In the US, researchers at the Agricultural Research Service investigated the quality of eggs - finding no difference between organic and conventionally produced, white and brown, free-range and cage.

Linx Printing Technologies has launched an enhanced version of its SL301 scribing laser coder, which the company believes is the fastest, most cost-effective and versatile coder available to the bottling industry.

Foster’s sought to upgrade some of its ageing fleet of ink jet coders. It sought an advanced ink jet coder, with performance characteristics not previously offered on the market. The system will be used for printing information such as the use-by date detail on shrink-wrapped cluster packs.

An Australian seafood processor has turned to cans to expand its operation and avoid the complexities involved with live exports.

IntraVis Vision Systems of Germany has installed its Sample PreWatcher machinery in the Coca-Cola plant in Halle, Germany, and into two large suppliers for Coca-Cola in the USA.

Fibre King Crate Erectors have been used to erect nearly 100 million returnable plastic crates since their launch in 2006.

Recently, a large cereal manufacturer approached Fresco Systems Australasia seeking a solution to a problem of dispensing 1000 kg bulk bags of soya beans, rice and oats on a continuous basis into their process. The specification had a number of critical requirements including a system accuracy of <2%, variable discharge rate, 10,000 gauze magnet, discharge height of 1600 mm and a storage capacity of 1500 L.

Ilapak has installed a fully automatic line for packing of mini pizzas for Papalina. It delivers complete, multi-lane, automatic packaging lines for a distribution system.

Trakya Birlik, an agricultural cooperative based in Edirne, Turkey, has purchased 21 Oxford Instruments Magnetic Resonance MQC-5 benchtop NMR analysers. The instruments will be used as part of an initiative to improve sunflower seed oil yield.

A&D Australasia has used its weighing and measurement technology and local automation engineering expertise to create a valuable customised solution for one of Australia’s leading beverage producers.

Companies can reduce their carbon footprint without affecting quality by using lighter weight cartonboard.

Transient cage-like entities where the ethanol molecule is sequestered by surrounding water molecules could hold the key to explaining why vodka drinkers exhibit brand preferences for a drink that is supposed to be tasteless.

A diet consisting entirely of advertised foods would contain 25 times the recommended servings of sugars and 20 times the recommended servings of fat but less than half of the recommended servings of vegetables, dairy and fruits according to US researchers.

A survey of the salaries of US food and beverage industry workers has revealed an average drop of 6.3% in the past year. At the same time, forecasts for capital spending in the industry are up 19.3%.

Immunising calves with either of two forms of a newly developed vaccine might reduce the spread of sometimes deadly Escherichia coli O157:H7 bacteria.