Two Belgian poultry processing firms with recognised food safety management systems (FSMS) should consider further measures such as skinning carcasses and freezing to reduce high Campylobacter spp. levels in poultry products, according to a new study published in the Journal of Food Production.

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Pig farms that supply Colruyt and Okay retail outlets have agreed to stop physical castration and will now use vaccination as their standard procedure for rearing male pigs and thus reducing boar taint in the meat.

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Meat from the offspring of a cloned cow, raised and slaughtered in the UK has been exported to Belgium, the UK’s Food Standards Agency has confirmed. But Belgian authorities say there is no food safety issue, so no rapid alert was required.

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The panel for the COOK contest was made up of chefs and culinary journalists who compared a range of rib eye steaks from all around the world at a well known steakhouse in Wallonia.

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JBS S.A. said late Tuesday the company completed the acquisition of a Belgian beef processor that gives the Brazilian giant a bigger footprint in Western Europe.

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French supermarket chain Carrefour said on Friday it had come to an agreement with unions to restructure its loss-making Belgian stores. Carrefour will close 16 unprofitable stores, including nine hypermarkets and seven supermarkets, by the end of 2010.

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Belgian company Bekina NV, one of the world’s largest wellington boot manufacturers, has appointed Brecht Debruyne, pictured, sales manager for the United Kingdom and Irish Republic. Brecht, who studied Marketing and International Sales at Bruges and Ghent Universities, is also responsible for the Austrian, Hungarian and Czech markets.

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Newcastle disease has been reported in a hobby pigeon flock near Liege. The veterinary authority sent Follow Up Report No. 10 dated 7 June to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

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Belgium meat consumption down 27 May 2010 In 2009, the average Belgian bought 32.1 kg of fresh meat (excluding poultry), which is about 0.5 kg less than in 2008, according to a report presented by Belgian Meat Office Expenditure on meat amounted to 284.3 euros on average, which is 0.3 percent. less than a year ago. The consumption of beef has decreased by 3.4 percent. to 8.57 kg per person. Expenditure for the purchase of beef decreased by 2 percent. to 93.30 Euros. The share of beef in total meat consumption in the country has decreased since 2002, and last year amounted to 26.7 percent.

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Brussels, Belgium-based food retailer Delhaize Group announced that Rick Anicetti, CEO of Delhaize America Shared Services, has left the company, but did not announce a successor. At the same time, the company announced it named Carol Herndon, currently senior vice president of accounting and finance of Delhaize America, as its chief administrative officer (CAO) of Delhaize America, reporting to Pierre-Olivier Beckers, president and CEO of Delhaize Group and of Delhaize America.

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The CODA-CERVA (Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre) in Belgium initiated a new project to study the presence of Fusarium mycotoxins and animal and human carry over. The project – called Mycotoxpluim – will run till January 2012.

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The Europe Meat Access Committee (EMAC) warmly welcomes calls from the Australian Delegation at the 33rd EU/Australia Interparliamentary Meeting in Brussels to increase trade liberalisation, including increased market access to the European Union for high-quality Australian red meat products. EMAC strives to ensure that EU customers for beef and lamb have competitive quality choices and lobby on behalf of importers to ensure fair market access to the European market.

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One more case of Newcastle disease has been reported in a pigeon flock in West Flanders.

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Copa-Cogeca, the association of European Farmers and European Agri-Cooperatives, has warned Members of the European Parliament about the negative impacts of the proposed IPPC environmental proposals on EU pig and poultry producers.

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Current and emerging strategies to reduce Salmonella contamination at farm level have been investigated by S. Vandeplas and colleagues at the University of Liège, and published in the current issue of Journal of Food Protection. Salmonella is a human pathogen that frequently infects poultry flocks, explain the researchers. Consumption of raw or undercooked contaminated poultry products can induce acute gastroenteritis in humans. Faced with the public health concerns associated with salmonellosis, the European Union has established a European regulation forcing member states to implement control programmes aimed at reducing Salmonella prevalence in poultry production, especially at the primary production level.

