Food manufacturers must re-formulate to keep their consumers healthy in a region famed for its love of sugar, and many are now cottoning on to their responsibility.
The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has launched an emergency campaign to safeguard livestock and food security across the Mosul area in Iraq, recently retaken from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Turkey has established a Halal Accreditation Authority (HAK) as it seeks to drive food sector sales, which is expected to be worth $2.55 trillion by 2024.
New estimates suggest that the Middle East will consume nearly 60m tonnes of food annually by 2050 due to soaring population growth, putting pressure on governments to find ways to secure their supplies.
The Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Investment Company (Salic) has joined the UAE’s Al Dahra in a SAR5bn (US$1.3bn) joint venture to invest in the Black Sea region.
Gulf food processing is among the key sectors ripe for investment as India continues to strengthen its historic economic ties with the GCC, according to a new report by Alpen Capital.
Saudi Arabia’s food regulator will publish permitted rates of sugar, salt and saturated fat in processed food as part of a wide-ranging review of its food policy.
Dubai Food Park will feature a Chinese food processing cluster following a pledge to invest AED1.35bn (US$367m) by Ningxia Forward Fund Management Company.
Qatar's government might have succeeded in reducing the impact of economic sanctions placed on it by other Arab countries after official figures reported that food price inflation had eased during August.
Food exports between the UAE and Malaysia are set to increase after authorities in the Southeast Asian nation agreed to recognise the UAE's national certification and halal mark.
A Cairo flavours facility has come back online a year after International Flavours and Fragrances shuttered it for renovation and expansion work to be carried out.
An airport in Dubai has released a “first-of-its-kind” guide to halal investment in a bid to tempt travellers to contribute to the emirate’s effort to become the hub of the Islamic economy by 2021.
McDonald’s may have been introducing healthier options to its global menus, but there has been little interest in items beyond burgers and fries in the UAE.
Qatar's government has “effectively” protected the economy against sanctions imposed by neighbouring countries, according to an International Monetary Fund official.
Saudi Arabia has imported roughly twice as much American corn and associated products this year due to a change in government policy and more competitive prices for the commodity.
Qatar Islamic Bank has backed Doha-based contractor Al Jaber Engineering to construct a 530,000 square-metre “food-security” facility at Hamad Port to meet local demand for sugar, rice and cooking oil.
The Iranian dairy industry is beginning to expand. This growth domestically is being complemented by the country’s dairy companies now looking to export to countries such as Russia.
Dubai Municipality’s two-year-old campaign to encourage the emirate’s residents to grow their own food has been gaining momentum, with 1,600 individuals now signed up.
Mobile money transfers has been adopted as part of a cash-for-work programme aimed at rehabilitating agricultural infrastructure for the benefit of vulnerable rural families in Iraq.
Health inspectors uncovered more than 1,300 tonnes of rotten fruit, vegetables, meat and being sold at unlicensed markets to poor residents in Dubai in the first half of this year.
Indian natural colours and pigments major Roha will expand into the Middle East and North Africa following its acquisition of the colour division of Delta Aromatics.
European commissioner for agriculture and rural development Phil Hogan will front an autumnal trade mission to Saudi Arabia and Iran in what could unlock lucrative new deals for halal meat traders.
Dubai’s first dedicated food park will be built at a cost of AED5.5m (US$1.5m) and incorporate a mix of government infrastructure, warehousing and manufacturing facilities.
UK-based firm Haloodies will start exporting meat snacks to United Arab Emirates (UAE) supermarkets as part of a big push to become a global halal brand.
A Germany-funded project to train refugees in greenhouse cultivation, beekeeping, hen production and food processing has been launched to help thousands of vulnerable Iraqis and Syrians.
The UN's World Food Programme is seeking to improve the nutrition of 1.9 million children and women in war-torn Yemen by delivering targetted supplementary feeding programmes in the Middle East's poorest nation.
Health officials in the United Arab Emirates have moved to clamp down on 11 'dangerous' supplements, which they say pose a serious health risk to the public.
Philippines-based Del Monte Pacific has entered into a joint-venture with Arab-owned Fresh Del Monte Produce to expand its refrigerated fruit-based lines.
