The management systems community
15th Apr 2008 by Alex Briggs
With the new Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) coming into force today, oil companies are required oil companies to ensure all petrol and diesel they sell in the UK contains a minimum level of biofuel. This article in the Independent takes a closer look at the debate over the use of farm land as a transportation fuel source.
11th Feb 2008 by Alex Briggs
The Co-operative Group, have announced transparent, detailed plans on addressing stakeholder concerns. They will ban the sale of eggs from caged hens, convert its entire own-brand hot beverage range to Fairtrade, reduce the weight of its wine packaging and add a further 66 pesticides to its prohibited list.
25th Jan 2008 by Cor Groenveld
A roundtable discussion was recently organised by LRQA’s Netherlands office. The focus was on sustainability in the Food Supply Chain.
Here is a brief synopsis of the topics covered and the key points raised.
5th Dec 2007 by Cor Groenveld
Research from the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority in the Netherlands showed that many food products do not meet the EU regulations towards health claims on food products. The Authorities analysed 79 products and found 44 non compliances on 22 products against the regulations. The new EU Directive 1924/2006 towards claims is effective since July 2007 and it also covers health claims.
5th Dec 2007 by Cor Groenveld
Research from the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority in the Netherlands showed that many food products do not meet the EU regulations towards health claims on food products. The Authorities analysed 79 products and found 44 non compliances on 22 products against the regulations. The new EU Directive 1924/2006 towards claims is effective since July 2007 and it also covers health claims.
30th Oct 2007 by Alex Briggs
Counterfeiting costs the food and drinks industry an estimated $75 million, not to mention the damage to brand reputation and consumer confidence. With an increase between 2003 and 2005 of 250% in the volume of counterfeited food and drink items, there is a clear need for collaboration between industries and governments to fight the problem.
30th Oct 2007 by Alex Briggs
Anheuser Busch has denied serious allegations by Greenpeace that their Budweiser beer contains traces of a genetically engineered strain of rice known as “Liberty Link”.
Liberty Link is a series of strains of GM rice from Bayer CropScience. Some of the strains are banned in a number of markets around the world for human consumption, but not in the US.
Due to Anheuser Busch’s position as the largest single purchaser of American rice, Greenpeace claims that the group had a responsibility to ensure it was fully aware of how it is sourcing ingredients.
9th Oct 2007
A new report from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University suggests that US consumers believe that local food is safer than that from further afield.
2nd Oct 2007 by Cor Groenveld
An article in the Sydney Morning Herald addresses the food safety concerns in China. The Chinese Government revoked the production licenses of hundreds of companies. It is known that food safety is very high on the agenda of China’s government. Reasons for that are the coming Olympics and the negative publicity from several food scandals. […]
2nd Oct 2007 by Cor Groenveld
Small and medium food companies often struggle with food safety requirements. The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has created a website to help small and medium size firms better manage their food safety.
25th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs
The key issues of risk management, supply chain and climate change have made their way to the top of media and corporate agendas recently.
A Wal-Mart and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) joint effort will measure the climate change effects across the Wal-Mart supply chain.
24th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs
This Times article has raised a difficult topic for organic farmers.
The article reveals that Helen Browning, the director of food and farming at the Soil Association, sends pig shoulders from Wiltshire, England to Germany for processing into sausages and imports pork loins from Sweden to make bacon.
24th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs
The Vegetarian Society has launched a new ad campaign on climate change. The ads are aimed at educating the public as to the carbon emitted by livestock.
This often overlooked issue was addressed by Rowland Hill, the Sustainability Manager at Marks and Spencer, in one of our podcasts as he talked about measuring the carbon footprint of their top selling ready meal, Beef Lasagne:
20th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs
Successful consumer led campaigns against companies using cheap labour may be the blueprint for upcoming campaigns aimed at brands not paying enough attention to the “greenness” of their global supply chain.
This Supply Chain Digest article once again shows that brands cannot afford to get their supply chain wrong.
