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March 15, 2015
Guest blog post by Professor Vivian Moses, Chairman of CropGen and visiting professor of biotechnology at King’s College and of biology at University College. One of those dubious classic EU “compromises” was approved by the European Parliament last week in Brussels. While the responsibility for approving the cultivation… » read more
For those who were already following Europe’s policy on GM crops last century, something strange is happening. Long teased by our cousins across the Atlantic for living in the world’s agricultural museum, we now finally appear to be travelling back in time to 1999. The similarities are startling. Let’s review: In early 2015: the European… » read more
“…treatment with trisodium phosphate, acidified sodium chlorite, chlorine dioxide, or peroxyacid solutions . . . should be of no safety concern.” Expert scientific opinion, European Food and Safety Agency. The EFSA may or may not be right to propose that chlorinated chickens are safe to consume but in this piece it is argued that homo… » read more
February 18, 2015
By The Risk Monger Will negotiators in Brussels and Washington be able to agree on and push through a TTIP pact? Forget it. The anti-American, anti-TTIP campaigners inside the Brussels Bubble have sharpened their Eur-redneck knives and tongues to squash that gosling in its nest.
January 15, 2015
By Kathleen Garnett Ever since the first boff in a lab profited from fiddling around with the genetic make-up of plants European agriculture has been at the mercy of the big corporations. Not unlike the pests GMO products are said to repel the bio-tech industry has been swarming all over the treasure chest that is… » read more
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Agriculture & Food, English, future EU, Health & Consumers, Science & Policymaking |
What if scientists got caught acting without scientific integrity? What if they formed a group with political ambitions to juice up the science so they could campaign against another group? Would they be credible? Would their science serve as the basis for policy? Only an idiot would accept that. Why then did we?
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Agriculture & Food, English, Science & Policymaking, Sustainable Dev. |
September 25, 2014
Whitehouse Consultancy client, the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance, is quoted on top EU food regulation site Nutraingredients.com defending the sector’s products. The defence comes as two researchers from the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living in Australia argue that sports nutrition products should not be allowed to sponsor sporting events. To read the article… » read more
June 10, 2014
The decision by both the European and the US authorities to approve the use of the new sweetener Advantame adds a new weapon to the arsenal of those seeking to tackle obesity. For many years now there have been sustained customer trends to choose low calorie products to the extent that for the main cola… » read more
June 3, 2014
A move by the Commission to amend the law on honey won’t buy off opposition from the anti-GMO lobby. The European Commission has today published Directive (EU) 66/2014 amending Council Directive 2001/110/EC relating to honey. This new piece of legislation constitutes a review of the Honey Directive that was triggered by a ruling of the… » read more
The European Union exists to regulate, and therefore it regulates, as Descartes would have said; and in no area is that more true than in that of food law argue food law experts Kasia Wilk & Chris Whitehouse. The European Union is not particularly popular at the moment, and many would like to repatriate a… » read more
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Agriculture & Food, English, Health & Consumers, Science & Policymaking |
May 14, 2014
The organic sector must engage now with the institutions of the European Union if it is to secure the right outcome for new legislation on organic food. With all the hype around the upcoming European Parliamentary election (even though many around Europe have not noticed) one might be forgiven to have missed the release at… » read more
April 24, 2014
The power of a Whitehouse blog post is unprecedented! A UK Government agency has reversed its policies after reading one of my earlier postings. The Food Standards Agency has announced that it is reversing its previous decision not to process applications for novel food approvals. The Agency’s Director of Communications, Stephen Humphreys, tells me: “Your… » read more
April 17, 2014
By Chris Whitehouse Staffing crises and soaring workloads at a UK Government Agency have forced it to throw up its hands in bureaucratic despair, a bizarre email acknowledgment suggests. Two main causes come straight to my mind…
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Agriculture & Food, English, Health & Consumers, Member States, UK in Europe |
April 14, 2014
Malnutrition is defined as undernutrition, micro-nutrient deficiency and overweight. Unfortunately, it causes high economic and social costs to society in almost every country. According to FAO’s latest estimates, 12.5 percent (868 million people) of the global population is undernourished. Still, 26 percent of the world’s children have child growth retardation (stunting); 2 billion people suffer… » read more
April 9, 2014
by Dr Alan Bullion, Principal Analyst, Informa Agra /// The adoption of five EU regulations last December marked the end of a two-year decision-making process on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy. But that was still not the end of the story, as they did not clarify how all of the requirements would be implemented at… » read more
It seems common sense that, if an error is found in legislation, then this law should be immediately amended; at the very least, the erroneous provision should not be allowed to influence the course of a related court proceeding. This is not, however, how some EU Member States seem to view such a scenario. Three… » read more
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Agriculture & Food, English, Health & Consumers, Science & Policymaking, Sport |
March 25, 2014
by Lies Craeynest, Oxfam EU’s climate change expert Climate change is the biggest threat to our chances of winning the fight against hunger. As governments gather in Japan to agree a major new scientific report, which is expected to highlight the grave dangers climate change presents to food production, a new report from Oxfam demonstrates… » read more
March 16, 2014
A recent article (literature) mentions that by 2050, the per capita daily calorie consumption will increase 11% as a result of increased wealth. Also per capita food consumption of some food categories might increase dramatically: 14% for sugar, 15% for legumes, 33% for vegetable oil, and 26% for meat, % 19 for milk and dairy… » read more
March 11, 2014
Italy and the UK are at loggerheads over the latter’s voluntary front of pack “traffic light” food labelling scheme, and the Commission is caught in the middle. Ever since its introduction in June 2013, the British Government’s Front of Pack nutrition labelling scheme proved controversial and generated tensions among other EU Member States. The voluntary… » read more
February 26, 2014
by Lies Craeynest, Oxfam’s EU climate change & food security expert Food is power, in Europe and around the world. As one of the largest importers of food in the world as well as home to some of the most influential food companies, the industry in the European Union touches upon the lives of millions… » read more
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Agriculture & Food, English, Enter your zip code here, Health & Consumers |
