When The Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE:DOW) managed to finagle the $16.3 billion acquisition of specialty chemicals manufacturer Rohm and Haas Co. in April by securing a $9.2 billion bridge loan, Warren Buffett, who last summer committed to buying $3 billion worth of Dow’s preferred shares, said that the investment looked smart at the time but “looks dumb at the present time.”
Still, analysts, on average, expect Dow to announce for the fiscal quarter ending Sept. 30 earnings per share of 9 cents and revenue of $11.87 billion. Earnings expectations for the …

The EU has issued a G/SPS/N/EEC/291, 292,293 / Add.1 and many other informed, formally approved a number of laws and regulations relating to food, they are: food additives and their use of food regulations, food enzymes and their the use of food laws and regulations, as well as spices and some characteristics of food ingredients with spices and the use of food laws and regulations.
 
     The above-mentioned laws and regulations have been published.

FSANZ is currently assessing an application from a food manufacturer wanting to add cholesterol-lowering plant sterols to a reduced fat cheese.
Manufacturers were first permitted to add plant sterols to food, specifically to edible oil spreads and margarines, in 2001.   This decision was based on scientific evidence that showed plant sterols consumed at a level of 2-3 grams a day can reduce cholesterol levels without negative health effects. However, the evidence also showed there was no benefit to eating more than this amount.
Based on this evidence, FSANZ allowed manufacturers to add …

PepsiCo’s Aquafina Plus Vitamins 10 Cal has become the first mainstream stevia-sweetened beverage to be launched on the Canadian market by using natural health product rules.
Product launches have gradually begun to emerge in the US since the FDA issued letters of no objection that Reb A, the high purity stevia extract, was GRAS (generally recognised as safe) for use in foods and beverages in December, effectively laying the way for what is expected to be a flood of future launches.
But in Canada the regulatory process requires companies looking to launch …

Air Products Food Industry Specialist Discusses Benefits of Nitrogen for
Variety of Food Processing Applications
LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Food processors who are
looking to improve product quality, lower costs and increase output may want
to consider adding nitrogen to their operation. Air Products (NYSE: APD) food
industry specialist Chris Johnson will discuss the benefits of using nitrogen
in a variety of food processing applications when he presents “Liquid Nitrogen
— A Beneficial Ingredient in the Food Industry” at the Prepared Foods R&D
Applications Seminar in Itasca, Ill., on Monday, October 19th.  Chris will
provide unique …

WASHINGTON — The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday warned consumers to avoid buying medicines online to treat swine flu, saying one such product contained nothing more than talc and over-the-counter fever-reducer.
The FDA raised the warning after some of its investigators purchased and analyzed products represented online as Tamiflu (oseltamivir), one of the anti-viral medicines that has been shown to be effective against A(H1N1) flu.
“One of the orders, which arrived in an unmarked envelope with a postmark from India, consisted of unlabeled, white tablets taped between two pieces …

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is introducing new legislation that is designed to protect citizens from food borne illnesses.
She wants to ensure there are safe, healthy foods available for everyone.
In a telephone conference, the senator announced a comprehensive plan to overhaul the nation’s food safety laws by improving inspection, recall response and public education.
The proactive cornerstone of the senator’s new legislation is to mandate E. coli inspections of ground beef.
“While the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made some progress improving food safety regulations, the nation’s food safety laws have not been …

Another big name in the pharmaceutical industry has caught the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) attention for making allegedly bogus claims about one of its products. In this case, Procter & Gamble Company has been touting the vitamin C benefits of is Vicks DayQuil and NyQuil products, said Reuters.
It seems that based on the FDA’s list of ingredients approved for over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medications, there is no allowance for combining vitamin C with the active ingredients that can be found in the two medications, according to Reuters, …

Figures released by Allergy UK, a charity set up to help the millions of people who suffer from food sensitivity, estimate that 45 per of the country’s population is affected by the condition.
“There’s been a 10 fold increase in people with food intolerances in the UK in the last 25 years,” said Cyndi O’Meara, an expert nutritionist and author of “Changing Habits, Changing Lives Cook Book.”
“A big part of the problem is that we are assaulting our children with chemicals because the food that we are feeding them isn’t real …

From chewing gum to diet soda, aspartame and other low-calorie artificial sweeteners are ubiquitous in food and drink favourites. While the addition of aspartame and other sugar substitutes has garnered extreme controversy over the years, there’s still overwhelming scientific evidence indicating that aspartame is harmless, according to government recommendations.
But surfing the Internet seems to reveal a different story. Much of this can be blamed on “Dr.” Betty Martini, founder of Mission Possible World Health International, an organization trying to cut out aspartame use. Martini claims that this “toxic” substance can …