Breaking News on Food Safety & Quality Control

Employee with Hep A leads to recall for Aussie firm

20-Jul-2006 - Darling Downs Foods, one of Australia's biggest meat processors, issued a voluntary recall of 17 product lines this week, after an employee was hospitalised with the hepatitis A virus.

Bottle case packer cuts costs, reduces damage

19-Jul-2006 - A new case packing machine for bottles can help processors speed up production lines and cut costs, its manufacturer claims.

Sudan still being detected in food supply

11-Jul-2006 - Illegal Sudan dyes in spices and other food products continue to be detected despite numerous clampdowns, according to the European Commission.

Poison scare forces Coca-Cola drinks recall in South Korea

11-Jul-2006 - Coca-Cola has recalled 40,000 cases of soft drinks in South Korea and claimed it was the victim of a blackmail campaign, after a consumer was allegedly poisoned by drinking a bottle of Coke.

Cadbury tries to clean up its act

11-Jul-2006 - Cadbury Schweppes has been forced to improve cleaning processes at its Herefordshire factory after last month's recall of Salmonella-contaminated products.

EU crackdown on pistachio exporters

11-Jul-2006 - An EU investigation of pistachio exporters in Iran has found the country's food safety procedures still fall short of international standards.

Cadbury blasted for incorrect safety procedures

05-Jul-2006 - Cadbury Schweppes has come under renewed criticism following a regulatory finding that it did not adhere to EU safety measures at its Herefordshire plant, where salmonella was discovered earlier this year.

EU food safety notifications rise by 22 per cent

05-Jul-2006 - Notifications from EU member states of food safety risks rose by 22 per cent in 2005 compared to the previous year, according to an annual report on the bloc's rapid alert system

Weekly Comment

Cadbury's mistake

04-Jul-2006 - Chocolate has a nice feeling to it - tasty, fun, luxurious and slightly sinful. This is comfort food, accessible to all and epitomised in the recent film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Salmonella cases fall in Germany, risk agency reports

03-Jul-2006 - Germany is winning the battle against Salmonella, according to new statistics released by the country's risk assessment agency.

Salmonella rates fall slightly in first quarter

29-Jun-2006 - The presence of salmonella in samples of most raw meat and poultry products tested by federal inspectors decreased slightly in the first quarter of 2006.

Cadbury under pressure from authorities

27-Jun-2006 - Cadbury Schweppes has come under fire from UK food watchdogs after it failed to report finding traces of a rare strain of salmonella in its products.

Singapore recalls Cadbury products

27-Jun-2006 - 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.

Scientists issue caution against mass poultry vaccination

26-Jun-2006 - With confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission of the avian influenza virus, scientists are now warning that mass vaccination of domestic poultry may hinder detection of the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease.

Production stoppage leaves bitter taste for Unilever

26-Jun-2006 - A breakdown in the processing method of Unilever's Flora Original Spread brand in the UK has led the company to recall some of the product throughout the country.

UK pesticide testing finds 2pc of samples above legal limit

23-Jun-2006 - Pesticide testing in the UK has found that two per cent of foods sampled contained residues above the maximum permitted levels, with organic products from Spain and France topping the mark.

Food alerts report on aflatoxins in nuts, cheese from the UK

20-Jun-2006 - A total of about 47 food safety problems were reported across the EU last week, including a cluster of alerts about aflatoxins in nuts and unauthorised cheese from the UK.

Study finds Salmonella in one-third of the EU's egg producers

16-Jun-2006 - Luxembourg and Sweden are among the safest places to eat an egg in the EU, with Portugal, Poland and the Czech Republic the riskiest, according to tests for Salmonella at commercial producers across the bloc.

UK regulator considers action against BSE-type disease in sheep

15-Jun-2006 - Due to scientific uncertainty over a BSE-type disease affecting sheep and goats, the UK's food regulator is expected to issue today further precautionary advice about eating mutton and to propose EU-wide labelling rules for products containing the meats.

Canada finds benzene in 20pc of drinks surveyed

13-Jun-2006 - Canada's health regulator has found benzene in about 20 per cent of the soft drinks and other beverages it analyzed in a survey this year, with four found to have exceeded the country's standard for the cancer-causing chemical.

Two diet drinks withdrawn in Ireland due to benzene

13-Jun-2006 - Manufacturers in Ireland have recalled two diet drinks from the market, after testing by the country's food regulator found high levels of the cancer-causing chemical in their products.

Bird flu incidence in wild birds falling in EU

09-Jun-2006 - Cases of avian influenza found in wild birds under a survelliance programme are falling, according to data released by the European Commission.

Plant diseases threaten global chocolate production

08-Jun-2006 - A fifth of the cacao beans used to make chocolate are lost to plant diseases every year - and things could get worse, according to scientists.

Unpasteurized OJ a possible vehicle for salmonella

26-May-2006 - Orange juice and other foods traditionally not associated with foodborne disease outbreaks could still be a source of disease, according to scientists.