Aware that food and grocery suppliers maybe too scared to report abuse of power tactics by the supermarkets, the Australian trade watchdog has said that it would offer protection for reporting parties.
Thai exports to China will hit the US$2.1 billion mark in 2012 with the ready-to-eat segment, processed foods such as canned fish and fruit and sugar, as well as seasonings in high demand.
Over half of food processing and packaging firms on the Chinese mainland failed safety inspections in 2011 – a figure food quality control company AsiaInspection has called “alarming.”
Controversy surrounding New Zealand’s new food safety bill refuses to die down with activists and conservatives leading protests from small producers and farmers against the bill.
The focus for manufacturers in Singapore needs to be on the export market, and in particular functional and health foods, according to industry official.
India-based food company, AgroTech Foods, will invest US$18.52million in expanding its production capacity as well as launch new high-margin products over the next two to three years, in a bid to become a diversified food company.
Recent food scandals have influenced China food officials to implement up to 1,000 food regulations by 2015. The aim is to regain consumer confidence in local processed foods.
With an eye on the small but growing halal food market in China, Malaysia-based Fahim Technologies has expanded its halal integrity solution services to the country’s autonomous Muslim-populated province of Ningxia.
Australian soup manufacturers will easily be able to mitigate the costs associated with the recently announced cuts in sodium levels in the country, says a food industry expert.
The trans-Tasman food standards watchdog has called for submissions on an application to change the Food Standards Code to allow food derived from a genetically modified (GM) corn line to be sold in the region.
In the wake of several food scandals over the past few years, Chinese authorities are stepping up their efforts to enhance food safety laws and food inspection regulations.
Food processors in India have asked the authorities for rationalization of Value-Added Tax (VAT) rates in the country’s next budget, which is expected to be announced in February or March next year.
India’s food processing market has the potential to mirror Chinese growth over the next few years, said Dutch firm GMV after it agreed a move into the Indian market.
A public-private partnership has been struck, assuring $1m to create a fund for food safety training programmes and incident prevention schemes throughout Asia Pacific.
China and Malaysia have set up a working committee to determine the permissible level of nitrite in bird's nests, with an eventual aim to overturn the ban on their export from Malaysia to China.
Activist groups in New Zealand have said that if the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is signed, the country would compromise its reputation for food safety and export-quality produce.
Unperturbed by all the criticism and flak it has received from food manufacturers, Australian supermarket chain Woolworths has said that private labels are at the centre of its expansion plans.
A gas leak on New Zealand’s upper North Island forced the closure of many food factories in the affected area, stifling production and increasing concerns for the country’s economy.
A panel within India’s food safety regulator has recommended the approval of stevia as natural alternative to sugar for soft drink concentrates, chewing gums and other processed food products.
Three employees of a steamed bun production factory in Shanghai have received jail terms of up to nine years for producing and selling tainted steamed buns, Shanghai’s Higher People’s Court reported on Monday.
Dutch food safety company Micreos looks poised to gain approval for its Listeria-fighting bacteriophage processing aid in Australasia after safety authorities there said they had no concerns about the product.
Nutrastar is to develop its organic and speciality foods business in an 18 month expansion plan with annual production capacity set to increase to more than 6.5m kg of organic produce.
A market for Indian honey in the North American market has prompted Intertek to launch a honey certification service for manufacturers and exporters in India.
Malaysia has introduced new regulation to govern the export of edible bird's nests from the country to China, where incidents of contamination were reported last month by quality regulators.
Some food manufacturers are misleading shoppers in terms of unclear labeling in relation to the inclusion of genetically modified (GM) ingredients in their products, according to a media report.
A lack of an appropriate cold chain infrastructure and increasing food losses in India has opened the doors for Ingersoll Rand India Ltd to begin offering cold chain consultancy services in the country, the company said last week.
Food safety in China saw another big push with food inspectors combing down food units that are selling moon cakes, a food product that is in great demand during the mid-autumn festival.
A top level panel in India has slammed the food processing sector in India for the apparent wastage of food every year due to a lack of the necessary infrastructure in the country's food supply chain.
Like China, other Asian countries need a long-term regulatory mechanism to form a coordinated supervisory system if they are to enforce higher food safety levels, according to a white paper released last week.
Taiwan has told countries that had placed a ban on the import of its food products that it has managed to gain control of the DEHP food contamination problem from earlier this year.
In a major demonstration of its commitment to the safety and quality of food made in China, the country’s regulators have cracked down on law-breaching businesses and people in the food industry.
Food manufacturers in India may have to gradually reduce the salt content in their packaged food products if a proposal from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is accepted as a standard.
India's new food safety act will strengthen better the ability of regulators and the government to handle food contamination incidents, the head of one of India's top food research institutes has said.
Sri Lanka will now longer allow the import, transport, storage, packaging, distributing, and selling of food products in packaging that can cause health problems to the human body.
A new study has suggested that there are undeclared allergens in many commercial processed food products in Thailand, which could cause allergic reactions.
Unscrupulous food processors, corrupt officials, incomplete regulations and ignorance of the laws are some of the ongoing defects in China’s food safety system, said a report by the country’s legislators this week.
Asian food safety authorities are increasingly considering health logos for food and beverage products that meet certain nutritional criteria to help combat rising obesity rates in the region, international food policy consultancy EAS said.
Mumbai-based food processor ADF Foods Ltd, which garners a majority of its sales revenue from overseas markets, is now looking to penetrate deeper into its home market of India.
India-based rice exporter Kohinoor Foods Ltd has formed a joint venture with US-based spice maker McCormick for the marketing of basmati rice and other food products in India.
Dietary supplement manufacturers operating in China will have to do more to guarantee the quality of their supply chains, after Chinese authorities imposed new quality control regulations last week.
The significant and rapid growth in demand for food safety and quality checks in India has been the driver behind the opening of a new state-of-the-art testing laboratory in the country, said Eurofins Scientific.
China’s reputation as an ingredient supplier has suffered from a spate of food safety problems – but the food industry should not paint all China-based companies with the same broad brush, says stevia supplier GLG Life Tech.
Stevia supplier GLG Life Tech has signed an exclusive supply agreement with Fengyang Xiaogangcun Yongkang Foods High Tech Co. Ltd. (FXY) for distribution of its stevia products in China.
Westernised eating habits and the desire for convenient foods to fit into busy working lives are driving demand for food and beverage enzymes in South Asia, according to the president of Novozymes Asia.
Direct foreign investment in the Indian food processing industry rocketed 175 per cent during 2009-10 to reach $279.33m and now plays an important role in developing the sector, according to the national government.
Products such as confectionery, biscuits and juice products are experiencing double-digit growth in China with this consumer demand fuelling an increase in the country’s sugar imports, according to a USDA report.
