Kratom contains alkaloids mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine that have similar effects as opioids. The United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has raised the issue about the potential safety risks associated with the botanical substance, Kratom. Kratom grows naturally in several Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua[Read More…]
Policy and Regulatory
World Bank provides funds for nutrition project in Pakistan
The Project development objectives are to increase the dietary diversity and improve sanitation and hygiene practices in targeted project areas in Sindh Province. Pakistan has signed a grant agreement with the World Bank worth $5 million for “Multi-Sectoral Action for Nutrition (MSN) Project” for Sindh. The Grant has three components[Read More…]
Arla partners with food banks to halve its food waste by 2020
The agreement will see the dairy company donate surplus products through the FEBA network in Europe Denmark based dairy company Arla has teamed up with the European Federation of Food Banks (FEBA) as it aims to halve the amount of food waste it produces by 2020. The agreement will see[Read More…]
Korea supports Ghana in developing rice industry
The experts established that even though all the regions had the potential to produce rice on a large scale, the Central Region was more endowed. Ghana is receiving $9 million support from the Republic of Korea to develop a rice industry in the Central Region. The choice of the region for[Read More…]
Japan Health Ministry works out food recall system
The government is expected to submit a bill to the National Diet next year to revise the food sanitation. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in Japan is planning to set up a nationwide system via which companies will be required to report all food recalls to town, cities and[Read More…]
Nepal Government is planning to categorize restaurants in four grades to ensure quality service delivery
The plan prepared by the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control will rate the restaurants based on the level of their food hygiene as three-star, two-star, one-star and star-less. The government in Nepal is planning to categorize restaurants operating in the country into four grades. According to a news[Read More…]
Taiwan names Listeriosis as major disease
Putting listeriosis on the list of statutory infectious diseases can help the authorities to trace the origin of any unknown food safety incidents. The Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan plans to name listeriosis, a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, as[Read More…]
NEA to conduct food wastage audit
The project, which will end in mid-2019, will categorise approximately 100 kg samples of the waste. In the coming month of December, the National Environment Agency (NEA) is expected to start a waste audit of shopping malls, hotels, supermarkets, hawker centres, food manufacturing and food catering establishments, as well as[Read More…]
Pakistan discusses formulation of food standards
The PSQCA, which operates under the ministry, is charged with developing and overseeing national standards. Creation of an inter-provincial committee has been proposed by the Pakistan Business Council, under the Ministry of Science and Technology for formulation of harmonized national food standards in line with the Codex Alimentarius. Council CEO[Read More…]
CFS bans chicken and egg import from Free State
The CFS has contacted South African authorities over the issue and will closely monitor the information issued about avian flu. China’s Food Safety (CFS) authority has banned the import of chicken and eggs from the Free State with immediate effect. This is due to an outbreak of bird flu in the[Read More…]
