Standards Australia has announced the draft standard for olive oils is now open for public comment.

Lactose-intolerant consumers around the world may soon be able to obtain the dairy nutrition they need from lactose-free products that are claimed to taste like the real thing.

The potato starch manufacturer AVEBE and the plant biotechnology company BASF Plant Science have announced a research and development alliance in plant biotechnology. The companies are combining their competencies in biotechnology discovery and genetically modified potato breeding with the aim of bringing farmers modern and fungal-resistant starch potato varieties.

Enzyme and specialty food ingredients company Danisco is being gobbled up by DuPont for $6.3 billion.

GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft has acquired the company Convenience Food Systems from funds managed by AEA Investors LP, a supplier of secondary food processing and packaging machinery (meat, fish, cheese).

Four of Australia’s research institutions will collaborate closely over the next three years to fast-track development of new ‘healthier’ varieties of three of the world’s most widely cultivated cereal grains.

Matthews Intelligent Identification has launched iDSnet, its product traceability solution, in the US. Developed in house, the software integrates coding and labelling equipment on a production line/s through a server or central PC.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has released details of proposed changes to the Food Standards Code and invited comment from interested organisations and individuals.

A University of New England researcher has won an award, against international competition, for work on plant nutrition and the management of crop nutrients that he hopes will contribute to global food security.

Rapid urbanisation in China has not only led to improved lifestyles but also sparked a trend of health consciousness.

Work by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA), with input from the honey industry, has seen a revision to a honey food standard that will better manage the risk of anyone suffering from tutin poisoning. Bees collecting honeydew from insects that feed on the tutu plant can contaminate honey with toxic tutin. The Food (Tutin in Honey) Standard 2010 replaces the one issued in 2008 and comes into effect on 1 January 2011. The risk period for tutin in honey is in late summer.

Foodbank Australia, the nation’s largest hunger relief organisation, announced the national distribution of the beloved Australian breakfast cereal, Weet-Bix, to 2200 welfare agencies across the country.

The Australian Institute of Packaging National Board has awarded Phillip Higgins, Director of Technline, a Fellowship.

The US Senate has passed the Food Safety Modernisation Act of 2010. This bill directly enlarges FDA’s legal and regulatory authority over food in nearly every sector.

Work by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA), with input from the honey industry, has seen a revision to a honey food standard that will better manage the risk of anyone suffering from tutin poisoning. Bees collecting honeydew from insects that feed on the tutu plant can contaminate honey with toxic tutin. The Food (Tutin in Honey) Standard 2010 replaces the one issued in 2008 and comes into effect on 1 January 2011. The risk period for tutin in honey is in late summer.