Following the last few years of food-borne illness outbreaks in everything from spinach to processed cookie dough, the House of Representatives completed the first step to revamping nationwide food production regulations Thursday.
A $3.5 billion measure, which the Senate will vote on later this year, would be financed by a $500 annual fee paid by producers, and would require the FDA to write new regulations, require food companies to keep more meticulous records and require more inspections of food production plants.
The bill passed easily in a bipartisan 283 to 142 vote, …

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A recent academic study found excessive levels of bacteria in beverages sold over tea stands across the nation, with drinks from a popular bubble tea chain based in Taipei County carrying viable bacteria numbers 2,100 times the accepted norm, local media reported yesterday. Hsieh Ming-zhe, a professor with the College of Public Health and Nutrition at Taipei Medical University, was cited as saying that sanitation reports found that 92 percent of red, green or oolong teas sold over refreshment stands showed unsatisfactory levels of the bacterium colon …

(NaturalNews) The latest session of the U.N. Codex Alimentarius ended without final adoption of a maximum residue level for ractopamine, a feed additive widely used in pork and beef production. The commission agreed to review additional information on the drug to be submitted by China, a country that has outlawed its use. Although this is very good news for meat eaters, the U.S. delegation to Codex expressed disappointment in the commission’s decision to delay adoption of a minimum residue level for ractopamine, and urged that the review of information from …

Large quantities of expired and fake food products seized from the markets were Thursday destroyed by the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) as part of a national exercise to rid the country of such goods.
The items included beverages, tin foods, crates of schnapps, fruit juice, packets of food additives, cooking oil, baked beans, baby food, biscuits and candies, among others.
Most of the items were imported from Togo and Nigeria and because the board had for sometime waged war on aphrodisiacs, most of the dealers have-shifted their focus to trading in …

Bharatbook.com launches a new report on “Food Safety Products in China” covers information on market environment and industry structure of Food safety products in China.
Food Safety Products in China to 2013
Demand to increase 15% annually through 2013
Demand for food safety products in China is forecast to increase 15 percent per annum through 2013 to ¥13.0 billion. Growth will be driven by the continuing expansion of food and beverage output, mainly in the processed food, beverage and dairy product segments that are more intensive 
users of these products. A greater focus on …