It is no longer enough for a brand […]
20th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs
Despina Keegen of JP Morgan Global Trade Services has written a guest column for Supply and Demand Chain which features a supply chain checklist. Interestingly, the column talks about a possible “import czar” position being created at the cabinet level of the US government. A sign as to how important supply chain safety, supply […]
20th Sep 2007 by Cor Groenveld
Will we ever have a “one size fits all” food safety management system? The Food Safety section editor, Cor Groenveld, provides an informative update on the initiatives that are all trying to bring some uniformity to the food industry. This blog post makes sense of a very complex situation.
18th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs
Andrew Wadge, The UK Food Standards Agency’s Chief Scientist has a blog. In his latest post, he writes about some good news on lower salmonella contamination levels in eggs.
17th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs
An article on a new white paper has shown that Chinese food exports are the safest in the world, with the EU accepting 99.8%, the US 99.1% and Japan accepting 99.42% (better than the EU and the US rates of acceptance for Japan).
With the recent food safety scares originating largely in China, the Chinese government watchdog […]
14th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs
The Arizona Republic ran a story on a recent Associated Press study indicating that the anticipated wave of government and industry regulation following last year’s E Coli outbreak has not materialised.
AP’s review of data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act found that federal officials inspect companies growing and processing salad greens an average of just once […]
11th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs
For those of you who haven’t seen it, ISO has put a promotional video on YouTube! The video is an overview of the environmental management standard, ISO 14001, and has over 5,400 downloads so far!
Further, there are supply chain videos on YouTube!, including this promotional video from Cisco and Ford, as well as Food Safety videos, including this one on Food Safety and China.
10th Sep 2007 by Gail Van Den Bos
At the recent Global Food Safety Summit inPrague, a number of key messages emerged. These included the importance of effective risk assessments across all of the supply network, of the need to have processes in place to prevent emergencies (product recalls, security incidents), and also to be prepared to respond if the worst happens. Whilst the […]
7th Sep 2007 by Cor Groenveld
I just got back from the Global Food Safety Summit 2007 in Prague. The event featured stakeholders from the food manufacturers, retail, food services and suppliers of food ingredients. It was a series of presentations, interactive sessions and individual meetings, all based around the issues of food safety in the supply chain. The attendees and […]
6th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs
A Greener Choice Blog post has highlighted a recent Consumers Report poll has found that 92 percent of Americans want their food products to be labelled with the country of origin.
In line with the recent What Assures Consumers report which focused on UK and US consumers and their attitudes toward climate change, the Consumers Report poll has […]
6th Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs
Canadian Blogger Robert Paterson has linked three key Business Assurance issues into one post: Food Safety, Supply Chain Assurance and the importance of transparency. Have a look at his “know your farmer, trust your farmer” point of view.
3rd Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs
Fresh Metz, a California based “grower and shipper specializing in year-round custom-grown spinach” has voluntarily recalled 8,000 cases of its products after an internal test found traces of salmonella on some of their products.
Coming on the back of new guidelines rolled out just five months ago, the latest recall of spinach has shocked the industry and […]
16th Apr 2007 by Tim Kitchin
UK newspaper, The Times has highlighted a growing scandal as demand for ‘ethical’ and sustainable products outstrips supply, and unscrupulous suppliers are pushing farms.
3rd Apr 2007
Under current legislation in the UK, producers of compostable waste may need to apply for a license before they can spread it on land.
According to an article on the IEMA website, he new Quality Protocol proposed by the Environment Agency in England and Wales will mean that compostable products will be easier to dispose.
6th Oct 2006 by Tim Kitchin
The number of cases of E. coli in spinach continues to multiply in the US, displacing more serious governance concerns like HP’s alleged employee-spying from the front pages of newspapers.
20th Sep 2006
The traditional association between organic foods and health is being steadily eroded, and replaced, with greater consumer association with the environmental benefits.
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