Food safety
Andriukaitis: Europe should take lead in science-based plant innovation
The EU is leading the science-based fight against climate change and it will also lead on science-based plant innovation, writes former EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis.Promoted content
Senselessly shunning science: the EU Parliament’s GMO dilemma
Europe seems increasingly ready to face the challenges of the 21st century and to lead the way to a ‘greener’ and more sustainable future. But what role can the EU Parliament play in the face of recent unsubstantiated “objections” against GMOs?
Give the people what they want: Non-GMO sells
For many years leading European food retailers have been following a strict non-GMO policy. Retailers are the parties most concerned when it comes to GMO regulation. For them, the proper implementation of the ECJ ruling is crucial, writes Heike Moldenhauer.
EU should celebrate but not remain complacent about food safety
As Europe celebrates World Food Safety Day for the first time, Bernhard Url welcomes the fact that every year, on June 7, the world’s attention will be drawn to the crucial role that food safety plays in our daily lives and to its importance in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.Special ReportPromoted content
Tackling the next agricultural revolution together
It has been over 12,000 years since the Neolithic Revolution, when our nomadic ancestors began planting roots, quite literally -- trading in their hunter-gatherer lifestyles to cultivate crops. Today we’re facing another revolution in agriculture – one we must tackle together, writes Neal Gutterson.
EU food alert system exposed to antimicrobial resistant contamination
On 25 October 2018, the European Parliament adopted a new legislative framework for veterinary medicinal products and medicated feed, which are a step forward in preventing the rise in antibiotic resistance.Special ReportPromoted content
EU fertiliser industry at the crossroads between nutrition and energy
We live in fascinating times where technology is evolving at an ever-increasing pace, spurring major shifts in many industries. This is also the case for the fertilizer sector, writes Jacob Hansen, director general of Fertilizers Europe.
Plant breeding innovations can help to future proof our farming system
Reading the opinion of Greens / EFA members of the European Parliament on plant breeding, one can’t help but be amazed by their obsession with GMOs, writes Garlich von Essen.
Mercosur: Don’t sacrifice our food standards and tropical forests for trade
The trade agreement currently being negotiated by the EU and Morcosur will increase poverty and accelerate the demise of European farmers by subjecting them to unfair competition, argue Perrine Fournier and Yannick Jadot.
Innovation in animal health: Sifting the tangible actions from the political ideas
Over the past fifty years, the EU has done a stellar job in moving from a very fragmented national approach to animal disease control to a progressively more harmonised system of animal health measures, disease surveillance, diagnosis and control, writes Roxane Feller.
Equal standards for food across the EU: A matter of taste? No, a matter of quality!
What is in the food that we buy? It’s a question whose answer is less certain than it should be. Shockingly, many food manufacturers find it acceptable to sell their food with standard packaging throughout the EU, but with very different content, and often lower quality, in different countries, writes Lilyana Pavlova.
Combat digestive diseases with tighter controls on the alcohol and food industry
You are what you eat, the saying goes, but what about what we drink? Dietary regulations across Europe need to be stricter if digestive disease rates are to fall, writes Thierry Ponchon.
Commission’s formaldehyde U-turn shows need to separate science from politics, emotion
Chemicals, even naturally occurring ones, often sound scary, and they certainly can be hazardous. But most, when appropriately managed, deliver significant benefits, writes Rick Phillips.
No, the EU does not want to ban your chips
Recently, headlines in Germany and Austria might have made you shiver with fear: “The. EU. Wants. To. Ban. Crispy. Chips”. No less! The same EU which dictates the shape of our bananas and cucumbers is now meddling with our chips. Or is it, asks Monique Goyens.
Fipronil crisis: Why should we keep on using these toxic substances?
The withdrawal of millions of eggs from the market produced in the Netherlands and Belgium should motivate the EU to shift towards a different model of agriculture, argues Martin Dermine.
Public health hangs in the balance with salmonella risk
Salmonella, one of Europe’s most prevalent food-borne diseases, has been on the retreat the past decade, but EU experts have so far failed to protect a two-year deadlock that could see one of the most important tools in the fight against salmonella banned, writes Randall Ennis.
Bayer-Monsanto’s ugly offspring
As safety watchdogs battle over just how toxic and dangerous Monsanto’s controversial weed-killer glyphosate actually is, the even more toxic half-brother from Bayer, glufosinate, is making a timely return, warns Mute Schimpf.
Pesticide bans are catch-22 for landowners
Landowners need crop protection products to feed our growing population. By removing crop protection products from the market, the EU is endangering its own food security, writes Robert de Graeff.
New GM crops once again fail the safety test
As the world focuses elsewhere, two untested varieties of genetically modified maize are slowly manoeuvring their way through the legislative hoops of the European institutions towards Europe’s fields, writes Mute Schimpf.
Commission’s endocrine disruptor plan is illegal, inadequate and woefully late
European Commission draft rules to identify and ultimately ban endocrine disrupters are illegal because they clash with existing pesticide and biocide regulations, Alice Bernard writes. The environmental lawyer warned that EU judges could throw out the changes to the long-awaited scientific criteria for the chemicals.
Glyphosate: Understanding the controversy
The debate over glyphosate has not been a scientific discussion but an activists’ war against ‘Big Agri’. Glyphosate is scientifically proven to be safe and should be re-authorised, writes André Heitz.
Animal health matters: Can EU legislation deliver?
Disease outbreaks such as Ebola and avian influenza serve as a stark reminder that human and animal health will always be inter-connected, writes Roxane Feller.
Freedom of choice over GMO cultivation is a step forward
The European Parliament made history on 15 January this year, when it adopted the so-called opt-out proposal for genetically modified organisms (GMO). The decision to grant national governments this freedom and legal certainty was vital in a time of such euroscepticism, writes Elisabeth Köstinger.