A collaboration between the US Department of Agriculture and chocolate giant Mars, Inc has announced the preliminary release of the sequenced genome of the cacao tree. The data is expected to help sustain the supply of high-quality cocoa to the $17 billion US chocolate industry and protect the livelihoods of small farmers around the world. Cocoa comes from the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao. The tree’s seeds are processed into cocoa beans, which are the source of cocoa, cocoa butter and chocolate.... ...Read more »

Two people were killed at a US Kraft Foods plant in Philadelphia on Thursday, and one wounded, after a suspended employee opened fire inside the facility in a targeted shooting spree. 43-year-old Yvonne Hiller, an employee at Kraft for 15 years, has been charged with the murder of LaTonya Brown and Tanya Wilson, as well as the attempted murder of Bryant Dalton, who remains in hospital. Hiller was suspended from work and escorted off Kraft property at around 8:30pm on Friday, according to local police... ...Read more »

Datamonitor’s monthly Food Marketwatch product rundown sees sweet and savory flavors appearing in an increasing number of unexpected and unprecedented product categories. Products from black cheesecake to savory sprinkles and double cheese ice cream show how manufacturers are turning to unconventional, even counterintuitive, combinations to add an extra sensory edge to their product offerings. Defying the traditional use of sprinkles as a sweet confectionery product, Easy Tasty Magic’s... ...Read more »

EU ministers have formally approved negotiations with the Chinese government to strike a wide-ranging bilateral agreement protecting traditional food manufacturers in Europe and China from illicit copies of their products. The European Commission will discuss with Chinese officials the creation of an “agreement on the protection of geographical indications for…agricultural products and foodstuffs”, said an EU Council of Ministers communiqué. Such a deal would outlaw Chinese food manufacturers... ...Read more »

The genes that enable some lucernes, or alfalfa plants, to adapt to freezing temperatures could also help them endure dry spells, according to new Dairy Australia-backed research. The surprise findings from Tasmanian research could see some cold-climate lucernes being introduced to drier dairy regions of Australia. Lucerne is grown in Australia for its seed, livestock pasture, hay, chaff and silage, can also be processed into pellets for livestock feed, and even used as garden mulch.  Australia... ...Read more »

The Centre for Plant Functional Genomics has not applied to the Office of Gene Technology Regulator for a licence to research or trial salt tolerant rice. Yet the centre wildly claims that genetically manipulated (GM) rice ‘offers hope for the global food supply’.  ”Without an application to the regulator, this research can only test an idea in the most basic way and is decades away from any commercial application,” says Gene Ethics director Bob Phelps. “The reality... ...Read more »

Western Australia’s $45million potato industry is poised to regain access to valuable international markets after being cleared of the devastating pest, potato cyst nematode. Following more than two decades of rigorous testing and surveillance, Western Australia has been reinstated as a potato cyst nematode (PCN) free area, WA Agriculture and Food Minister Terry Redman announced today. “Since the discovery of the nematode on six properties in the Perth metropolitan area between 1986... ...Read more »

An Albury takeaway restaurant has been fined following a salmonella outbreak that resulted in more than 170 people falling ill after eating food from the Albury Burger Bar, Minister Steve Whan said today. “Investigations conducted by the NSW Food Authority have determined the cause of the outbreak to be a raw egg aioli product that was contaminated with salmonella,” Minister Whan said. “The product in question was sold from the premises between the 14th and 17th of January this... ...Read more »

* Kraft Foods to Donate Five Meals to World Food Programme for Every Photo of Play Uploaded to the Company’s New Corporate Facebook Site * 14,000 Employees in 50 Countries to Volunteer during Delicious Difference Week, including 1,500 in U.S. Who Will Build Playgrounds with KaBOOM! Kraft Foods yesterday launched a worldwide initiative to celebrate play and fight world hunger. Through an app on Kraft Foods’ corporate Facebook site (http://www.facebook.com/kraftfoodscorporate?v=app_149288021757524),... ...Read more »

New Zealand’s Regal King Salmon will be on the lips of 250 London VIPs tonight at high profile Air New Zealand event at the prestigious Saatchi Gallery in central London. The specially prepared King Salmon fillets were flown to London over the weekend fresh from the New Zealand King Salmon farms in the Marlborough Sounds. The high profile event will see some 250 corporate, media and VIP guests dine on the best of New Zealand food and wines as Air New Zealand announces the in-flight offering... ...Read more »