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The global halal market is worth an estimated $632 billion annually and is growing. From Chicago to Canberra and beyond, halal foods now have a presence in most countries. The expanding market offers immense potential for businesses to produce products geared towards the Muslim consumer. However, the lack of universal standards makes the market vulnerable to fraud. Recent press reports claim that as much as 75% of poultry sold in the UK as halal is falsely labeled. In an effort to overcome this problem an international conference is being organized by the the Islamic Food Council of Europe (IFCE) on March 26, 2010 in Brussels, Belgium.

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Laurette Onkelinx, the Belgian minister for Public Health, has drawn up a bill through which physical castration of piglets is only allowed after anaesthetics, the Flemish Information Centre for Agri- and Horticulture (VILT) reports. In doing this, the minister follows an advice of the national Council of Animal Welfare, stating there are plenty of alternatives for castration without anaesthetics.

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Belgian retailer Colruyt sees a potential to open 70 more of its Colruyt supermarkets in coming years, its chairman told a Belgian newspaper at the weekend. Jef Colruyt said in an interview with Belgian business daily L'Echo that the group planned to open 17 shops in Belgium this year -- five Colruyt supermarkets, eight OKay corner stores and three Dreamland toy shops.

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According to VARC, MRSA are multi-drug resistant bacteria that cause severe problems in human medicine. A new reservoir of MRSA was discovered recently in pigs, but different domestic and non-domestic studies show that other species may be colonised as well. Previously, MRSA infections were rarely reported among animal species other than horses. In the case of cattle, this type was recently found in a few cases of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis. This animal reservoir comprises a specific type: the 'animal-related type', which may be sub-divided into few related sub-types. The animal-related type may also be found among farmers. Dogs too, are reported to have had MRSA infections, however, these MRSA strains are primarily of human origin.

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The CODA-CERVA (Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre) in Belgium is looking into Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) and differential avian diagnosis. The project aims at improvement of the diagnostic tools for the detection of avian respiratory viruses, assessment of the efficacy of ND vaccination and epidemiological surveillance of circulating ND strains. This project primarily seeks at improving diagnosis and increasing expertise in regard to the NDV in the light of our status of national reference laboratory for this virus, by developing better virological and serological diagnostic tools. These tools will be developed to broaden the knowledge on molecular epidemiology, circulation among wild birds and seroprevalence in the Belgian poultry population.

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A written questionnaire, containing semi-open questions directly or indirectly related to stillborn piglets, was sent to 250 randomly selected pig herds, having more than 150 sows, in northern Belgium. In total 111/250 questionnaires were returned (response rate of 44.4%) and 107 were valid for analysis. The average reported frequency of stillbirth was 7.5%. The relationship between risk factors and stillbirths was evaluated with a generalised linear effects model with the percentage of stillborn piglets as outcome variable.

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The presence of a WAMMCO client from Belgium put a different perspective on the current lamb market at last week's State Carcase Competition presentations.

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French retailer Carrefour faces a battle to revive its troubled Belgian unit, with trade unions fighting planned job losses, rivals likely to respond to price cuts and few buyers if it all goes wrong.

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Belgian unions are unlikely to announce further strike action at local Carrefour stores over the weekend in a dispute over planned closures and job cuts, a union official said.

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After dropping 22.9% operating profit, supermarket Delhaize was able to exceed its full-year profit guidance. Delhaize has reported 4.2% profit to $1.18bn.

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Belgian newspaper Le Soir, on its website, called the plan a "social earthquake" while Rudy Demotte, the head of the Southern French-speaking region of Wallonia, said it was a "new shock" for the group's staff

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A journalist is calling for a ban on the castration of male pigs, which, he says, is a producedure only carried out in his country because of exports to Germany

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Roxell introduces a brand new feeder pan exclusively for feeding roosters. Boozzter is an oval shaped pan with high and wide grill openings. Roosters, even with big mature combs, have easy access to the feed without hurting themselves

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Kemin is pleased to announce that Jan-Jeroen De Beucker has been appointed Marketing Director of Kemin Agrifoods worldwide, based in Herentals

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At least hundred Belgian pig producers have been blocking the doors of the Westvlees slaughterhouse in Westrozebeke, Belgium, since early this morning and threaten to continue the blockage all day, the Flemish Info Centre for Agri- and Horticulture (VILT) reports

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Petersime has now launched the S-line, its new range of single-stage incubators, which optimizes hatchery performance by hatching more but also better quality chicks and by reducing energy, maintenance and labour costs.

