has been fined after a worker severed two of his fingers in “unsafe” machinery while attempting to clear a dough blockage. (Bakeryandsnacks.com) The firm, Ixxy’s Bagels, of Harley Street, London, was ordered to pay £2,250 with £9,719 costs for the November 2007 incident. The court heard that Mr Raakesh Patel, 26, was injured at the Ixxy’s factory when a rotating blade of a bagel dividing machine continued to move... read more →
An investigation has been launched following the death of an abattoir worker in Scotland. (Meatinfo.co.uk) David Barker, aged 48, is thought to have died after being struck on the head by a falling metal partition while working at the Scottish Borders Abattoir in Galashiels. However, the exact cause of death has not been announced, following the delay in a post mortem. A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said: “The investigation is... read more →
A Lancashire meat wholesaler has been disqualified from being a company director for two years after his firm crashed with debts totalling nearly £250,000. (Meatinfo.co.uk) In 2008, Shaun Ashworth’s wholesale meat business in Rosendale was placed in compulsory liquidation with debts of £250,000. A further investigation by the Insolvency Service (IS), however, discovered that invoicing was not correctly done and company accounts were not correctly... read more →
Slaughterhouses may have to install additional ventilation and air extraction systems after scientists discovered bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) can be spread to livestock by air. (Meatinfo.co.uk) They have found prions – the infectious agents triggering the disease – are not necessarily transmitted only by eating contaminated material. The researchers from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and the Institute of Immunology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut,... read more →
Sainsbury’s group commercial director Mike Coupe has opened a new Cranswick production facility at Preston, East Yorkshire. (Meatinfo.co.uk) Coupe officially opened the facility by unveiling a plaque, following a tour of the new factory. Cranswick is said to have invested £13m in the new facility, using robotic technology, to replace the original, built in the 1980s. Livestock will be drawn to what is now Cranswick’s largest processing plant from across... read more →
Chicken magnate Ranjit Singh Boparan has made an 11th hour £341m cash bid for rival Northern Foods – after he was given a ‘put up or shut up’ deadline by the Takeover Panel. (Meatinfo.co.uk) Boparan Holdings, the company behind the 2 Sisters Food Group, is believed to have tabled the bid just minutes before a 7pm deadline – which had already been extended from 5pm following a hold-up with the financing package. The bid values Northern Foods,... read more →
World leaders have warned that rising food prices could lead to social unrest and even “economic war”. (BBC Business) Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that with the world population rising, “the race for scarce resources” could lead to conflict. And French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for regulation to rein in speculation and volatility in prices. But business leaders at the World Economic Forum rejected calls... read more →
