Wal-Mart announced today that it will implement additional beef safety measures designed to further protect customers against foodborne illnesses. The new process controls standards and goals are additions to a food safety program that already requires ground beef suppliers to test for E.coli O157:H7 and achieve prevention-based certification against one of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) internationally recognized standards.”At Walmart and Sam’s Club, our commitment to providing... ...Read more »

While recent years have seen food snobs protest about their usage in modern day recipes, new research from Mintel finds hot canned meat is well and truly back on the menu, as Britain rediscovers the joys of this store cupboard staple.Sales of hot canned meats* are steaming. In the last two years alone, sales have grown by a hearty 12%, compared to cold canned meats which grew just 4%. Continued promotional activity has helped hot canned meats to grow its share of the canned meat market at the expense... ...Read more »

Australia is one of five more nations to recently sign the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)-brokered treaty that once it enters into force will deny access to fishing ports to ships involved in illegal fishing. The new signatories include: Australia (27/04/2010), Gabon (26/04/2010), Peru (3/03/2010), New Zealand (15/12/2009) and the Russian Federation (29/04/2010). This brings the number of countries that have signed the “Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent,... ...Read more »

The importer and distributor of a Chinese gingili (sesame) paste that contained undeclared peanuts have been fined $2,640 and $6,600 respectively after it was found they had falsely labelled the food, Primary Industries Minister Steve Whan said today.Minister Whan said the false labels had been brought to the attention of the NSW Food Authority after a South Australian man was treated for anaphylaxis after unknowingly consuming peanuts contained in the product. “Fortunately this particular... ...Read more »

* New multi-million pound technology will help speed up shopping, saving customers nearly 500,000 hours each year * Self check-outs to be rolled out to all stores to increase customer choice of check-out * Double sided printing on receipts will help reduce the amount of paper used by two fifths, equivalent to over 350 tonnes annually – a first for a UK retailer As part of its drive to offer customers greater choice Sainsbury’s has today announced a multi-million pound investment in cutting... ...Read more »

US baby food group Mead Johnson said today that “strong contributions” from emerging markets boosted its first-quarter profits.The company booked net earnings of US$127.5m for the three months to the end of March – compared to $106.6m a year earlier. Profits climbed due to lower financing costs and higher sales. Net sales rose 10% to $763.5m from a mix of price increases, a benefit from foreign exchange and improved volumes. CEO Stephen Golsby said Mead Johnson’s China business... ...Read more »

Kellogg struck a cautious note yesterday (29 April) as it posted a bumper 30% jump in first quarter profits.The US cereal giant booked first-quarter net income of US$418m, or $1.09 a share, up from $321m, or $0.84 per share, a year earlier. Commenting on the group’s strong profit performance, chief executive David Mackay said that the company had delivered “solid” results despite facing anticipated pressure on the top line. Total revenue rose 4.7% to $3.32bn. However, excluding... ...Read more »

New research from the Center for Human Nutrition at UCLA suggests that chillis may help burn calories. The ingredient in chillis which gives the spicy taste – capsaicin – also causes an increase in body temperature.  Because a higher body temperature requires the body to burn more calories, researchers hypothesised that eating chillis might assist with weight loss. Rather than use the spicy capsaicin, researchers tested a milder-tasting dihydrocapsiate or DCT.  34 participants, all... ...Read more »

National Foods announced yesterday that it will be closing down its plant in the Ipswich suburb of Booval in favour of an expanded site at Crestmead. The company is planning to invest $55 million in the Crestmead manufacturing facility, increasing production from 140 million litres capacity to 250 million litres. There is currently no firm date for the end of production at Booval. National Foods Supply Chain Director, Arthur Murphy, said the company was excited about the expansion. “We have... ...Read more »

NutrientWater has released Australia’s first stevia-sweetened beverage, NutrientWaterX, in two flavours. The beverage, available in ‘A-Game’ (strawberry guava) and ‘Refocus’ (Fuji-apple lime) flavours, contains 23 calories per bottle, compared to the 117 calories of original NutrientWater flavours, 200 for a similar amount of orange juice and around 250 for soft drink. ‘A-Game’ NutrientWater, a general health and wellbeing variety, will include a range of... ...Read more »