europe
Brits bowled over by breakfast cereal. But the rest of Europe’s not so keen…
New research from Mintel’s Global Market Navigator (GMN) suggests that British consumers are bowled over by breakfast cereal, spending £28 (£32) per head (or a total of £1.8 billion/£2bn) on breakfast cereal in the last year alone, up from £1.7bn (£1.9bn) in 2008 and a figure Mintel estimates will grow to a massive £2.2bn (£2.5bn) […]
Sustainable palm oil coup for Lipsa
Spanish oils and fats company Lipidos Santiga (Lipsa) is now certified to process and supply sustainable palm oil in the Segregation category as specified by the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) criteria. Lipsa says it’s the first Spanish company to obtain such certification, and one of the first in Europe. Its first shipment of […]
Wild prepares to go public
After nearly 80 years as a successful family business, natural ingredients company Wild has taken the first step to becoming a public company – by selling shares to asset manager KKR. “This strategic partnership will allow us to tap into the capital markets and financing sources that have previously been unavailable to us, thereby driving […]
EU approval for Neotame
NutraSweet’s zero calorie sweetener Neotame has just been approved for use in the EU, following official authorisation by the European Commission. The sweetener developed by US company is a derivative of aspartame, and is said to be around 8,000 times sweeter than sugar and 30 to 60 times sweeter than aspartame (depending on the application) […]
New food chain rules reminder
The Food Standards Agency is reminding slaughterhouse operators and livestock keepers that they will soon have to ensure that Food Chain Information (FCI) is provided for all cattle, sheep and goats sent for slaughter. The new requirement under European Union legislation comes into force from 1 January 2010, and will apply to all slaughter animals, […]
EFFA split
As a result of regulatory changes, the European Flavour and Fragrance Association is to become the European Flavour Association. The new EFFA will concentrate its activities on the interests of the European flavour industry, while the fragrance industry will be represented by the EU Affairs Department of IFRA, the International Fragrance Association. The new EFFA […]
Condensed operation expands
An increase in demand for sweetened condensed milk has led to German company WS Warmsener Spezialitäten putting its second production facility into operation. The new site means the company can now produce more than 30,000 tons of the product per year. “We will now be even more flexible when it comes to the Europe-wide supply […]
Honour for National Starch Food Innovation
National Starch Food Innovation’s cost-saving bakery ingredient N-Dulge FR starch claimed the bakery innovation of the year prize at this week’s Food Ingredients Excellence Awards 2009 in Europe, clinching the Most Innovative Food Ingredient award. The ingredient impressed the judges with its fat replacement potential and its performance in a range of baked goods.
ADI action on ‘Southampton Six’
The European Food Safety Authority has lowered the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for three of the so-called Southampton Six food colours, but none of the scientific reasons given is associated with hyperactivity. A study published in 2007 concluded that cocktails of six artificial food colours – Allura Red (E128), Ponceau 4R (E124), Quinoline Yellow (E104), […]
Beneo Institute up and running
Beneo Group has launched the Beneo Institute – a new arm of its operation that will help its customers innovate in ‘increasingly complex and strict regulatory environments’. Speaking at the Fi Europe trade show in Frankfurt, Beneo Group executive board member Yves Servotte said the increasing regulatory demands placed on the functional foods industry was […]
Pesticide pears spark EU alert
The European Commission has imposed emergency measures on pear imports from Turkey after some shipments were found to contain pesticide residues over 1,400 times above acceptable levels. Identifying the potentially ‘high level of risk’, the EC has ordered member states to increase testing of all Turkish pears after inspections repeatedly found levels of the pesticide […]
ABF revenues up – but pre-tax profits fall
Associated British Foods (ABF) has reported a 12% rise in revenues to £9.3 billion this year. However, its pre-tax profits fell 6% to £495 million after a £65m loss on the sale of the group’s American packaged oil business. Adjusted pre-tax profits rose 4% to £655m. Profits in the group’s sugar business rose by 24% […]
Tate & Lyle joins forces with Solvay
Tate & Lyle has announced that it is to partner with Solvay to sell digestive health ingredient Solcatis Galactofructose in bakery and other food and beverage applications in Europe (excluding Spain and Portugal), the Middle East and Africa. Solactis Galactofructose, a non-digestible carbohydrate derived from milk, has been shown to deliver wide-ranging health benefits as […]
UK food and drinks market weathering economic storm
The UK has one of the largest retail food markets in both Europe and the world, with value sales having risen by around 3% per annum since 2004, according to a new report from Leatherhead Food Research. And with a value share of around 31%, the alcoholic beverages sector is the market’s largest, ahead of […]