Despite a difficult year, Tetra Pak has posted net sales of €10.9 billion, up 1.7% from 2013. The company saw strong growth in capital equipment and technical sales, offsetting a disappointing year for packaging material. [ + ]

Rising electricity and gas costs have hampered the competitiveness and profitability of the domestic food and grocery manufacturing industry in recent years, with more pain expected due to a forecast tripling of gas prices, AFGC CEO Gary Dawson said. [ + ]

Online supplier platform RANGEme has announced its entry into GS1 Australia's Alliance Partner Program. Targeted at SMEs, RANGEme enables FMCG suppliers to pitch their product range to leading Australian retailers more efficiently. [ + ]

In light of the recent hepatitis A outbreak that was linked to frozen berries from China, it's no wonder that the proportion of Australians who are more likely to buy food labelled 'Made in Australia' increased from 85 to 88% over the last two years.

Pesticide residues in food have been linked with lower sperm counts and reduced sperm morphology in men's semen in a new study published in the journal Human Reproduction. [ + ]

Consultations and consumer research are underway to deliver clearer and more consistent country of origin labelling (CoOL) for food sold in Australia, the government has announced. [ + ]

Almost two trillion food packaging units were sold in 2014 - a global increase of 3%. The increasing popularity of stand-up pouches has been significant in this increase, according to Euromonitor International. [ + ]

While some might argue there's no good time to eat junk food, researchers have discovered that there are two crucial points in a person's life when exposure to junk food has the biggest impact: in utero and during adolescence.

A Chinese-made product called 'Aussie Beer' has attracted the attention of the ACCC - and a $10,200 fine. Independent Liquor Group released the product in 2014, featuring green-and-gold labelling and the statements "100% owned" within a map of Australia and "Australia's finest malt". [ + ]

Israeli researchers have developed a technique using high-voltage, short pulsed electric fields that selectively damage cell membranes, killing the contaminating bacteria by a process known as electroporation.

A novel form of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy known as NIR hyperspectral imaging (HSI) could help clear up the uncertainty around peanut allergen labelling, researchers say. [ + ]

SPX Corporation has been awarded a contract by the Midfield Group to help establish a new dairy powder processing plant in Australia. The facility will produce both whole and skim milk powder and will also include an anhydrous milk fat (AMF) processing line. [ + ]

Liqui-Box has received the Silver Award for Technical Innovation at the 2015 FPA Flexible Packaging Achievement Awards for its FlexAsept bulk food package. [ + ]

Researchers have discovered 30 new types of 'heat-beater' beans, which could prevent production from crashing due to rising temperatures in large swathes of bean-dependent Latin America and Africa. [ + ]

Protein sources like albumin and whey could be used to create bioplastics with antibacterial properties, a University of Georgia study has shown. The antibacterial bioplastics could be used for food packaging as well as medical applications such as wound-healing dressings. [ + ]