July 2002 - This is our round up of food-related news all over the world.
In Singapore and Malaysia, the top news seem to be the recent side effects caused by taking diet pills containing a banned substance, fenfluramine. Earlier, a 43-year-old lady reportedly died from liver failure said to be caused from consuming the diet pills. The Health Authorities from both countries are working to remove products containing such banned substances from the shelves.
In Indonesia, the Indonesian Council Ulemas (MUI) has recently ordered that imported food and beverages into Indonesia must carry 'Halal' labels. This will provide the appropriate information to Muslim consumers in Indonesia.
A recent survey in Australia found that 13% of chickens on sale in supermarkets in Sydney and Brisbane, Australia contain bacteria resistant to one of the strongest antibiotics.
Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee Co in the United States of America recently celebrated its 10th year anniversary as a publicly traded company. The Starbucks Chairman had this to say, "Back then many people would have never dreamed that in ten years we would build a company, which in 1992 had a market capitalization of approximately US$270m, into a company that today has nearly US$10bn in market capitalization." Indeed! Quite amazing for a kopitiam.
Japan, which has always been well known for quality products, was recently rocked by food-related scandals. There have been four cases of cows infected with mad cow disease, most recently in mid-May. Cases mount on fraudulent labeling incidents such as labeling as Japanese chickens from Brazil, salt from Vietnam and beef from US and Australia.
A student from Canada is demanding compensation from McDonald’s, claiming that the Big Mac he ate caused food poisoning. He has since developed an aversion to burgers.
The European Union (EU) is to launch an initiative for a multilateral register to guarantee the protection of geographical indications of products. This initiative is intended to give enhanced protection to traditional, high-quality products that are specific to certain regions of the world such as Darjeeling tea (India), Jasmine rice (Thailand), Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (Italy), Jamon de Huelva (Spanish ham) and sambal belacan (Malaysia!).
