Selasa, 15 September 2009

Swiss pasteurization promises safer UK snacks

By Mike Stones, 15-Sep-2009

Related topics: Processing

Higher food safety standards are claimed for Imperial Snack Foods (ISF) processed nuts, seeds, and dry fruit after it’s investment in a large pasteurization plant to equip its Wolverhampton, UK, processing site.

After installing the pasteurization unit, made by Swiss company Napasol, last week, ISF is said to be the first UK company that can reliably deliver pasteurized ready-to-eat snacks to the wholesale and retail industry.

Although nuts, seeds, and dry fruit snacks have become increasingly popular, thanks to their nutritional health benefits, widely publicized product recalls have had detrimental effects on the commercialization of such, said Napasol.

Food safety risks

“Grocery chains are averse to food safety risks and pasteurization would insure that the ready-to-eat snacks they carry are both healthy and safe,” claims the company. “The Napasol pasteurization process combines vacuum and steam to heat treat the products efficiently at temperatures high enough to kill the microorganisms and low enough to preserve the nutritional qualities and taste, color, and texture of the food.”

Steam injected in a strong vacuum allows condensation on the surface of the product; rapidly raising temperature which kills the micro-organisms, said the company. A subsequent vacuum phase removes the moisture by condensation so cooling and drying the product. “Exposure to heat and moisture are thus minimised to the benefit of the quality of the product and…is effective at decontamination without cooking the product,” claims Napasol.

Using this process, contamination levels are reduced below target values following pasteurisation guaranteeing microbiologically safe products, it adds.

Pasteurization

Napasol pasteurization units operate worldwide on nut and dry fruit products as well as herbs, spices, teas, dry vegetables and spices.

Routine contamination testing of such low moisture foods has been considered sufficient to screen any problem, said Napasol. But it added: “Salmonella outbreaks linked to peanuts and almonds, as well as product recalls linked to the detection of Salmonella or E. Coli in pistachio, cashews, and Brazils as well as seeds and seed mixes sampled at retail point indicate that there is a risk. “

Detection of salmonella in retail packs of seeds or seed mixes lead to 12 product recalls in the UK between February and May 2008 alone, said Napasol.

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Industry applauds Canada’s C$75m food safety overhaul

By Rory Harrington, 15-Sep-2009

Related topics: Quality & Safety, Cleaning / Safety / Hygiene

The food processing industry in Canada has welcomed a move by the government to boost food safety in the country with a C$75m overhaul of the system.

More inspection staff, round-the-clock response teams and a national surveillance system are some of the measures announced by the Canadian Government as part of its revamp in the wake of listeria contamination incidents in 2008 in which 22 people died after eating meat produced by Maple Leaf.

Kick-started government response

Chris Kype, president of Food Processors of Canada, applauded the government’s action as a good first step in addressing the issues raised by Sheila Weatherill following her investigation into the crisis that revealed systemic failures in the nation’s food safety regime.

“This money has kick-started the government’s response to the report,” he said. “The Government should be commended for taking these measures.”

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced the programme would act on all 57 recommendations made by Weatherill’s report.

"We are making significant investments to hire more inspectors; update technologies and protocols; and, improve communication so that Canadians have the information they need to protect their families,” said Minister Ritz.

A spokeswoman for the Agriculture Ministry told FoodProductionDaily.com that the cash was new and was not being pulled from any other budget in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

New measures

The ministers said the funds would improve the Government’s ability to “prevent, detect and respond to future food-borne illness outbreaks”.

Under the measures, 166 new food safety staff will be employed, with 70 of those focusing on ready-to-eat-meat facilities. The government has also pledged to provide 24/7 availability of health risk assessment teams to improve support to food safety investigations. This last development comes as a direct response to Weatherill’s report published in July 2009 which highlighted the fact that Health Canada’s Health Risk Assessment Team was not working on a round-the-clock basis in summer 2008 which left “gaps in the coverage” during the response.

The cash will also be used to improve communications among federal and provincial department and agencies – another shortcoming identified in the listeria probe.

The new programme will further bid to improve communication to those most vulnerable to a food-borne outbreak During the Maple Leaf outbreak consumers were not given the necessary information, said investigators. Federal communications were characterized as “slow off the mark” and they “ceased too quickly”.

The plan will see improvements in detection methods for Listeria monocytogenes and other hazards in food to reduce testing times and enable a faster response during food safety investigations. This will also expand the Government's ability to carry out extra Listeria testing.

Beginning

The minister said a third-party audit of the food safety system would be launched to make sure resources were “dedicated to the right priorities”.

Kype added: “I think this is just the beginning. I also think we have to put it into perspective as the Canadian food safety system is relatively good.”

But the president said the body agreed with the main findings of the Weatherill report.

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Sabtu, 12 September 2009

Packaging firms threatened by Kraft cutbacks ( Kraft defiant over Cadbury valuation)

By Nick Hughes, 09-Sep-2009

Related topics: Financial & Industry

Kraft Foods has defended its valuation of the Cadbury business and insisted that it remains the most logical buyer for the UK confectionery manufacturer.

In response to media commentary that Kraft’s offer of £7.45 ($12.30) per Cadbury share significantly undervalued Cadbury, Michael Osanloo, executive vice president, strategy, Kraft Foods said: “There has been a lot of talk about what Cadbury is worth. The simple fact is that Cadbury is worth what someone is willing to pay for it – nothing more. We are the most logical buyer but we will remain financially disciplined.”

