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Vacuum ensures safe spinal cord removal

Vacuum ensures safe spinal cord removal

Residue-free carcass cleaning is claimed during the removal of spinal cord material in abattoirs, thanks to a special extraction system developed by Northern Ireland-based equipment manufacturer Macquip.

Better berries with optical sorter

Better berries with optical sorter

A Tomra Primus-D optical belt sorter is providing accurate quality monitoring of blueberries at UK soft fruit grower S&A Produce, which has a packing operation at Marden, near Hereford.

Moy Park has installed a regenerative thermal oxidiser

Nasty niffs reduced at Moy Park's Grantham factory

By Rick Pendrous

An odour abatement project involving the design, construction, erection and commissioning of a regenerative thermal oxidiser has been completed at Moy Park’s poultry processing facility at Grantham in Lincolnshire to ensure the company remains on good...

Britvic faces a tough challenge to grow sales in a soft drinks market with diluted growth prospects

Diluted growth prospects for Britvic

By Michael Stones

Fruit Shoot manufacturer Britvic faces a tough challenge to boost profits this year in a soft drinks market experiencing diluted growth prospects - despite the firm’s US expansion plans - according to City analyst Investec.

On the right rails? The Caledonian Sleeper service has pledged to support local food and drink businesses

Buy Scottish food, transport firms urged

By Michael Stones

Buy more Scottish food and drink is the message the government is sending to the nation’s airports, stations and ports in the form of an invitation to sign a new sourcing pledge.

Drugs with an estimated street value of £4.5M were seized in a consignment of out-of-date frozen chicken

MDMA drugs seized in frozen chicken

By Nicholas Robinson

Border Force officers have foiled a plan to import 90kg of the class A drug MDMA in out-of-date frozen chicken.

Freezing festive leftovers could help tackle food waste

Freeze Christmas leftovers to prevent waste

By Laurence Gibbons

Freezing festive leftovers could help reduce Christmas food waste, equalling 2M turkeys and 74M mince pies, according to food waste charity Hubbub.

Tesco faces a second financial probe, this time by the Financial Reporting Council

Tesco finances face new probe

By Michael Stones

Troubled supermarket giant Tesco faces a fresh probe into its accounts by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC).

Arla's milk price cut was 'the worst possible Christmas present', said the NFU

Arla milk price cut prompts angry reaction

By Michael Stones

Dairy giant Arla’s decision to cut the price of milk paid to producers has prompted an angry reaction from the National Farmers Union (NFU) and a plea to buy British dairy products over the Christmas period.

The UK could follow Italy's lead, if it is success in getting a 'generic descriptor' aproval for 'probiotic' yogurts

Probiotic term could reappear on yogurt in UK

By Rick Pendrous

The term ‘probiotic’ could make a re-appearance on pots of yogurt on sale in UK supermarkets, if Italy is successful in getting approval for its use as a ‘generic descriptor’.

Thorntons blamed the profit warnings on lower sales to supermarkets

Thorntons issues Christmas profits warning

By Michael Stones

Thorntons has issued a Christmas profits warning, telling investors profits will be lower than expected due to a slump in supermarket orders.

Yorkshire Provender will increase its workforce from 12

30 new jobs after Yorkshire Provender investment

By Nicholas Robinson

Soup manufacturer Yorkshire Provender will create 30 new jobs next summer after investing £2.4M to double the size of its Melmerby-based factory to meet growing consumer demand for fresh soup.

More Britons said cheers to a beer this year

Beer bounces back this year: Mintel

By Michael Stones

More British drinkers said cheers to beer this year, as sales bounced back from recession, according to market research organisation Mintel.

Jam and honey will fuel the growth in the spreads and syrups market

Jammy growth for spreads market

By Laurence Gibbons

The syrups and spreads market is expected to grow by 22.5% in the UK, fuelled by the popularity of jam and honey, according to research agency Canadean.

Happy Cashmas: shoppers are expected to spend £6.5bn at supermarkets in the fortnight before Christmas

Christmas sales strongest for 25 years

By Michael Stones

Britain’s beleaguered retailers are experiencing their strongest pre-Christmas sales for 25 years, with grocery sales showing the sharpest rises.

Sainsbury has teamed up the GLA to beat labour exploitation

Sainsbury agrees gangmaster partnership with GLA

By Michael Stones

Sainsbury has joined forces with the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) in a bid to prevent labour exploitation, in the same week that two men were convicted of exploiting migrant food industry workers in Cambridgeshire.

European Bioplastics forecasts annual growth of 20% in biopolymers, including PLA

Additives in packaging is a growing area of interest

By Paul Gander

Speciality chemicals supplier Perstorp is among those investing in the bioplastics sector, where interest is growing in additives which are able to improve the performance of polymers such as polylactide (PLA) for packaging.

Ranjit Singh blamed the Q1 profit fall on tough trading conditions

Boparan boss blames profit fall on tough market

By Michael Stones

Boparan boss Ranjit Singh – ceo of the 2 Sisters Food group – has blamed the firm’s nearly £7M fall in like-for-like (LFL) operating profit on tough trading conditions.

