Food Business Africa

Kerry to acquire perseveration technology company Niacet for US$1.01B

Jun 21, 2021Jun 21, 2021 Editor

NETHERLANDS – Kerry, an Irish-based global taste and nutrition company, has signed an agreement to acquire preservation technology company Niacet in a deal estimated to be worth US$1.014 billion (€853 million). Niacet specializes in food preservation and has exclusive drying and granulation process technologies in its key market categories of Bakery, Meat and Pharma. It also has cost-effective low-sodium preservation systems for both meat and plant-based food across conventional and clean label solutions. According to a statement from Kerry, the acquisition will bolster its efforts to strengthen its own technologies for food protection and preservation. …

5-year truce on aircraft dispute hands temporary relief to European dairy industry

Jun 16, 2021Jun 16, 2021 Editor

EUROPE – A recently announced five-year truce in a long-running trade dispute over subsidies for Boeing and Airbus has brought relief to Europe’s dairy industry which found itself in the crossfire between the US and the European Union. Beginning in October 2019, many EU dairy lines have been subject to an additional tariff of 25 percent on arrival in the US. The additional tariffs imposed on EU dairy exports reached hundreds of millions of dollars and severely impacted EU and US-based businesses alike. Dairy producers in the EU lost business…

Corbion upgrades listeria control model to bolster food safety efforts

Jun 15, 2021Jun 16, 2021 Editor

NETHERLANDS – Corbion, a leading food ingredients supplier, has upgraded its Listeria control model to increase the accuracy of food safety measures and enhance speed-to-market for new product developments. Improvements to the newly relaunched CLCM have made the job of identifying the most effective and cost-efficient Listeria control method very simple, says the Dutch company. It uses pH, Aw water activity (Aw), salt content and other parameters to determine the optimum antimicrobial to achieve the desired level of Listeria control. Developers of the enhanced Corbion Listeria Control Model (CLCM) leveraged…

Susan Jebb appointed chair of UK Food Standards Agency

Jun 15, 2021Jun 15, 2021 Editor

UK – Professor Susan Jebb, one of the UK’s leading scientists has been confirmed as the new chair of the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) following a public pre-appointment scrutiny hearing in line with parliamentary procedures. Jebb will take on the role from 1 July for three years, allowing Ruth Hussey – who has acted interim chair over the last few months following the departure of Heather Hancock – to return to her role as deputy chair. Susan, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and Honorary Fellow of…

US Department of Agriculture to invest US$4B in strengthening food supply chains

Jun 14, 2021Jun 16, 2021 Editor

US – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced plans to invest over US$4 billion in strengthening food supply chains in order to make them resilient to future disruptions. According to a statement from USDA, the investment is part of President Joseph Biden’s Build Back Better Initiative aimed at securing increased domestic production and ensuring adequate stockpiles, security, and related workforce. The three-part Build Back Better agenda includes the American Rescue Plan, already passed by Congress, and plans that tackle issues facing American jobs and families. The USDA investment…

Canada’s BSE negligible risk status to help beef farmers access more export markets

Jun 10, 2021Jun 10, 2021 Editor

CANADA – The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has confirmed Canada’s successful application for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) negligible risk status. BSE is a disease of the nervous system of cattle, which has a long incubation period between two and eight years, and occasionally longer. It is one of a group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), or prion diseases, characterised by the accumulation in nervous tissue of an abnormal infectious protein called a prion. The “negligible” risk status is the lowest risk status established by the…

Europe poultry exports plummet as region experiences one of the largest Avian Influenza epidemics ever

Jun 10, 2021Jun 10, 2021 Editor

EUROPE – Poultry exports from Europe decreased significantly following the February-May 2021 European High Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) season described as “one of the largest and most devastating HPAI epidemics ever occurred in Europe.” According to statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture, the 2020-2021 HPAI epidemic counts 3,555 detected infections in 27 European countries including 22 EU member states, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. USDA notes that the epicenter of the HPAI epidemic appears to have been in Germany and Poland, with the former country detecting the…

Developing countries urged to uphold food safety measures adopted during pandemic period

Jun 8, 2021Jun 11, 2021 Editor

AFRICA – The world cannot over emphasis on the importance of ensuring the adoption of food safety practices and technologies in the entire agriculture and food value chain. This year, the globe has turned its focus on ‘Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow’, as the theme of the World Food Safety Day 2021, stressing that production and consumption of safe food has immediate and long-term benefits for people, the planet and the economy. However, according to a flagship dialogue hosted by EatSafe, developing countries have not yet made gainful…

Upfield Kenya joins band of manufacturers driving food safety agenda by obtaining FSSC 22000 Certification

Jun 8, 2021Jun 10, 2021 Editor

KENYA – Upfield, the global leader in plant-based nutrition has marked the World Food Safety Day in style, as its Kenyan operations obtained the coveted Food Management System Standard certification, FSSC 22000. The maker of the blue band brand has received the certification indicating that it has implemented the most robust food safety management system while manufacturing and handling the food products. “Our Nairobi based Blue Band manufacturing plant meets the requirements of an internationally recognized best practice approach and has been able to implement a robust food defense and…

WHO launches new handbook to help countries enhance effectiveness of their food safety systems

Jun 8, 2021Jun 8, 2021 Editor

SWITZERLAND – As the world celebrates the World Food Safety Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a new handbook to help countries address food safety challenges in their respective jurisdictions. According to a statement from the WHO, the new handbook will provide a guideline on how countries can measure their foodborne disease burden. Additionally, the handbooks provide countries with information on how they can identify food safety system needs and data gaps so they can strengthen national infrastructure and better protect people’s health. “Food should sustain and support human…