Category: Europe
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UK House of Lords Subcommittee Argues Against Meat Definition Laws
The EU Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the U.K. House of Lords has submitted a letter to the country’s agriculture minister in response to a EU committee’s approval of a measure that would prohibit the use of meat-associated words and phrases—including “sausage,” “burger” and “steak”—to describe plant-derived products. “Veggie tubes proposal a misteak,” the subcommittee’s…
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Organic Producers Could Potentially Use GMOs, USDA Suggests
In testimony before the House Agriculture Subcommittee, Under Secretary of Agriculture Greg Ibach suggested that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) could potentially be used in the production of organic foods eventually. “As the National Organic Standards Board set the rules originally, right now GMO or transgenics are not eligible to be in the Organic Program, but…
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UK Opens Consultation on Health and Nutrition
The U.K. Cabinet Office has begun an open consultation on general health policies, including nutrition initiatives. The consultation includes an announcement that the government will ban the sale of energy drinks to children under 16, with the full policy to be announced “in our consultation response shortly.” The consultation response will also include details of…
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EU Agency Releases Guidance on Use of Insects in Food
The EU International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF) has released guidance intended to assist industry with labeling provisions for insect-based foods. “While specific insect-based products are currently approved by certain Member States, it is foreseen that a number of novel food applications will be authorised by the European Commission in the near…
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Baby Food Contains Excess Sugars, WHO Argues
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a pair of studies purportedly finding that “a high proportion of baby foods are incorrectly marketed as suitable for infants under the age of six months, when in fact much of it contains inappropriately high levels of sugar.” Researchers reviewed 7,955 baby-food products in Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and…
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EU Arrests Organized Crime Group Selling “Organic” Food Produced with Decomposed Apples
Eurojust, with Italian and Serbian national authorities, has arrested nine suspects allegedly perpetrating a “transnational large-scale fraud in the production and trade of allegedly organic food and beverages from rotten apples.” The apples were apparently used to create juice, jams and other canned food products adulterated with “mycotoxins and other toxic chemical substances, unsuitable for…
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UK to Require Allergen Labeling
U.K. Environment Secretary Michael Gove has reportedly announced that a law requiring a full listing of ingredients on prepackaged food will take effect by the summer of 2021 and will include a two-year implementation period allowing businesses to adapt. “Natasha’s Law” bears the name of a 15-year-old who died from anaphylaxis after an allergic reaction…
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EFSA Scientists Recommend Limits on Phosphates as Food Additives
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has announced a change in guidance on the use of phosphates as food additives. The agency’s scientists recommended a group acceptable daily intake of 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, or about 2.8 grams for the average 70-kilogram adult. According to the announcement, the existing maximum permitted levels…