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... help for food manufacturers battling soaring sugar prices could arrive in mid october when the european commission (ec) will unveil plans to reform the european union (eu) sugar regime, according to industry sources ... the plans are thought to contain proposals to abolish beet sugar production quotas; a key demand of food manufacturers which have been struggling to cope since last autumn ... james lambert, ceo and executive chairman of r&r ice cream, europe’s largest own-label ice cream manufacturer, told foodmanufacture ... uk: “the price is increasing virtually daily and we have to get some stability back into the market ... “across europe, more than 80 sugar production factories have closed down since 2004 and vast eu subsidies paid to the owners ... economically viable lambert urged the eu either to increase quotas or to allow food manufacturers to import sugar tariff-free from the world market - or preferably both ... increasing quotas would bring about “a stable, efficient and economically viable sugar industry”, he said ... “significant changes are required to bring sufficient transparency and fair conditions to the market ... andrew kuyk, the food and drink federation’s director of sustainability and competitiveness, acknowledged the pain caused by high sugar prices ... “shortages of sugar and high prices have been a feature of the eu market for many months now – causing real problems for many food companies

... the scottish food advisory committee of the food standards agency is holding an open meeting in aberdeen on wednesday 24 august 2011 ... agenda items to be discussed will include: the scottish national food and drink policy: recipe for successthe scottish government scudamore review: review of fsa and meat inspection service in scotlandoverview of shellfish surveillance and enforcement in scotlandthe extension of remedial action notices to all food establishmentsimports strategypublication of meat hygiene audit reportsproposal to relax certain provision of the current feed banreview of official control delivery for meat hygiene the agenda can be viewed via the link below ... the meeting will be held at the food standards agency in scotland, st magnus house, 25 guild street, aberdeen, ab11 6nj ... anyone with an interest in these subjects, or the general work of the food standards agency, is invited to attend this meeting to share their views and participate in an open question and answer session

... food companies across europe face an uphill battle to attract the best candidates because many people don’t see food factories as an attractive place to work ... “potential candidates see the food industry as warm and noisy, with salaries and packages that are not very attractive compared with other sectors like banking,” warns pierre boulaire, ceo of international recruitment specialist manageria ... growth forecast the resulting competition for talent is set to increase as food production remains largely impervious to the economic shocks that have ripped through other sectors of the european economy ... “we’re looking at very significant increases in employment over the next 10 years,” says professor colin dennis, president of the institute of food science and technology (ifst) and member of the board for improve, the uk’s food and drink skills council ... “companies are looking not only for food scientists and food technologists but also for a wider range of scientists and engineers to work in the food industry,” he added ... “all our clients across europe are looking for the same sort of high-calibre people and bemoaning the lack of talent available,” agrees stephen jones, director of management consultants focus management ... ” matching skills food and drink is already the largest single manufacturing sector across the european union in terms of both turnover and employment, providing jobs for around 4 ... 2 million people, according to fooddrinkeurope (the recently rebranded confederation of food and drink industries) ... “the bit that makes me shake my head is that people are not being told about the great opportunities that are available in the food sector,” says jones ... even so, there are many candidates arriving on the market whose skills are a poor match for what the industry needs, and this can leave them struggling to get a foot in the door ... “in terms of skill set, the industry is not so relaxed about what they’re looking for,” says louise beales of tailor made resources, which specialises in food production recruitment

... uk beverage giant diageo has paid $16m (€11m) to settle bribery charges against it by the us securities and exchange commission (sec) ... sec, in a cease and desist order, said london-based diageo offered bribes of $2 ... 7m across india, thailand and south korea, violating the us foreign corrupt practices act (fcpa) ... diageo and its subsidiaries failed to properly account for the ‘illicit’ payments in their books and records, said the sec ... the bribes related to the firm’s johnnie walker and windsor scotch whiskeys, among other brands, said the us authorities ... the sec said diageo violated sections 13 (b)(2)(a) and 13(b)(2)(b) of the securities exchange act of 1934 ... the revelations of the us sec“are very serious, highlighted by the order to pay not only a $3m dollar penalty and the disgorgement of $11m, plus $2m interest on top of that,” said a food and beverage industry legal advisor, who wished to remain anonymous ... diageo statement the sec said diageo cooperated with its investigation, implementing certain corrective measures, including the termination of employees involved in the misconduct and significant enhancements to its fcpa compliance programme ... “diageo takes the sec’s findings seriously and regrets this matter,” said the drinks group ... “systems and controls have been enhanced in an effort to prevent the future occurrence of such issues and to reinforce, everywhere the company operates, a culture of compliance and commitment to the principles embodied in diageo’s code of business conduct,” it added ... following the us investigation it is possible that a similar investigation may be undertaken within the uk, although uk legislation does not usually apply retrospectively and so any investigation would be concerned with potential offences committed since july 2011, said the legal advisor to the beverage sector ... warning to companies the legal advisor told this publication that he was not aware of a similar reported case involving a beverage company, but that the practice of making facilitation payments was likely to be in use throughout the food and drink industry