Sugar row blamed for RGFC's loss

Sugar row hits Real Good Food Company

By Nicholas Robinson

The Real Good Food Company (RGFC) has blamed its row with British Sugar for its half-year loss and has referred the dispute to the European competition authorities.

Reduced sperm count in vegetarians is the third most popular story

Top 10 food ingredients, health & nutrition stories

By Nicholas Robinson

Reduced sperm counts, dementia risks and the top food and drink trends for 2015 are just three of the 10 most read stories from Food Ingredients, Health & Nutrition (FIHN) this year.

Consumers shouldn't be mislead by clean label

Health Ingredients Europe

Stop misusing natural, expert urges

By Nicholas Robinson

Manufacturers must avoid misleading consumers into thinking natural products are intrinsically healthier for them, an industry expert has urged.

Innova's list of top 10 food trends for 2015 was revealed at HiE yesterday

Health Ingredients Europe

Top food trends for 2015: the full list

By Nicholas Robinson

Insect proteins and fruit-sweetened confectionery are two emerging trends food manufacturers should monitor, according to a list of top 10 food trends for 2015, revealed at the Health Ingredients Europe (HiE) event.

Consumers are increasingly questionning terms such as 'natural', said Leatherhead Food Research

Health Ingredients Europe

Consumers are ready to rumble false food claims

By Nicholas Robinson

Food and drink businesses that loosely use the term ‘natural’ on their products to make them appear healthy could soon be rumbled by untrusting consumers, experts have warned.

Emulsifiers and stabilisers are being used to reduce fat and thicken products

Food firms seek a high-fat feel

By Nicholas Robinson

Making low-fat versions of high-fat food and drink is something scientists will strive to do better, despite criticism, says Nicholas Robinson

Vitamin E benefits outlined

Key role in brain health for vitamin E

By Nicholas Robinson

Vitamin E has a key role to play in reducing the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, fatty liver diseases and other health risks, experts at a recent symposium on vitamin E have said.

Some children's juice drinks contain more sugar than regular Cola

AoS takes another pop at industry

By Nicholas Robinson

Action on Sugar (AoS) has slammed the manufacturers of “seemingly healthy” children’s fruit juices, juice drinks and smoothies, which can often contain more sugar than regular Coca-Cola.

Fall prevention has important psychological benefits to seniors

Vitamin D claim opens elderly target market

By Nicholas Robinson

Food businesses can more easily target elderly consumers who are prone to falling, following the authorisation of a vitamin D health claim by the European Commission (EC).

2 Sisters claimed the supplier letter was only intended as a starting point for negotiations

2 Sisters Food Group slammed for supplier letter

By Rod Addy

2 Sisters Food Group faces criticism from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) after BBC’s Newsnight programme revealed a letter to suppliers claiming they could wait over four months for payments.

Bircher muesli comes in five variants

Cuckoo calls for foodservice push

By Rod Addy

Cuckoo aims to quadruple sales of its Bircher muesli brand to £500,000 by the end of 2015 by targeting expansion in foodservice outlets as well as boosting retail growth.

Food manufacturers should be on TV: environment secretary Elizabeth Truss

Food manufacturing should be on TV: DEFRA

By Michael Stones

TV programme makers should feature food and drink manufacturing – Britain’s largest manufacturing sector – in their broadcasts, according to a senior government minister.

Small businesses need help to avoid are missing out on online sales

SMEs need more support to avoid losing online sales

By Laurence Gibbons

Small businesses should receive more government funding to help boost their online presence and prevent them missing out on £165bn of online sales, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

Grocery market returns to growth, says Kantar

Pre-Christmas sales show Aldi, Lidl stay strong

By Rod Addy

The grocery market returned to growth in the 12 weeks to the end of December 7, with continued success for Waitrose and discounters Aldi and Lidl, according to Kantar Worldpanel data.

Soft drinks are a significant source of sugar, according to National Diet and Nutrition Survey data

Sugary drinks tax slammed by nutritionist

By Rod Addy

Renewed calls to attack health problems by taxing sugary drinks have been slammed by a leading nutritionist, who claims cutting portion sizes and sugar content and tackling irresponsible retail promotions would be better.

Left to right: Humphreys, Bergin, Foster and GII chairman Liam Herlihy at the Virginia facility

Glanbia Ingredients Ireland opens milk protein plant

By Rod Addy

Glanbia Ingredients Ireland (GII) has opened its €7.8M (£6.2M) milk protein facility at its existing site at Virginia, County Cavan, which supplies the cream for Baileys liqueur among other products.

Cash crisis: bullying tactics were driving small businesses to breaking point, warned the FSB

Supply chain bullying: Five things to beware

By Michael Stones

Food manufacturers and other firms should beware five unfair practices that larger businesses use to bully their suppliers, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

The ageing population will provide an opportunity for packaging firms

Benchmarking ease-of-opening

By Paul Gander

A draft standard on packaging openability is allowing brand-owners and retailers, including Marks & Spencer (M&S), to compare and improve pack designs for less dextrous people.

Researchers at York University have discovered a way to turn food waste into cash

York researchers help food firms turn waste into cash

By Rick Pendrous

Researchers from the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence at the University of York are working with local food manufacturers in Yorkshire and Humberside to find ways of deriving useful materials from food waste.

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