Horsemeat: former Freeza director points finger at Europe

16-May-2013 - The ex-director of a meat processor caught up in the European horsemeat scandal has claimed that the fraud was carried out by a big organisation, which specifically targeted burger plants and ready meal manufacturers.

Irish farmers in plea for help as fodder crisis mounts

08-May-2013 - Ireland has appealed for EC support to help tackle its animal fodder crisis, as well as an extension of current subsidies for beleaguered cattle farmers.

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.

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.

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.

ABP sells Silvercrest to Kepak

19-Apr-2013 - ABP Food Group has announced it is exiting the frozen burger market with the sale of the Irish processing plant which produced a burger containing 29.1% horsemeat.

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.

News in brief

Easterbrook returns to McDonald’s as head of brands

17-Apr-2013 - The former president of McDonald’s Europe has been appointed as the burger giant’s global chief brand officer and executive vice-president.

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.

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.

News in brief

Irish pigmeat gains access to Australia

18-Mar-2013 - Australian veterinarian authorities have approved Irish pigmeat for import, opening up a new market potentially worth an annual €20m for suppliers in the Republic of Ireland.

Food security institute opened in Northern Ireland

18-Mar-2013 - A new £33m ‘food fortress’ aimed at improving sustainable, safe and secure global supplies of quality food, was officially opened by Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke in Belfast last week (14 March).

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.

News in brief

Horsemeat: impact on Irish grocery market

13-Mar-2013 - New figures suggest the horsemeat issue has only affected what Irish consumers are putting in their baskets, rather than where they are shopping

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.

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.

News in brief

Horse DNA found at Polish meat storage units

28-Feb-2013 - Polish authorities have reportedly found traces of horse DNA in three meat storage facilities.

Horsemeat scandal 'unforgivable', says Nestlé boss

27-Feb-2013 - The entire food industry has been affected by the horsemeat scandal, according to the boss of Nestlé Paul Bulcke.