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Meat market adds weight
NFPA wants relaxed bioterrorism rules
Costs outweigh choice benefits of sku proliferation
Refreshing paws?
SoBe’s summer Synergies
Ethics body calls for fresh look at GM for third world
Biotechnology heads for profitability
Stork brings home bacon
For the
record
US Agriculture Secretary Ann
Veneman will host government ministers from more than 100 countries at
the Ministerial Conference and Expo on Agricultural Science and Technology
in Sacramento, California from 20-25 June. The US is expected to use the
meeting to pressurise developing countries to accept genetically modified
crops as seed and food aid.
Veneman told reporters existing and
emerging technologies in food and agriculture "can help feed the
hungry, improve nutrition, raise living standards and narrow the gap
between the haves and have-nots, while protecting the environment for
future generations."
Germany’s top research
establishment, the Max Planck Society, is to shut 12 research
departments and one institute, mostly in medical fields, because of
funding cuts.
Two US firms, Manhattan
Associates and Alien Technology, have brought out a joint
product "RFID in a Box" to get retailers up and running quickly
on the radio-based item identification technology.
Meanwhile software firm Microsoft
said it will join AutoID, a joint venture of the Uniform Code
Council and EAN International, to develop and oversee commercial and
technical standards for the RFID-based Electronic Product Code (EPC)
Network. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced its BizTalk Toolkit for
UCCnet, which allows retailers and their suppliers to connect quickly and
cheaply to the UCCnet trading network.
US food firms Hellmans and Best
Foods have launched a new line of snack dips in chilli, ham &
mustard and barbeque flavours.
Air Products kicked
off its consolidated product range for the food and beverage sector under
the Freshline brand. It combines processing equipment (including tunnel
freezers), modified atmosphere packaging, equipment maintenance, process
monitoring, data collection and factory information technologies.
Food allergens,
especially peanuts may cause severe asthma in children, according to
research to be published in the July 2003 Journal of Allergy and
Clinical Immunology (JACI).
After testing 12 women, researchers
at Maastricht University say that food cooked or made with cooking oil
made mainly from diglycerides, such as the ADM Kao’s
Enova, rather than the more common triglycerides may boost fat burning and
reduce appetite. Details were published in the May issue of American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition. A different project reported in the
same issue said substituting cis unsaturated fatty acids for trans
and saturated fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease
(CAD) in consumers. It added the effects of carbohydrates and of lauric
acid–rich fats on CAD risk remain uncertain.
The British government has backed a
proposed new recycling law that requires local councils to collect
at least two types of waste for recycling from every home in England.
Friends of the Earth, an environmental activist organisation that drafted
said the Bill now an “excellent” chance of becoming law.
Australian-US biotech firm Proteome
Systems has hired former Millipore executive William Emhiser to head
its North American operations.
The UK’s Food Standards Agency's
nutrition division wants proposals from potential contractors to undertake
two reviews, one into local nutrition, diet and health initiatives that
involve and/or affect children and young people, and the other covers
those in a leisure service setting. The deadline is 27 June 2003.
Nutrition
Meat market
adds weight
The world's appetite for meat
continues to soar, with 242 million tons produced in 2002, up 2.5% from
2001, says the Worldwatch Institute’s Vital Signs report. Meat
production doubled from 1997 and rose five-fold over the last 50 years.
From 1960 the number of livestock rose 60% from three billion to more than
five billion, and the number of fowl has quadrupled, from four billion to
16 billion.
Most of the corn and soybeans
harvested in the world go to fatten livestock. One calorie of flesh (beef,
pork or chicken) requires 11 to 17 calories of feed, so a meat eater's
diet requires two to four times more land than a vegetarian's.
Economic differences skew meat
consumption; in industrial nations, consumers eat more than 80 kg of meat
per person per year, but in developing countries, consumption sits at just
28 kilograms.
Regulations
NFPA wants
relaxed bioterrorism rules
The US National Food Producers
Association has told the Food & Drug Administration that present
proposals to limit the risk of a bioterrorist attack on the American food
chain is unworkable, unmanageable and too costly. Instead it recommends
expanding existing product recall procedures.
In a nine-page letter to the FDA,
the NFPA’s chief science officer Rhona Applebaum said “NFPA
believes FDA significantly underestimates the economic impact of the
proposed rules for records establishment and maintenance… We believe the
regulations: (1) will introduce a higher burden than estimated; and (2)
are not practical or manageable and therefore cannot be implemented
without imposing unnecessary high costs.”
Marketing
Costs
outweigh choice benefits of sku proliferation
More and more products mean fewer
and fewer jobs, says Forte Industries marketing director Rodger Roeser.
“SKU (stock keeping unit) proliferation is wreaking havoc on the
economy.”
Roeser argues that the continued
growth of product lines is detrimental to an already soft economy. A low
product turnover and an increase in warehouse inventory increases the
costs of goods sold, leading to less return for companies and their
shareholders, and inflates consumer prices artificially, he says.
"Managing the complex flow of
products and information resulting from SKU proliferation is a significant
strain of already overtaxed warehouse systems and distribution
operations," Roeser said. "Warehouses are forced to maintain
higher inventories and product mix. This leads to limited visibility
throughout the warehouse, stock obsolescence and a huge negative financial
impact."
Increases in SKUs lead to more
shipments of fewer products. This requires more handling capabilities,
which raises shipping and handling costs. The knee-jerk reaction for most
organisations is to raise prices and lay off labour, both of which harm
the economy.
Water
Refreshing
paws?
