There is great news for Constar and its customer, ConAgra. A PET bottle with Constar’s DiamondClear oxygen scavenging material created for Hunt’s Ketchup has been recognised by the Institute of Packaging Professionals as the top sustainable package for 2007. In addition to winning the 3M Sustainable Packaging Award, the Hunt’s Ketchup PET with DiamondClear also won the Ameristar Food Category Award.

Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland, and Imperial College London, England, published a study in the January edition of Molecular Systems Biology expanding knowledge about the mechanisms of probiotic action on gut microbial activity and ultimately, metabolism.

EFSA’s scientific panel on food additives, flavourings, processing aids and materials in contact with food (AFC Panel) will soon branch into two separate panels, in order to increase further EFSA’s pool of expertise and to accelerate processes in a field where output is particularly high. EFSA expects the new panels to begin operating by mid 2008.

Research has found poultry and eggs to be the most environmentally friendly source of energy, compared to beef, pork or lamb.

New Zealand Food Safety Authority and the New Zealand Poultry Industry Association have developed a new code of practice (COP) specifically for poultry processing.

The Omega-3 Centre (O3C), a not-for-profit health organisation promoting the benefits of long chain omega-3 fatty acids, is having a change of leadership this year after the founding executive director, Wendy Morgan, resigned in December.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is launching a public consultation on its draft scientific opinion on the implications of animal cloning on food safety, animal health and welfare and the environment.

Australian fresh produce companies have a chance to foster Chinese business opportunities at China’s SFT — the annual fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts exhibition.

Statistics New Zealand has released figures showing that the total value of NZ merchandise exports in November 2007 rose 18.4% compared with November 2006. This is the second consecutive month to see a large increase driven by milk powder, butter and cheese, and petroleum and products. Combined, these two commodity groups made up a third of all exports and accounted for over 90% of the increase from November 2006.

Alcoa has agreed to sell its packaging and consumer businesses to New Zealand’s Rank Group Limited for $2.7 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter 2008.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has invited individuals and organisations with an interest in the regulation of food to provide information and comment on two applications and a proposal to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

Developer of customised industrial-scale separation services Upfront Chromatography has announced that commercial production of highly functional proteins from the side stream of potato processing has been enabled using its Rhobust processing platform. The Rhobust adsorbent is a key component of Solanic’s industrial processing plant, which was officially opened in December 2007 in Gasselternijveen, Netherlands. Solanic is the protein business unit of the potato starch giant AVEBE.

While the performance benefits of enzymes are increasingly being acknowledged by food product manufacturers, enzyme suppliers still have to contend with price pressure and intense competition while at the same time delivering quality customised solutions and service, according to a report on the food enzymes industry.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has just launched a public consultation on the draft approach it proposes for assessing botanical food additives.

Poultry workers in the United States are 32 times more likely to carry drug-resistant E. coli bacteria than others outside the poultry industry, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.