1.   

Centre to states: Lift all restrictions on fruit and vegetables movement

The Centre has asked states to lift all restrictions on the movement of fruit and vegetables, a move that seeks to eliminate intermediaries, reduce wastage and tame the stubbornly high food inflation. The proposal also aims at setting the stage for opening up multi-brand retail to foreign direct investment. Since agriculture produce and marketing is a state subject, the Centre hopes to use its leverage in deciding state plans to push .....

2.   

Technological support for horticulture products given priority

Technological support to increase horticulture products, especially winter crops in the north eastern states, was given high priority during the Zonal Conference for Rabi Inputs 2011-2012 held at Aizawl today. The conference, attended by officials from the Union Ministry of Agriculture and the north eastern states including Sikkim, also emphasised the need for mechanical farming to boost agriculture and horticulture produces and also .....

3.   

USA - Food import charges

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may be hitting another hurdle in the effort to fund its new responsibilities under the Food Safety Modernization Act. FDAImports.com, LLC, a consulting firm for food and drug importers, is building a coalition of domestic importers and foreign food manufacturers to oppose a proposed import re-examination fee, intended to help pay for inspection costs. The coalition hopes to mobilize businesses to submit comments on the proposed rule, which would allow FDA to collect a fee on food importers if inspectors have to .....

4.   

A container that can store ready-to-eat main product, ingredients separately

RPC Barrier, European rigid plastic packaging supplier, is developing the la Cup 2 to store ready-to-eat food. The product is being designed in such a way that the products inside the container, which could be a sauce or other ingredients that need to be mixed with the main product, could be stored separately and combined only during consumption. The container could be used for hot or cold, sweet and savoury and cooked or raw food. Examples of such food combinations could be .....