In just the first weekend of new regulations designed to prohibit the trafficking of infant formula out of Hong Kong, border patrols had already arrested around 45 traders.
As concerns grow for the security of food supplies for its billion-plus population, China—the sixth biggest producer of genetically modified crops—has resolved to continue importing GM soybeans to satisfy domestic demand.
If you are a regular reader of this news service, you would be hard-pressed to find just one month in the last two years when we have NOT reported on a food safety issue in China.
Sick of lurching from one food crisis to the next, it seems the Chinese authorities are planning to form one cohesive food safety unit based on America’s FDA model.
Demands by Chinese quarantine authorities for a new layer of verification to make sure that pork imported from the US is free of a feed additive have baffled analysts and officials.
By Theo Spierings, CEO of Fonterra Co-operative Group
Last week, we published a critique of Fonterra's actions during the DCD furore, which saw lengthy delays between identifying the presence of minute quantities of the chemical in the company's milk. Having requested a right to reply, Fonterra's...
Fonterra Brands Australia is pulling batches of CalciYum yogurt from supermarket shelves across Australia over concerns that the product's “weakened” plastic cap could present a choking hazard.
The story of the death of a New Zealand woman who would drink between six and 10 litres of Coca-Cola a day needs to be treated with caution as it does the rounds of the world’s news media.
Over 150 Indian scientists have united to call public attention to the Ministry of Agriculture, which they believe has been making a political case for genetically modified crops to counter concerns of food security.
Apparently, India’s food safety rules and regulations are just as stringent as those in other, more developed countries. And that’s according to a proper source, one who should know his onions.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has once again extended the licencing and registration deadline for the country’s food business operators. In an embarrassing move by the government’s consumer watchdog, businesses now have another...
While European supermarkets and fast-food chains have been dealing with the fall-out of horse meat in burgers, a meatpacking factory in north-east China has been found using cheap duck meat and additives to replace mutton and beef slices.
It’s quite remarkable how Fonterra has evolved to become New Zealand’s biggest company given the way the dairy giant seems to struggle to take on board its errors of the past.
It is "difficult to say" if New Zealand dairy exports will suffer as a result of the on-going concerns surrounding dicyandiamide (DCD) contamination, Rabobank has claimed.
Lawyers in the United States are queuing up to bring on board investors in KFC’s parent, Yum! Brands, for a class action lawsuit. The move follows nearly two months of questions concerning meat standards at the fast food chain’s Chinese operation.
New Zealand’s government has started a PR offensive to limit the impact of last week’s revelations that low levels of chemical residue were discovered in dairy products from the country, and Chinese consumers find themselves high on its charm list.
The sale and use of dicyandiamide (DCD) has been brought to a halt in New Zealand after low levels of the substance were discovered in samples of dairy products from the country.
Australian researchers have claimed a breakthrough that will allow them to use DNA amplification on “microspheres” to rapidly detect and identify large numbers of different bacteria at once.
Mengniu saw its brand value plummet by more than 30% in 2012, as Chinese public concern over the safety of domestically-manufactured dairy products continued to turn consumers towards ‘safer’ international brands.
The high level of mycotoxin contamination in Indian cereals must be addressed with improved monitoring and maximum levels for contamination set, a new study says.
Having foods and ingredients approved by Jewish rabbis may not seem a matter that would of great importance to non-Jewish food and supplement manufacturers – not so.
Speaking at an industry event in Haryana, the Indian minister for state for agriculture and food processing stressed that finding new ways to detect emerging food pathogens was crucial for the domestic economy’s “sunrise sector”.
The Coca-Cola Company has confirmed that it has filed a police report in China targeting recent internet hoax rumors that its orange juice contains an illegal fungicide, and will pursue legal redress.
Stores in Australia are fighting to replenish stocks of infant formula following an unprecedented surge in demand from Chinese customers wary of the safety of products at home.
Food & Water Watch, the American consumer advocacy group, has called on the United States Department of Agriculture to review its decision to allow Australia’s newly privatised meat inspection system to be considered equivalent to that of the US.
This week, Indian consumers will begin to learn if some of the packaged foods they buy contain genetically-modified ingredients following a gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
The Beijing municipal government will soon introduce a strict law, as well as an accountability system, to ensure food safety in the city. The move follows measures recently taken by Shanghai to blacklist firms that ignore health regulations.
Australia’s director of animal and plant quarantine is expected to approve the import of fresh decrowned pineapple fruit from Malaysia. The decision based on consideration of a final risk analysis report for the import of the fruit from Malaysia.
Saudi Arabia is the latest Asian country to suspend beef imports from Brazilian. It is now also the biggest country to stop purchases after the South American country confirmed a case of atypical mad cow disease in 2010.
Parties on both sides of table have welcomed the recent decision by Australian and New Zealand ministers responsible for food regulation on the issue of health claims in the region.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has called for submissions to draft fish processing aid regulation on carbon monoxide after reports it is being used despite being banned.
This week, New Zealand has become the first country in the world to sign an agreement with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The pact recognises each other’s food safety systems as providing a comparable degree of food-safety assurance.
“Human guinea pigs”, “gambling with health” and “shadowy research project”—the terms came thick and fast in Greenpeace’s revelation about Golden Rice earlier this year.
Cambodia has inaugurated a food industry laboratory, built with Chinese aid, that sets out to assist food quality improvement, research and technology development.
The Chinese have given a vote of confidence to their government's public services, while at the same time voicing criticism about the quality of what they eat.
The “Golden Rice” scandal that has panicked parents and called into question research methods at an American university has seen a new development with the sacking of three officials in China.
A social media storm and petition have prompted Australian supermarket Woolworths to withdraw all juice supplies of infant drink brand Bebi from its shelves, although its infant suitable water line will remain.
A supplier of poultry to KFC in China has refuted claims in a Chinese website that it gives its chicken feed laced with large amounts of toxic additives.
Six of the world’s leading infant formula manufacturers are opposing a Hong Kong government proposal to ban the promotion of baby food products for children under the age of three.
By Claire Bleakley, president of GE-free NZ in Food and Environment
In the first of a new series of hard-hitting opinion pieces, Claire Bleakley, president of GE-free NZ in Food and Environment, gives her take on how GE crops—and now livestock—have been quietly moving into New Zealand, a country that has traditionally...
Scientists in New Zealand are developing a method to identify the geographical source of milk powder products – a potential answer to the problem of counterfeit ‘Made in New Zealand’ infant formula products.
Numerous consignments of baby formula made in New Zealand have been prevented from entering China after authorities branded them substandard. Now it has come to light, the issue is raising concerns that the ensuing Chinese media coverage might potentially...
In a move to calm an issue that is threatening to turn into a populist political bun fight, Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) has issued a statement relating to cattle exports to Egypt, confirming that Australian animals...
In the wake of a major recall of toxic South Korean noodles from shelves across the country, food regulation authorities in the Philippines are now actively seeking to target imported products that do not contain English translations of ingredients on...
