When the Brau Beviale 2011 opened its doors in Nuremberg on 9 November 2011, the German Packaging Institute awarded Krones the German Packaging Prize as an accolade for the firm‘s microwave heating technology incorporated in its stretch blow-moulding machines. [ + ]

Bright Food Group has completed its acquisition of a 75% equity stake in Food Holdings Pty Ltd (Manassen Foods) and signalled its commitment to the Australian food industry by opening a permanent office in Sydney.

The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) awarded the third scholarship for the Certificate in Packaging during the 2011 Cormack Innovation Awards evening. [ + ]

New research carried out in the UK has found out more information on human noroviruses.

A study has confirmed the safety of Australia’s food supply.

Krones has won the German Packaging Prize for its microwave heating technology.

FSANZ has called for submissions to change the Food Standards Code to allow food derived from a GM corn line.

Katronic Technologies’ range of non-invasive, clamp-on flowmeters is available in Australia through AMS Instrumentation & Calibration. [ + ]

tna has announced a new manufacturing plant in China. It will produce the company’s end-of-line packaging solutions along with plants in Australia and the UK.

A food and nutrition lab is being opened in Sweden by IMCD Nordic, part of the IMCD Group. It will be an extension of the activities carried out at the IMCD Food & Nutrition Technical Centre in Belgium.

Functional Technologies has commenced food trials with acrylamide-preventing yeasts in non-bread, starch-based foods for a leading European producer. The collaboration illustrates the willingness of global food producers to seek and adopt innovative acrylamide-mitigating strategies and solutions in their processing practices.

Key Technology has appointed Louis Vintro as Senior Vice President of Business Development and Global Operations.

A2C has entered into agreements to establish a sales and marketing joint venture in association with leading UK dairy company Robert Wiseman Dairies PLC.

The company that supplied the precooked chicken used in Virgin Blue's inflight wraps in 2008/09 has been fined more than a quarter of a million dollars in a NSW Local Court. For the first time in Australia DNA evidence was used to establish that the precooked chicken was the source of Listeria monocytogenes that resulted in 29 confirmed cases of listeriosis among the airline's passengers.

Waters Corporation, Mars and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have jointly pledged $1 million to create the first-ever Global Food Safety Capacity Building fund. To be managed by the World Bank, the proposed fund will support global food safety improvements through expanded understanding of food safety standards and best practices throughout the food safety system, from farm to fork.