The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which is the Australian government regulatory agency for medicines, legal drugs and complementary health products, has issued a public safety advisory to notify consumers (or potential consumers) of  serious risks that a product known as Lipro Diet Pills may pose to health. The TGA points out that the commercial supply of Lipro Diet Pills in Australia is illegal. However a number of people in Australia appear to have bought the product, seemingly through... ...Read more »

The European Food Standards Authority (EFSA) has responded to criticism over its ruling that bottled water manufacturers are banned from claiming that water can prevent dehydration. The EFSA is responsible for scientific assessment of food and composition and food marketing claims in Europe. On 16 November 2011 the European Commission published a list of health claims made on foods that refer to the reduction of disease risk (EU No 1170/​2011) that had been rejected in previous months by the... ...Read more »

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission yesterday announced that it will not oppose the acquisition of the iconic Australian Foster’s Group by SABMiller. According to ACCC chairman Rod Sims “the proposed acquisition is not likely to result in a substantial lessening of competition for the supply of beer”.  Before reaching this conclusion, the ACCC carried out a comprehensive review, involving market inquiries with a range of interested parties in the beer industry. UK company SABMiller... ...Read more »

Kraft has received regulatory approval in Australia for their proposed purchase of Cadbury. The hostile takeover offer remains in the hands of Cadbury shareholders, although is likely to need to be sweetened given Cadbury management have consistently labelled it as “derisory”. But the deal has passed at least one more hurdle this week with Australian regulatory approval coming on the back of similar approval in the US. European authorities are due to report their opinion on the deal... ...Read more »

The European Commission has extended its deadline for reviewing Kraft Foods’ proposal to acquire Cadbury after the US group offered concessions to ease antitrust concerns. The Commission, which had previously been scheduled to make a ruling on the takeover plan by 14 December, today (9 December) extended its deadline until 6 January – by when it must either approve the potential merger or launch an investigation to examine competition issues more closely. European regulators said that... ...Read more »