May 2017 | AshtonsLegal.co.uk

Ashtons Legal outlines recent developments in the Food & Drink sector. Our legal and business expertise ranges from field to fork and includes growers, farmers, manufacturers, processors, distributors and retailers.

The importance of Allergen Labelling

There have been 35 product recalls so far this year relating to either failure to include an allergen on the ingredients list or as a result of incorrect packaging.

This would suggest that there is still an issue in providing the correct allergen information before a product is shipped out, putting allergy sufferers at risk. Read more

Proposed Change in Novel Foods Regulations in England

A novel food is a food or food ingredient that does not have a significant history of consumption within the European Union before 15 May 1997.

The new regulations will come into effect on 1 January 2018 and take into account the increase in operational experience, technological and scientific advancement and changes in food law.

The UK government will provide an enhanced enforcement framework to ensure that food businesses have the knowledge to properly risk assess novel foods before being placed on the market and to protect consumers against potentially dangerous novel food products.

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Hummus Crisis

Food manufacturer Bakkavor, who manufacture hummus on an industrial scale in the UK for Supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Asda and Morrisons, had to undertake a mass voluntary withdrawal of their products following complaints of a strange “metallic” taste.

Fortunately, it seems that the UK is not the only country to have to recall their products due to manufacturing issues, as Bombay Sapphire, owned by Bermuda based Bacardi, have had to recall a batch of their gin destined for Canada after it was discovered that the bottles contained gin with 77% alcohol, as opposed to 40% as labelled.

Anna Mortenson
E: anna.mortenson@ashtonslegal.co.uk
T: 01223 431128

Industry News

Weetabix is to be bought by US company Post Holdings in a deal worth £1.4bn.

Nestle have revealed plans to pull production of Blue Riband from the UK and move it to Poland, cutting 298 jobs in the process.

Kraft-Heinz withdraws from attempted £115bn takeover of Unilever, with Unilever saying that the bid had “no merit, either financial or strategic”.

Sibberi water brand acquired by mineral salt business Westlab.

Tayto acquired popcorn brand Portlebay for £35,000 in a pre-pack deal.

Arla has signed an exclusive deal with Morrison’s to supply the supermarket with it’s own-label milk.

Colin Makin
E: colin.makin@ashtonslegal.co.uk
T: 01473 261346

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