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.

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.

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.

News in brief

Dutch authorities investigate meat processing industry

26-Apr-2013 - Food safety officials in the Netherlands are launching an investigation into the meat processing industry in the wake of the horsemeat scandal.

Belarus imposes poultry ban on Netherlands

24-Apr-2013 - Belarus has banned poultry imports from the Netherlands due to reports of avian influenza (H7N7), implementing the same restrictions on the country as those in Russia and Kazakhstan.

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.

Horsemeat fears prompt huge Dutch recall

11-Apr-2013 - Dutch food safety authorities are recalling 50,000 tonnes of beef over fears that it could contain horsemeat.

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

Bird flu outbreak in Dutch province

25-Mar-2013 - An outbreak of low pathogenic avian influenza has been reported on a poultry farm in the Flevoland Province of the Netherlands.

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.

Bird flu outbreak in the Netherlands

18-Mar-2013 - More than 80,000 chickens have been destroyed on a farm in the Netherlands following an outbreak of low pathogenic avian influenza virus.

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.

European study links processed meat to lifespan

07-Mar-2013 - A new European study has claimed that eating too much processed meat, such as salami, ham and sausages, can increase the risk of early death from heart disease and cancer.

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.