... half-portions of fruit and vegetables in processed and other composite foods will count towards the target of ‘five-a-day’ under a new uk industry scheme ... members of the uk food industry, including coca-cola, greencore, heinz, innocent, pepsico, and united biscuits, in addition to the british nutrition foundation, the food and drink federation, together with supermarkets wm morrison, marks and spencer, and tesco, agreed to the new guidelines which aim to help consumers increase their intake of fruit and vegetables ... the guide, published by igd, (which can be found here ) provides a set of principles for businesses to communicate the fruit and vegetable content of composite food products that contribute half, one or more of the five portions consumers are recommended to eat or drink each day ... “composite foods are an important source of fruit and vegetables in the diet ... labelling the number of portions in composite foods helps consumers increase their five-a-day intake and encourages food businesses to add more fruit and vegetables to their products,” said joanne denney-finch, igd chief executive ... denney-finch added that igd research shows that 46 per cent of shoppers expect to buy more products that contribute to their five daily portions of fruit and vegetables over the next 12 months ... “under the auspices of igd a working group consisting of nutritionists from the food industry, trade associations and ngos has agreed these guidelines which help consumers to do just that,” she said ... guidelines as part of the new voluntary code, industry members have agreed limits to the amount of sugar, salt and saturated fat allowed in a composite food labelled as contributing to your five-a-day – a move which they say will to help move consumers towards a healthier and more balanced diet

... the jobs market in the food and drink industry is extremely buoyant, with skills shortages and growing demand set to push up salaries across the board ... “we’re looking at very significant increases in employment over the next 10 years,” says professor colin dennis, president of the institute of food science and technology (ifst) and member of the board for improve, the uk’s food and drink skills council ... food and drink is the largest single manufacturing sector for employment across the european union, providing jobs for around 4 ... 2 million people, according to fooddrinkeurope, the recently rebranded confederation of food and drink industries ... “there has been a lot of recruitment activity in 2010-2011 and the industry seems to be in good shape,” says matthius hennig, senior consultant with german-based international recruitment specialist rau consulting ... “we’re 60 per cent up on 12 months ago and last year was a record year for us,” agrees stephen jones, director of focus management consultants ... “all over europe our clients are looking for the same sort of high-calibre people and bemoaning the lack of talent available ... europe is also seen as a centre of excellence for the food industry around the world and that’s leading to a brain drain ... ” jones predicts that three key drivers will continue to boost demand for skilled food industry personnel: “many companies didn’t take on graduates during the downturn, many graduates don’t recognise the opportunities on offer in the food industry and there’s an ageing population of senior managers right across europe who are coming up for retirement ... ” r&d activity fooddrinkeurope’s data on innovation indicates that food and drink companies have maintained consistent levels of r&d investment in recent years, leading to bright prospects for candidates looking to build a career in this side of the business ... dennis believes that food safety, health and well-being and sustainability are all influencing the focus of development efforts

... the jobs market in the food and drink industry is extremely buoyant, with skills shortages and growing demand set to push up salaries across the board ... “we’re looking at very significant increases in employment over the next 10 years,” says professor colin dennis, president of the institute of food science and technology ( ifst ) and member of the board for improve, the uk’s food and drink skills council ... food and drink is the largest single manufacturing sector for employment across the european union, providing jobs for around 4 ... 2 million people, according to fooddrinkeurope, the recently rebranded confederation of food and drink industries ... “there has been a lot of recruitment activity in 2010-2011 and the industry seems to be in good shape,” says matthius hennig, senior consultant with german-based international recruitment specialist rau consulting ... “we’re 60 per cent up on 12 months ago and last year was a record year for us,” agrees stephen jones, director of focus management consultants ... “all over europe our clients are looking for the same sort of high-calibre people and bemoaning the lack of talent available ... europe is also seen as a centre of excellence for the food industry around the world and that’s leading to a brain drain ... ” jones predicts that three key drivers will continue to boost demand for skilled food industry personnel: “many companies didn’t take on graduates during the downturn, many graduates don’t recognise the opportunities on offer in the food industry and there’s an ageing population of senior managers right across europe who are coming up for retirement ... ” r&d activity fooddrinkeurope’s data on innovation indicates that food and drink companies have maintained consistent levels of r&d investment in recent years, leading to bright prospects for candidates looking to build a career in this side of the business

