Around 15% of all emissions resulting from the typical diet of an EU citizen can be directly linked to deforestation of tropical forests, according to new research. The link between production of certain foods – such as palm oil, beef and soy – and deforestation has long been established. However, two new studies, from Chalmers…

Cross-border food fraud cases jumped from 178 in 2017 to 234 last year, according to the EU Food Fraud Network’s annual report. In 2016 there were 157 requests for cooperation between countries. Fish and fish products had the largest number of requests (45), followed by meat and meat products (41), fats and oils (29) and…

Starbucks and Hubbub have announced a £1m “cup fund” to help kickstart disposable cup recycling in the UK. At least 10 large-scale recycling programmes, with grants of between £50,000 and £100,000 each, will be created. The money comes from the 5p that Starbucks charges customers who use single-use cups. Hubbub, an environmental charity, said there…

Italian investigators have identified a huge food fraud scandal involving balsamic vinegar. Grape must and wine products worth €15m (£12.9m), as well as numerous documents showing how provenance and authenticity credentials were falsified, were seized, according to reports in the Grocer and the Guardian. The fraudsters are suspected of “using lower grade grapes to make…

Tesco has started collecting “unrecyclable plastics” for recycling in a trial at 10 stores. Customers will be able to return everything from pet food pouches to shopping bags and crisp packets, all of which are not usually recycled by local councils at the kerbside. Last week, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee launched a…

“Urban munchers of veggie burgers and vegan sausages be damned,” is how Politico carried the news that EU lawmakers in the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament (AGRI) this month voted in favour of proposals to ensure terms such as “steak”, “sausage” and “burger” should be reserved exclusively for products containing meat. Rapporteur and French…

The shortlist for Footprint Awards is announced, revealing the foodservice and hospitality sector’s leading responsible business initiatives. Footprint Awards remains the only initiative to honour the achievements of companies in the area of sustainability and responsible business practice in the out of home sector and its supply chain. These awards are open to organisations at…

All foodservice and hospitality companies with over 250 employees should have a food waste target in place and be measuring, reporting and taking action on food waste by 2026, according to a new industry action plan. Developed by WRAP, the Hospitality and Food Service (HaFS) sector Action Plan defines the steps companies must take to…

EU member states will have to achieve a 90% collection target for plastic bottles by 2029 after MEPs voted in favour of a new directive. On 27 March, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve a series of measures proposed by the European Commission to tackle marine litter coming from the 10 single-use plastic products…

Boston Tea Party has said its ban on single-use takeaway cups has led to a £250,000 fall in sales in the past 10 months. The independent West Country coffee shop chain introduced the ban across its 22 shops in June 2018. At the time it said that takeaway hot drinks were responsible for 5.2% of…