Analysts have pointed to Mars’ acquisition of Wrigley, where Mars paid 19.3 times Wrigley’s pre-tax earnings, as proof that Kraft’s valuation, representing just 12 times Cadbury’s estimated 2009 pre-tax earnings, is below the mark.

Favorable proposal

But Osanloo claimed that the offer, which values Cadbury at $16.7bn, represents a 31 percent premium on Cadbury’s share price at prior day close, compared with 28 percent in the case of the Mars/Wrigley deal.

“The debate about multiples misses the point – the world has changed dramatically since then. On the most important comparison point, the premium, our proposal compares favorably.”

Nevertheless, analysts expect Cadbury’s board and shareholders to hold out for a higher price. “We consider that Kraft would need to increase its offer up to £9.00 [$14.90] in order to stand a good chance of getting the deal done,” said Andrew Wood, senior analyst at Bernstein. “Although Kraft’s original bid represented a 31 percent premium to the prior close, and so might seem attractive, the premium was from a very low base. We consider that Cadbury’s stock was already fundamentally undervalued on a standalone basis.”

In a call with analysts yesterday, Kraft Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld reiterated that Kraft would continue to be disciplined in its attempt to capture Cadbury but has yet to rule out a hostile takeover. Kraft remains the only bidder despite Nestle and Hershey being touted as potential suitors. Wood believes the absence of rivals could play into Kraft’s hands.

“The lack of competitive pressure, and the absence of bids and counter bids, is likely to tap the amount Kraft has to pay,” he said.

Strategic opportunities

Wood added that he continued to believe an acquisition of Cadbury would make “perfect sense” for Kraft, citing numerous strategic opportunities for the business.

Cadbury is deeply entrenched in developing markets such as India and Latin America where Kraft is relatively weak and a deal would increase Kraft’s exposure to emerging markets from 20 to 25 percent of sales. Furthermore, having Cadbury on board would allow Kraft to increase its distribution density in Western Europe where Kraft’s margins are still single-digit, markedly below its industry peers.

Wood also noted that a Kraft Cadbury tie-up would create a global sweet snacks powerhouse with strong synergies in its product portfolio. While Kraft is strong in the relatively mature cookies and crackers category, Cadbury is well represented in chocolate and sugar confectionery and has an enviable position in the fast growing chewing gum sector.

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Packaging firms threatened by Kraft cutbacks ( Kraft defiant over Cadbury valuation)

By Nick Hughes, 09-Sep-2009

Related topics: Financial & Industry

Kraft Foods has defended its valuation of the Cadbury business and insisted that it remains the most logical buyer for the UK confectionery manufacturer.

In response to media commentary that Kraft’s offer of £7.45 ($12.30) per Cadbury share significantly undervalued Cadbury, Michael Osanloo, executive vice president, strategy, Kraft Foods said: “There has been a lot of talk about what Cadbury is worth. The simple fact is that Cadbury is worth what someone is willing to pay for it – nothing more. We are the most logical buyer but we will remain financially disciplined.”

Analysts have pointed to Mars’ acquisition of Wrigley, where Mars paid 19.3 times Wrigley’s pre-tax earnings, as proof that Kraft’s valuation, representing just 12 times Cadbury’s estimated 2009 pre-tax earnings, is below the mark.

Favorable proposal

But Osanloo claimed that the offer, which values Cadbury at $16.7bn, represents a 31 percent premium on Cadbury’s share price at prior day close, compared with 28 percent in the case of the Mars/Wrigley deal.

“The debate about multiples misses the point – the world has changed dramatically since then. On the most important comparison point, the premium, our proposal compares favorably.”

Nevertheless, analysts expect Cadbury’s board and shareholders to hold out for a higher price. “We consider that Kraft would need to increase its offer up to £9.00 [$14.90] in order to stand a good chance of getting the deal done,” said Andrew Wood, senior analyst at Bernstein. “Although Kraft’s original bid represented a 31 percent premium to the prior close, and so might seem attractive, the premium was from a very low base. We consider that Cadbury’s stock was already fundamentally undervalued on a standalone basis.”

In a call with analysts yesterday, Kraft Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld reiterated that Kraft would continue to be disciplined in its attempt to capture Cadbury but has yet to rule out a hostile takeover. Kraft remains the only bidder despite Nestle and Hershey being touted as potential suitors. Wood believes the absence of rivals could play into Kraft’s hands.

“The lack of competitive pressure, and the absence of bids and counter bids, is likely to tap the amount Kraft has to pay,” he said.

Strategic opportunities

Wood added that he continued to believe an acquisition of Cadbury would make “perfect sense” for Kraft, citing numerous strategic opportunities for the business.

Cadbury is deeply entrenched in developing markets such as India and Latin America where Kraft is relatively weak and a deal would increase Kraft’s exposure to emerging markets from 20 to 25 percent of sales. Furthermore, having Cadbury on board would allow Kraft to increase its distribution density in Western Europe where Kraft’s margins are still single-digit, markedly below its industry peers.

Wood also noted that a Kraft Cadbury tie-up would create a global sweet snacks powerhouse with strong synergies in its product portfolio. While Kraft is strong in the relatively mature cookies and crackers category, Cadbury is well represented in chocolate and sugar confectionery and has an enviable position in the fast growing chewing gum sector.

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Packaging firms threatened by Kraft cutbacks

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