... hungary will introduce a fat tax as of september 1 this year -a move the food industry says is unnecessary and ineffective in achieving widespread dietary shifts ... foods like this will earn the hungarian government more coin from september 1, 2011 from september 1 hungarian food manufacturers will have to pay a tax of 10 forint (€0 ... 37) for foods bearing fat, sugar and salt at levels over a certain threshold, something backed by some consumer groups concerned about eating habits that promote the rise of obesity and type 2 diabetes ... the hungarian government says the tax will raise €70m per year – money which it says will offset public health costs of treating the consequences of high-fat,sugar and salt diets ... while hungary’s obesity problem is not as big as in countries like the us where the percentage of obese adults exceeds 30%, it sits at around 20% and has been getting worse ... discriminatory? fat taxes are an idea whose currency has grown in recent years as governments try to share healthcare costs, but the issue is complex as it becomes a moral battle about personal versus industry culpability for dietary intakes and their consequences ... the pan-european food industry body, food and drink europe, opposes fat taxes because it views them as being “discriminatory” ... the group has emphasised that such measures unfairly target particular types of food when it is overall dietary habits that are the problem (the argument that there are no bad foods par se, just bad diets)

... the uk food and drink federation (fdf) has welcomed a nutrition and dietary habits survey published this week by the uk government which found positive shifts in key areas including trans-fat consumption levels ... the report that found adult eating habits in areas like fruit and vegetables were much healthier than those of children, recorded trans-fat consumption among all age groups as 0 ... 9% of food energy, significantly below recommendations of 2% ... responding, uk food and drink federation (fdf) director of food safety and science, barbara gallani, said:“the survey shows there are now very low level of trans fats in our diets, less than half of the government’s recommendations, which clearly indicates how effectively the industry has responded to this public health requirement by voluntarily reformulating products ... ” “it is also positive to note that average fruit and vegetable consumption is approaching five portions a day and we look forward to working with the government in the next phase of the responsibility deal to help make it even easier for consumers to eat more fruit and vegetables ... 2 portions of fruit and vegetables per day and older adults (4 ... that meant 30% of adults and 37% of older adults met the five-a-day recommendation ... 1 portions, and only 13% meeting the target, while girls of the same age consumed 2 ... "younger children's eating habits are improving, with parents taking positive steps to give their kids a healthier diet with fewer sweets, fizzy drinks, chocolate, and also switching them to high-fibre cereals ... comparing this survey with the previous survey in 1997, younger children (age 4-10) appear to be switching to high-fibre breakfast cereals from non-high-fibre cereals, eating more fruit and vegetables, and less confectionery and soft drinks

... a report by market research group leatherhead food research has valued the global market for functional foods at us$24 ... the functional food market has also been growing significantly faster than the headline rate of growth of the global food and drink market of around 4% per year ... leatherhead said that changes in consumer diet, lifestyles, awareness and interest in health and wellbeing had helped the growth of the functional food market, with consumers looking for products with the potential to deliver health benefits ... improved research and development in ingredient exploration has also driven the category, generating innovative and diverse products, and increasing the number of new products with functional claims by as much as 28% a year ... the company conducted a survey of over 1500 consumers in the united kingdom, suggesting that functional food consumption is fairly widespread; over a quarter claiming to consume functional products daily and a fifth claiming to consume them fortnightly ... however, just under a third of consumers surveyed claim they do not (and never will) consume functional food products because they do not believe they work ... in fact, when all survey respondents were asked what would encourage them to eat more functional food products the majority stated they would like to see definitive proof, substantiated by independent science, that the product ‘does what it says on the tin’ ... leatherhead said the survey results supported the widely held view that verifiable health benefits are key to driving market growth, and that growth is more likely to come from existing consumers, rather than ‘converting’ those who do not already buy into functional food products ... “second, whilst it appears as if the major economies have recovered from recession, for the next year at least household budgets are still under pressure (and in many cases are deteriorating) as unemployment continues to rise and governments implement tough fiscal measures to rebalance their economies