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Food safety blog

Are ethical food labels telling the whole story?

– 14th Jan 2008 by Alex Briggs

Organic or fairtrade? Sustainable or certified? With so many labels on food, clothes and white goods, it’s a miracle that we make it to the checkout before closing time. This article in the Observer takes a look at some of the labels out there. Which ones live up to their eco credentials?

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Health claims on food products often not used correctly

– 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.

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Fake food and drink on the rise

– 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.

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Is your beer safe?

– 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.

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China cracks down on food producers

– 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. [...]

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New Food Safety Website for smaller firms

– 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.

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Wal-Mart addresses climate change and supply chain

– 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.

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How organic is organic? More bad news for British farmers

– 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.

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More consumer calls for transparency

– 21st Sep 2007 by Alex Briggs

In a food safety environment that is being increasingly driven by consumer awareness and outcry, soft drink manufacturers are taking steps to assure consumers that they are reducing additives in their products.

This Foodqualitynews.com article

A recent Food Standards Agency (FSA) report stated:

“eating or drinking certain mixes of additives together with the preservative sodium benzoate, could be linked to a negative effect on children’s behaviour.”

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Import Supply Chain Checklist

– 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 [...]

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