The K9 Water Company of California
(where else?) has introduced a range of vitamin-enhanced flavoured bottled
waters for dogs under the brand names Toilet Water, Puddle Water, Hose
Water and Gutter Water. The flavours are chicken, beef, liver and lamb,
and bottles come four, 12 and 24 packs.
Beverages
SoBe’s
summer Synergies
 PepsiCo subsidiary South Beach
Beverage Company said it will add a new family Synergy family to its range
this summer. Aimed at vending machines, Synergy in 340 ml cans in comes
five new flavours: Kiwi Strawberry, Fruit Punch, Mango Orange, Lemonade
and Grape. Each has 50% real juice and is fortified with vitamins, calcium
and zinc, giving 80 calories per 236 ml serving and lower sugar content
compared to 100% juice products.
GM
Ethics body
calls for fresh look at GM for third world
“Discussions about the benefits
and risks of genetically modified (GM) crops are as much about politics
and economics as they are about technological issues. Thus, whether or not
the use of a GM crop will be beneficial will depend on many factors.”
This view is driving a move by the
UK’s chief ethics body on genetic engineering, the Nuffield Council, to
reassess the effects of the technology. The council this week issued a
104-page discussion document, The
use of genetically modified crops in developing countries, as
a follow-up to its 1999 view that the use of GM crops in the third world
was “a moral imperative”.
The council has not yet changed its
mind; it still believes GM crops could help small-scale farmers in
developing countries. But it is being more cautious as evidence emerges of
intercrop and possible interspecies transmission and massive short term
changes in labour practices, among other things.
The council said European
agricultural policy is likely to restrict freedom of choice of farmers in
developing countries. “Many do not have the infrastructure to meet
strict EU requirements for labelling and traceability of GM crops.
Additionally, even planting GM crops only for domestic use might
jeopardise an export market for non-GM crops,” it said.
The council plans to include
comments on its views in a report to the British government. It hopes this
will form part of the government’s current public debate on the topic.
Copies of the Discussion Paper are
available from the Council's website: http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org.
The report, Genetically modified food: ethical and social issues,
was published in May 1999 and is available from the Council's website at: http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/gmfoods.
Biotechnology
heads for profitability
Despite challenges posed by
politics, regulations, recession, technology and management, the
biotechnology sector could be in profit by 2010, reports audit firm Ernst
& Young.
It has published two new reports, Beyond
Borders: The Global Biotechnology Report 2003, and Resilience:
Americas Biotechnology Report 2003, that show an industry
simultaneously struggling and succeeding. Overall global biotech revenues
increased 15% to more than $41 billion, but R&D expenses jumped 34% to
more than $22 billion; more than half of revenues were reinvested in
R&D.
Ernst & Young's Americas
biotechnology director Michael Hildreth said "Based on the industry's
revenue growth, robust pipeline, more efficient product development, and
belt-tightening in the face of the current cash crunch, the biotech
industry as a whole could within five years have its first profitable year
overall since the industry began more than 25 years ago."
More than 50 companies, or about
15% of publicly traded US companies, posted profits in at least one year
during the past three years. In the same period more than 20 companies
recorded sustained profitability over all three years.
Jurg Zurcher, Ernst & Young's
Biotechnology leader in Switzerland, said "The biotech industry is at
the beginning of its technology curve, and innovation is accelerating.
Biotechnology is the driver of innovation not only in health care, but
also agriculture, industrial production, and environmental management.
Over the past five years, revenues in Europe have soared 845%, nearly 200%
in Canada, and more than 80% in the US."
Although 2002 was the industry's
third-best financing year ever, investors are more selective about where
and how to invest. The competitive financing environment is forcing
companies to merge with partners with complementary technologies. Big
biotech and big pharma still rely on genomics innovation for new products,
and this continues to drive investment in emerging biotech companies.
During the market downturn, biotech companies with proven product
development capabilities have negotiated mega-deals from pharmaceutical
companies. The resultant capital infusion, a combination of equity
investment, R&D funding, and profit sharing in marketed products, is
creating a new model for biotech business development.
Globally, the number of biotech
companies grew about two percent but the number of publicly traded
companies actually dropped three percent, and fewer new companies formed.
Zurcher noted "Europe may be the hardest hit. The market
capitalisation of Europe's publicly traded companies dropped more
than half in 2002. Total market caps for the US industry were down 35%
percent; Canada was down 31%, and Australia 18%. Asia/Pacific was brighter
with revenues up 28%, staff up 24%, and the number of companies up by
17%."
A key challenge is the high cost
and complexity associated with addressing the regulatory hurdles of
different countries. Efforts to harmonise regulations worldwide will
overcome this. Ongoing critical drivers furthering the globalisation of
biotechnology include
Biotech and pharmaceutical
companies are spanning the globe for partnerships, R&D alliances, and
engaging in outsourcing to help bring products to market more efficiently.
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Governments are staking much of
their 21st century economic development on biotechnology innovation.
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Venture capital investors are
seeking new opportunities with less of an emphasis on location and
more attention paid to the experience of the people involved and the
quality of the intellectual property.
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University scientists have
increased access to rich public databases of biological information,
which also enhances researcher-to-researcher collaboration
Sales
Stork
brings home bacon
Dutch food processing equipment
maker Stork has won orders worldwide for its new high capacity hot-air SpiralOven,
which combines steaming, roasting and grilling of a wide range of meat
products. The first systems will go to the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand,
Turkey and Brazil.
The PLC-controlled SpiralOven has a
precise climate control system to give the desired product
characteristics. This allows highly efficient roasting and grilling of
chicken, chicken fillets, bone-in and other products. The oven is also
suitable for roasting preformed products such as burgers and nuggets, as
well as composite products or for steaming products like chicken fillets. |
