An innovative biogas and water treatment plant has revolutionised JBS Australia's Dinmore meat processing facility, reducing emissions and cutting operational costs by more than $1 million a year.

That eating beef is environmentally costly is by now widely appreciated. My colleagues and I decided to calculate just how costly beef production is for the environment, and how it stacks up against pork, poultry, dairy and eggs. [ + ]

In Germany, the Bundeskartellamt has imposed fines totalling approx 338 million euros (AU$488 million) on 21 sausage manufacturers as well as 33 individuals for conducting illegal price-fixing agreements. [ + ]

Cereal and vegetable oil prices have dropped amid improved global supplies, resulting in a drop in the FAO Food Price Index for the third consecutive month, but it is not all good news as meat prices are up and food insecurity is still rife in Africa. [ + ]

Identifying the source of foodborne disease outbreaks is not always easy. Some outbreaks have quite long incubation times and getting consumers to remember exactly what they ate some weeks ago is almost impossible. However, IBM has developed a tool that may help. [ + ]

Prepacked produce is becoming the norm and contract packers are finding the benefits of weigh price labellers. [ + ]

"Rotting lizard found in baby formula" makes an arresting headline. It has all the features to make it popular - innocent babies, uncaring international food processors, biosecurity threat to the nation … But are we sure its true? [ + ]

Innovative packages are the key in the fight against food loss and wastage. More effective barrier layers, germicidal films and freshness indicators are intended to help products to keep for longer and halt consumers' throwaway mentality. However, despite all these improvements, companies have to keep a constant eye on process efficiency and on costs. [ + ]

The resurgence in home baking has increased sales not only for ingredients used for baking from scratch but also the bakery mixes. [ + ]

Individual nutritional lifestyle choices are changing the bakery market in developed countries like Germany. [ + ]

New Zealand's largest three-day food manufacturing, packaging and processing technology event is worth putting into your calendar as a 'must attend'.

Real-time PCR methods are ideal for fast investigations when urgent answers are needed (eg, contamination of a production plant). The recent E.coli O104:H4 German outbreak being a perfect example.

British Bakels looked to Matcon to improve their production flexibility in order to accommodate their broadening portfolio of bakery ingredient premixes. [ + ]

The biggest branded food producer in Argentina stacks delicate bags of pasta faster and more efficiently with robotic automation.

The new George Weston Foods production facility in Castlemaine, Victoria, is now home to Australia's largest robotic palletising system, featuring 16 ABB palletising robots. [ + ]