Indulgence and health trends are driving new confectionery product development, as confectionery companies target consumer demands for healthier pleasure. An analysis of 325 new confectionery products launched in January and February 2006 tracked by the Innova Database found that indulgent and premium (59 launches) and novel and fun (102) still scored highest in terms of new product launch positioning. News that Nestlé is looking to the inspiration of a chef for a new line of flavoured chocolates to be launched later this year indicates the giants know all too well that the primary aim of confectionery remains indulgence. Nestlé will use Spanish chef Ferran Adria to help boost sales of its Cailler brand of chocolate bars in Switzerland.

A United Nations agency reported an annual 50% drop worldwide over the past three years in cases of Bovine Spongiform Encepalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, blamed for causing a fatal degenerative illness in humans.

This year’s ‘Aussie Cup’ TPM3 team competition is shaping up to be an international affair.

Australian industrial packaging specialist, DSL Packaging is set to implement an entire corporate branding overhaul as it moves to adopt the new business name ‘Schütz DSL’.

Foodtech Packtech 2006 is widely regarded as the most important trade event for New Zealand's food technology and packaging technology industries.

GS1, the organisation that locally administers the global multi-industry system of identification and communication, has announced a global sunrise date of January 2010 for all scanning systems to read reduced space symbology (RSS) bar codes on any trade item.

The Microdefrost Model is a software-based product development tool for simulating and optimising heating and defrosting processes in microwaves.

The ‘apple’ body shape that increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease may be accelerated by eating trans fat, according to new animal research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

KRONES has been offering a compact-size PET bottle-to-bottle recycling facility for bottlers and converters, designed to produce food-grade PET from used PET material.

Under an agreement signed between the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and CSIRO, scientists will seek to determine the molecular structure of the foods we eat.

BlueScope steel has announced the closure of its tin mill at Port Kembla following a review of the operation that confirmed the business was no longer viable.

Citric acid (in various chemical forms) is one of the most widely used additives for fine-tuning acidity in fruit products.

Australian research shows that cheese is different to butter in the cholesterol stakes. In fact, people can enjoy cheese without harming their blood cholesterol levels.

Overseas agencies have recently reported the presence of benzene in some non-alcoholic beverages.

A consumer brochure on country of origin labelling of food would help consumers to understand the new labelling requirements for unpackaged fresh and processed fruit, vegetables, nuts and seafood that begin from today, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing, Christopher Pyne, said.