Could Vietnamese food have led to the death of Truro preschool teacher Edith Sweet?
David Gilman, also of Truro, may argue in September that monosodium glutamate — known as MSG — caused him to black out and drift across a double line on Route 6, causing the accident in which Sweet died on Nov. 9, 2007, according to court records.
Phenobarbital is a barbiturate that has the potential for addiction. It is the oldest antiepileptic drug in common use, dating from 1912, according to the Epilepsy Foundation. It is also a commonly …

Legislation to improve food-safety rules has cleared the House and is on its way to the Senate. With recent high-profile incidents including the 2006 distribution of E. coli-contaminated spinach and the more recent salmonella traced to pistachios, giving the government greater powers in terms of food inspections and recall of tainted foods seems appropriate.
However, there are aspects of the legislation that require further scrutiny and need to be addressed when the Senate takes up the measure this fall.
First, here’s what the Food Safety Enhancement Act offers in hopes of restoring …

Sorbic acid,as one of the key food preservatives has developped fast since the end of 1990s. Nowadays, China has become the world’s largest suppliers for soribic acid and potassium sorbate.
This report is prepared on base of continuous market watch from 1997 to 2000, discussing the situation of sorbic acid and potassium sorbate from all the possible aspects including the manufacturers, production, pricing, import & export, consumption, production cost benchmarking, etc. It is formulated independently by CCM’s professional market researchers, based on the first-hand and primary data which are analyzed by …

The Centre for Food Safety tested 5,600 food samples in June with an overall satisfactory rate of 99.6%. However, 24 samples were found to have excessive or illegal use of food preservatives, veterinary drug residues or colourings, and metal contamination.
 
It tested vegetables, fruit, meat, poultry, seafood, milk and milk products, frozen confections, cereals and grains.
 
Five ice-cream bars and five ice-cream samples were found to contain excessive coliform organisms. They were from the first consignments of two brand-new products imported into Hong Kong. All affected batches have been marked and sealed. …

Sweeteners are the food additives
 
 
used to sweeten food products, i.e., the food additives listed as sweeteners in China’s national standard GB2760-1996, hygienic standards for uses of food additives and dietary supplements. 20 sweeteners in total have been permitted to be used in food in China by the end of 2007. There are totally 13 HIS listed in GB 2760 allowed to be used as food additives or dietary supplements by the end of 2007. Most of these HIS are 100 or more times sweeter than sugar except cyclamate and calcium …

BELLINGHAM, Wash., Aug. 6 (UPI) — Food additives used to enhance product shelf life or add color are worth watching out for — especially if a child has allergies — a U.S. food advocate says.
“Studies are starting to show that some of these additives can be harmful — even increasing cancer risk — so as parents and consumers we really need to understand what is in the foods we choose,” Gloria Tsang of HealthCastle.com says in a statement.
Her list of “worst additive offenders” followed by her additive-free replacement suggestions include:
— …

Media Inquiries: Christopher Kelly, 301-796-4676, christopher.kelly@fda.hhs.gov
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA
FDA Issues Pharmaceutical Industry Guidance on Preventing Melamine Contamination
In a guidance issued today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that certain pharmaceutical ingredients used in the manufacture or preparation of drug products should be tested for melamine.
Melamine is a synthetic chemical with a variety of industrial uses including the production of resins and foams, cleaning products, fertilizers and pesticides. If ingested in sufficient amounts, melamine can result in kidney failure and death.
Although the FDA has no reason to believe that the U.S. …

IFIC, The International Food Information Council, is a trade group representing the interests of food, beverage, and agricultural industries mostly in the US. Recently IFIC published a report entitled “2009 Food & Health Survey – Consumer Attitudes toward Food, Nutrition & Health”. The consumer survey was conducted earlier this year and a summary presentation may be downloaded here [PDF].
There are many interesting statistics, but we’d like to first discuss the findings regarding the nutrition fact panel:
According to IFIC, these are the top 3 “challenges” consumers face with the nutrition panel:
1. …

Food Ingredients (FI) India 2008, a two day international exhibition and conference on food ingredients, has been shortlisted for the Association of Event Organisers (AEO) Best Trade Show Under 2,000 m2 Award. Being shortlisted among some strong exhibitions is an honour in itself, said UBM India, the organiser of the event.
Held in Mumbai, in October last year, Fi India 2008 grew by 106 per cent over 2007. It brought together 3,625 attendees with over 100 exhibitors. This year also the event is all set to grow at a similar pace. …

– Collaboration focused on enhancers of sucrose (table sugar), fructose, and Rebaudioside (stevia)
– Firmenich granted rights to commercialize novel Sweet Enhancers for use in all food product fields not currently partnered by Senomyx
      SAN DIEGO, CA AND GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, August 3, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Senomyx, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNMX), a leading company focused on using proprietary technologies to discover and develop novel flavor ingredients for the food, beverage, and ingredient supply industries, and Firmenich SA, the world’s largest privately-owned fragrance and flavor company, announced today that they have entered into a …