Since the 2012 EU tobacco convention raised the age limit for tobacco sales and products that reminded people of tobacco products to 18 years of age, stores were also ordered to hide the products in stores – including the popular “liquorice pipe” sweet in Norway. Now a recent update of this act means a reintroduction of liquorice pipes on store shelves.

FDA is the right agency to assess the safety and quality of lab-grown meat, say several representatives from the emerging lab-grown meat, poultry and seafood industry, despite a push from many in the traditionally raised meat and poultry industry for USDA to regulate these products when they become commercially available.

USDA's proposed bioengineered food disclosure standard does not answer the key question of what threshold amount of a GMO triggers the disclosure requirements, prompting marked disagreement among stakeholders on where to draw the line. 

EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis has written to all 28 member states urging them to step up enforcement of European rules on misleading food labelling.

The 41^st meeting of the UN’s Codex Alimentarius Commission this month set new limits for methylmercury found in fish and a naturally occurring contaminant found in chocolate. It also agreed to undertake new work on simplified nutrition labelling.

A White Paper detailing what sort of relationship the UK government wants with the EU following the country’s departure from the Bloc next March has now been published. The White Paper looks to avoid a hard border with Northern Ireland, which has been a major concern of the food and agriculture industries, and maintain cooperation with EU regulators to ensure continuing food safety.

Proposals for the next Common Agricultural Policy have been submitted by the European Commission, while the new US Farm Bill is making its way through the Legislative Branch, meaning it is a significant time for the farming sectors on both sides of the Atlantic.

A wide-ranging trade and cooperation deal that the EU and Japan signed on 17 July will create a free trade zone covering over 600 million people, ending some €1 billion in export duties that European firms currently pay annually, with Europe’s agri-food sector expected to be one of the main winners.

A White Paper detailing what sort of relationship the UK government wants with the EU following the country’s departure from the Bloc next March has now been published. The White Paper looks to avoid a hard border with Northern Ireland, which has been a major concern of the food and agriculture industries, and maintain cooperation with EU regulators to ensure continuing food safety.

The long-awaited Brexit blueprint put forward by the UK government at a key meeting of senior ministers last Friday (July 7) offers the prospect of something very close to business as usual for agri-food trade between the UK, the EU and the rest of the world – if it proves to be acceptable to the EU-27.

UK government ministers will meet tomorrow (July 6) to review a proposal for ‘ongoing harmonisation’ with EU rules for agri-food products and other goods after the UK leaves the EU, according to reports circulating in London today.

A proposal to move US food safety programs from the FDA to the USDA took many in the food and drink sector by surprise in June, while the European Commission unveiled its plans for a new post-Brexit Common Agricultural Policy.

Specialised Nutrition Europe (SNE) published gluten free labelling guidelines to celebrate International Coeliac Day on 16 May.

A new group of scientific experts, selected from 1,000 candidates, will be taking on the challenging role of advising on the work of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) from July.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the transparency and independence of risk evaluations and scientific studies in response to the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) against glyphosate. 

The US FDA has granted a petition by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) that waives the labelling of soy lecithin after finding its products will not cause an allergic response when used as a release agent applied to food contact substances.

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority is carrying out an audit of dairy product labels in Norwegian stores. The reason for this is that inadequate labelling of foods may pose a health risk, and may mislead consumers. The audit will take a closer look at ingredient lists, ingredient quantities, nutrition labelling, allergens, and package claims regarding “light” products, sugar, fat, protein and fibre.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is running a month-long campaign aimed at ensuring that food businesses are applying the correct allergen labelling to their products.  The authority has also said a tenth food is expected to be added this month to the current list of nine foods that must be declared as allergens.

Ferrero has come under scrutiny for a range of social media posts that promoted its chocolate spread, Nutella. However, the company has not been found to have breached rules related to the advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) to children.

Since the 2012 EU tobacco convention raised the age limit for tobacco sales and products that reminded people of tobacco products to 18 years of age, stores were also ordered to hide the products in stores – including the popular “liquorice pipe” sweet in Norway. Now a recent update of this act means a reintroduction of liquorice pipes on store shelves.

EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis has written to all 28 member states urging them to step up enforcement of European rules on misleading food labelling.

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has changed its take on usage of the term “turkey bacon”. After initially disallowing meat producer Nortura from using the word “bacon” in its marketing of its Prior branded meat, the authority has now decided that it is fine after all.

Europe’s food industry association, FoodDrinkEurope, has called on EU member states to ensure that food standards remain compatible after Brexit to prevent disruption to trade and to consumers.

EU ambassadors have confirmed an agreement to limit the use of antibiotics in animal rearing to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR).