A new study of global food supplies has confirmed what experts have long suspected: in the last 50 years, human diets around the world have grown more and more similar - by a global average of 36%. [ + ]

Manufacturers of industrial packages are being hit particularly hard by price rises resulting, in part, from rising energy costs. Their containers, pallets, technical components and work-piece carriers are usually made of plastics. Although they are light and robust, a lot of energy is required for the injection-moulding of plastics packages. Furthermore, the manufacturers need granulate for this, which is in big demand and no longer available in limitless quantities.

White fish processor Kirwin Brothers decided on a Phantom metal detector from Fortress Technology to keep up with increased demand and its customers' requirements. Happy with the system, the company purchased a second.

The Schwarzwald-Sprudel PET bottle production plant produces and uses compressed air efficiently thanks to an Atlas Copco compressed air station. Heat from the system is recovered to provide heating throughout the facility. [ + ]

As part of its rapid expansion, Grupo Petrópolis - Brazil's second-largest brewing conglomerate - has built two new breweries, each with a capacity of six million hectolitres. Krones won the turnkey order for the two breweries. [ + ]

Veuve Clicquot makes its wine in 400 tanks, each of which is monitored for up to 40 variables. The champagne house has just replacd its 10-year-old supervision system software with a new PcVue system. [ + ]

PFD is using Kronos workforce management solutions deployed in the Kronos Cloud to streamline its business and deliver operational efficiencies. The company has seen a 68% decrease in payroll enquiries and 84% reduction in 'outside-of-cycle' pays.

When German health authorities incorrectly linked a deadly E. coli outbreak to Spanish cucumbers in 2011, farmers across the European Union watched produce rot in their fields and warehouses, losing millions of euros in the process. [ + ]

A newly developed laser-based detection system is able to identify Salmonella, E. coli, Vibrio, Listeria and many more foodborne pathogens in less than 24 hours.

To ensure no keg filled with caustic lye leaves its brewery, Erdinger Weissbräu installed a FLIR Systems A-Series thermal imaging camera that measures the temperature of every keg before it leaves the conveyor belt of the filling installation. [ + ]

Food crop yields and profitability soar when non-fertile flies are dropped over growing areas where they mate with the females but do not father a next generation of pests. But male pests sterilised by radiation tend not to be as attractive to the females - so what is needed is a way to "George Clooney-ise" the sterile flies. [ + ]

Environmental scientists have warned the long-term effects of synthetic chemicals used in packaging, food storage and processing food could be damaging our health. [ + ]

As its business expanded, natural spring water company Wet Fix found that its coding equipment couldn't keep up. The company chose two Linx CJ400 CIJ coders and a 30 W e-SolarMark laser from Matthews Australasia.

Implementing the Neste Jacobs NAPCON Suite enabled Finnish whey powder processor Valio to increase its production by 10% without investing in any hardware or using any extra energy in the process.

The Bio-Resource Processing Alliance (BPA) has NZ$2.5 million per year available to help NZ biological-based manufacturing businesses gain maximum value from waste and by-products.