More information needed to improve European meat market performance, says report

14-Jun-2013 - European consumer knowledge and understanding of the meat market is low, which is contributing to a low Market Performance Index (MPI) compared to other goods markets, according to an EU report.

G8 science ministers discuss antibiotic resistance

13-Jun-2013 - Antimicrobial resistance was top of the agenda at a meeting of international science ministers in the UK yesterday ahead of the G8 summit.

Exclusive interview

OIE head Bernard Vallat on global animal disease control

13-Jun-2013 - While the European horsemeat scandal and a fresh Asian avian flu epidemic have dented public confidence in meat and livestock safety, Bernard Vallat, director general of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), has stressed recent victories in the global battle for disease control.

EU food alerts in decline before horsmeat scandal

11-Jun-2013 - The European Commission has published its annual report on the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), which showed that notifications were falling before the horsemeat scandal.

Beef boosts Irish food exports

29-May-2013 - Strong beef sales have contributed to a 27% value hike in Irish food and drink exports over the last three years to €9bn in 2012, while trade with the UK has risen by 5% over the last year alone to €3.8bn or 42% of all exports.

Moy Park profits bounce back

03-May-2013 - European poultry processor Moy Park has reported a significant recovery in earnings for 2012 despite tough market conditions.

News in brief

Horsemeat conviction upheld

03-May-2013 - An appeals court in the Netherlands has maintained the fraud conviction of a man who sold horsemeat as beef in 2012.

UK pig industry tackles EU non-compliance

02-May-2013 - The British pig industry will start monitoring the UK food chain to ensure that illegal pork is not brought in from farms that are non-compliant with the sow stall ban introduced at the beginning of this year.

Ukraine eases EU cattle ban

29-Apr-2013 - Ukraine has partly lifted restrictions on imports of cattle and small ruminants from Europe, while Russia and Belarus have tightened restrictions over Schmallenberg virus fears.

News in brief

EC gives meat producers a marketing boost

29-Apr-2013 - The European Commission has announced a series of three-year spending programmes to help meat producers from around the European Union (EU) sell their products at home and abroad.

EU beef demand stays strong, despite horsemeat scandal

22-Apr-2013 - The European horsemeat scandal has not had any significant impact on demand for beef, according to the Rabobank Beef Quarterly Q1 report.

Feature

EU sheep meat sector’s volatility opens up new export opportunities

19-Apr-2013 - A  combination of low prices and production costs, reduction in import volumes from non EU countries, increased production in some sheep meat producing  countries combined with an increasing demand in emerging markets have paved the way for  some EU lamb producers to boost exports and compete on a global scale.

Horsemeat: EU test results published

17-Apr-2013 - Nearly 5% of products tested for horsemeat across the EU were positive, while 0.5% of those tested positive for bute, the European Commission stated yesterday.

Horsemeat: Bute poses little consumer risk, say EU agencies

16-Apr-2013 - The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have said that European consumers were probably not harmed through eating illegally contaminated horsemeat during the recent mislabelling scandal.

EFSA gives opinion on MSM health risks

02-Apr-2013 - Mechanically separated meat (MSM) from poultry and swine carries similar risks to non-mechanically separated meat unless produced using high-pressure production techniques, according to a scientific opinion published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Russia considers EU chilled meat ban

28-Mar-2013 - Russia has announced it will ban imports of chilled meat from Spain and the Netherlands due, in its opinion, to a lack of proper veterinary control in these countries.

News in brief

Spanghero under investigation

20-Mar-2013 - French authorities are investigating meat processor Spanghero after finding 57 tonnes of illegal mechanically separated meat (MSM) from the UK at its premises.

Guest article

Horsemeat: what are the long term impacts?

20-Mar-2013 - As the horsemeat scandal continues to spread across Europe and beyond, Simone Baroke, an analyst for Euromonitor, looks at the possible long term impacts.

Warnings over CAP cuts

15-Mar-2013 - The European Parliament (EP) has backed budget cuts to the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) agreed last month by European Union (EU) heads of government and the move is expected to have a negative impact on EU livestock farmers.

Brussels predicts halt to growth of EU poultry sector

13-Mar-2013 - A European Commission food market data report has predicted the long-running growth on European Union (EU) poultry meat production will finally end next year (2014), registering an anticipated dip of 0.7%.

News in brief

Bute risk assessed in Europe

12-Mar-2013 - The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are to carry out a joint assessment on the potential human health risks of residues of the pain-killing drug phenylbutazone, known commonly as bute.

European supermarket survey

08-Mar-2013 - A biennial UK supermarket welfare survey is due to be extended across Europe for the first time, due to interest from companies on the Continent.

US industry gives conditional welcome to EU FTA talks

07-Mar-2013 - A group of US food and agricultural oganisations has praised the Obama administration for launching free trade negotiations with the EU, but has called for any deal to address barriers to US meat exports.

Carrefour tightens supply chain

05-Mar-2013 - As contamination scandals continue to rage through Europe, French supermarket giant Carrefour has announced a number of initiatives to improve the traceability and quality of its supply chains.

What caused the European horsemeat crisis?

04-Mar-2013 - As the horsemeat scandal continues to rage through Europe, policy makers and industry are starting to reflect on what caused the crisis, and how it can be avoided in the future.