Thailand's poultry industry suffered a further blow yesterday as
agriculture officials confirmed a fresh outbreak of the H5N1 bird
flu virus in the northern province of Phichit.
A vast majority of Asian visitors to the UK believe that the food
is safe and is great to eat, according to a survey by the country's
food manufacturers.
Several small producers of carbonated drinks in China do not meet
the quality standards set by the country's food authorities,
according to a recent survey.
Singapore's food safety authority issued a recall of a number of
Cadbury's chocolate products made in the UK, following a major
recall by the company itself in the UK.
Environmental campaign group Greenpeace attacked the Hong Kong food
safety authority last week for failing to improve testing for
pesticides in fruit and vegetables imported from mainland China.
The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration is to make recalls of
spoiled or potentially harmful food obligatory for food
manufacturers under the first law of its kind in China.
China's ministry of commerce has issued guidelines to the country's
farmers and farm produce exporters on how to meet tough new
standards in Japan, one of China's biggest export markets.
The Swedish supplier of food testing equipment, Biacore
International, is taking over from its sales agent in China and
launching a full business operation in the market.
An RFID tracking system designed to slow the spread of avian flu
will be tested this month by China's poultry industry, currently
facing flagging demand and low prices following several outbreaks
of the disease in different provinces.
A survey of the effects of bird flu on the Spanish poultry market
demonstrates the complex interplay between government intervention,
consumer concerns and industry reaction to a disease that has the
potential to cripple the sector.
Australia has imposed an indefinite ban on the Selecta ice cream
brand over fears that its ingredients could be affected by the
incidence of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in the Philippines.
India's dairy industry is priming the country's research centres
with funds in a bid to mechanise the region's indigenous foods
sector ahead of moves to apply international food safety standards,
Hridyesh Pandey reports.
There has been a rapid increase in the incidence of foodborne
parasitic diseases, stemming from the country's burgeoning demand
for raw food, according to new figures from the Chinese government.
South Korea's Food and Drug Administration has begun inspecting
outlets of fast food restaurant operators after the Chinese
operation of KFC admitted that it had discovered traces of the
banned food dye, Sudan 1. The threat of...
The future of the milk formula market in China lies with better
product quality and greater brand loyalty following the revelation
last year that much of the formula on sale there was fake. The move
towards higher margin products...
As Chinese consumers become more aware of genetically modified (GM)
food, rejection of the technology is also growing in China,
according to Greenpeace.
Scientists at the University of Derby and the University of Malaya,
in Kuala Lumpur, are working on a freezing technology that aims to
help save the Malaysian banana - which is in danger from being
wiped out due to fungal disease.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development says
that a lack of up-to-date processing equipment is holding back
progress for much of the country's food and beverage industry.
China is cracking down on government officials over alleged
misconduct that led to the deaths of at least 13 babies in China's
North-Eastern provinces following the illegal sale of fake milk
powder.
The World Health Organisation met in Beijing this week to discuss
key threats to the safety of the world's food supply chain,
including a number of issues specific to the Asian Pacific region.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development has
said that it is working with Australian authorities in an effort to
reduce waste caused during the production and harvesting of
temperate fruits.
The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) says that it has come
across lead contamination in cornflour milled from imported corn
following routine food safety tests on a number of food products.
The organisation says that it has...
The EU has lifted a two year ban on honey, together with a number
of seafoods and products of animal origin. The move is expected to
give a particular boost to the country's position as the world
biggest honey producer.
Thailand has confirmed a new bout of bird flu, sparking fears of a
return of the winter outbreak that left over 20 people dead and
devastated the region's poultry industry, writes Anthony
Fletcher.
Reports from both New Zealand and Australian food authorities
suggest that foods in the region are cleaner, after separate
studies indicated that residue levels in the food supply were lower
than elsewhere in the world.
Foodborne diseases pose a serious threat to densely populated areas
of Asia and the Pacific - both to the health of the people living
there and to these regions' chances of exporting their products to
more developed markets in...
An Australian beef industry leader has indicated that the
Australian beef sector is riding a short-term boom following a
series of bans on US beef exports to major Asian markets.
Japan may be about to review its policy of testing all slaughtered
cattle for mad cow disease, a practice Tokyo has asked Washington
to adopt as a condition for resuming US beef imports. This is
encouraging news for US meat processors,...
Vietnam is seeking to import between 500,000 to 600,000 tonnes of
corn for feed as it moves to restock poultry flocks hit by the
outbreak of bird flu earlier this year, even though the FAO has
warned the country not to resume poultry...
Japan's poultry industry is the latest sector to feel the effect of
avian influenza. Reported outbreaks of the virus in the
health-conscious country have eroded people's appetite for chicken
and hammered down the price of...
After a week of denials and perhaps months of cover-ups, Thailand
has finally admitted that it has been hit by Avian 'flu, the
poultry virus that has ravaged other parts of East Asia. A Thai
minister told reporters that two boys...
In a move guaranteed to fuel further speculation that Thailand is
covering up cases of Avian 'flu, Japan today suspended poultry
imports from the south east Asian nation. The country continues to
deny that it is covering up cases...
The recent outbreak of Avian 'flu in East Asia - described by a WHO
spokesperson as being "potentially more dangerous than
SARS," - is devastating the poultry industries of Vietnam,
South Korea and Japan. We examine...
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has expressed
serious concern about the spread of Avian flu in East Asia. And
perhaps more worryingly, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has
warned that the outbreak has the potential...
The Chinese government is to establish a digital monitoring system
for agricultural food products to ensure food sanitation and
safety. The move is designed to increase the country's export
potential by helping food manufacturers...
Japan has asked 26 beef-exporting countries to provide
country-of-origin certificates for beef shipments to help prevent
the spread of mad cow disease.
GeneScan, a leader in the field of 'molecular biological testing of
food and feed, has established its presence in Japan by naming
FASMAC of Kanagawa, a subsidiary of Nippon Flour Mills, as its
exclusive licensee in Japan.
The Japanese cabinet endorsed a set of bills on Friday to ensure
the safety of food and protect consumer health in the wake of a
series of scandals and incidents to hit Japan in recent years.
A new laboratory in southern India will provide food manufacturers
with a range of services in the domain of food technology.
Technical support for the project will be provided by the UK-based
Reading Scientific Services.
Representatives of the Indian seafood industry have said that in
the light of the ban on five major Indian seafood units in the
European Union, seafood exporters in the country are likely to
focus their trade on the US market rather...
In answer to European consumers' increasing worries about food
safety, suppliers in Asia are likely to face stricter conditions
next year, both at government and private sector levels, according
to a report in the Bangkok Post.
The Indian Export Inspection Agency (EIA) has issued directives to
five major seafood processing units across the country to cease
production, according to a report from Business Line.
Intelligent packaging has been an increasing focus of industry
attention lately. With the recent announcement that Food Science
Australia had developed tamper-evident packaging that "bruises",
many heads were turned. FoodProductionDaily.com...
Interest in the use of high pressure processing to combat microbes
in food products has grown since Japan, more than 10 years ago,
first made the method commercially available. Dr. Michelle Bull, a
research microbioligist at Food...
China's Guangdong Province, is integrating Hazard Analysis and
Critical Control Point (HACCP) into the growing local food
businesses for dairy, meat and snacks production.
Investigators have raided a subsidiary of Japan's leading meat
processor to collect evidence it may have illegally profited from a
government programme to buy up homegrown beef potentially
contaminated with mad-cow disease, a...
A proposed new body would disseminate food safety information to
the entire food chain in Karnataka state in a bid to improve the
image of Indian food on key export markets.