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An audience of veterinarians and nutritionists from all over Europe joined for the “Evolution never stops” symposium in Brussels, Belgium on 3 February. The seminar was organised by Kemin Europe at the occasion of the expected introduction of the active microbial Clostat on the European market.

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The FVO visited Belgium in May last year and attended inspections at several pig and poultry production sites and slaughterhouse

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Belgium should better maintain animal welfare legislation, a recent report by the European Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) concludes

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In order to streamline its sales and marketing activities and strengthen its corporate image among stakeholders of the European feed industry, Agrimex recently adopted a new company logo and house style

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In this role, Dr Springate is responsible for overseeing the global agrifoods business of Kemin. Having served as president of Kemin Europe and Kemin Asia

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Ter Beke expecting sustained results (AIC) – The listed meat enterprise Ter Beke in Waarschoot, Flanders, is expecting a net profit which will at least match that of the previous year (2008: EUR 7.6 million). The company will then still be on track to continue its upward

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The veterinary authorities report a further case of Newcastle disease in a hobby flock of pigeons in East Flanders. The Belgian veterinary

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Petersime’s customers will now receive a Tailored Documentation Box upon delivery of their new incubators.This handy resource guide, part of the "24/7 Access to Service Station" Service Pack, features 600 pages of practical user information, in plain language, and neatly categorised by topic.

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Finding ways to lower the prices of kosher food in Europe was one of the major topics discussed at the third conference of kashrut organizations organized earlier this week in Brussels by the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE).

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The Belgian Food Safety Authority (AFSCA) has ordered a pig abattoir in Liege to halt all slaughtering activities after a significant number of carcasses were found to be contaminated

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With more than 2,800 product references, the organic market Belgium is now worth over 300 million euros. Sales have actually improved by 25% over last year, regardless of the crisis.

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The veterinary authorities have reported another cases of Newcastle disease in a pigeon to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). The Belgian veterinary

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Pig producers in Belgium continue to send out alarm signals as they feel they continue to be underpaid for their pigs by large retailers.

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Pig producers in Belgium continue to send out alarm signals as they feel they continue to be underpaid for their pigs by large retailers.

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Production costs for producers amount to €1.40/kg, but they get paid €1.08, the website of the Flemish Information Centre for Agri- and Horticulture (VILT) reports. "Strikingly, at their websites

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Belgian food retailer Delhaize Group announced it has entered into a non-binding Letter of Intent to acquire a substantial majority of BI-LO LLC's assets for $425 million in cash. The announcement

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The Test and Training Center for Agriculture (Proef- en Vormingscentrum voor de Landbouw; PVL) in Bocholt is a new experimental farm for pig production. It offers facilities for feeding trials and studies into improved production methods. The construction of the facility cost €622,000. The PVL already had facilities

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The Belgian Trial and Education Centre for Agriculture (PVL) will construct a new test farm for pigs, the Flemish website VILT announced. The pig house

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Dairy farmers poured three million litres of milk into a Belgian field in a bid to highlight their desperation over falling prices. The stunt, in

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Linafiber is a new product from the Beneo-Animal Nutrition range. It contains 3 functional ingredients: linseed, chicory fiber and the high-energy sugar syrup BeneoCarb S. Highly suitable for sow feed, it has also proven beneficial in feed for growing & finishing pigs, piglets and breeding calves.Linafiber contains linseed, chicory fiber and a high-energy sugar syrup. The first two components

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Belgian food retailer Delhaize has sealed its exit from Germany with the completion of its store sales to Rewe. Delhaize signed a deal to sell its four German stores to Rewe in July. The agreement, for an undisclosed sum, has been approved by the

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After four consecutive years of sales growth and rising market share, Petersime has outgrown its current office and production facilities in Olsene, Belgium.To keep pace with this rapid expansion in output, the company has just purchased 22,000 m² of additional land in a newly developed industrial area next to the current Petersime site. The company will

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The Belgian government has advised a ban on all laying-hen cage systems as from 2025. However, EU minimum standards do not offer sufficient guarantees for welfare, reports Eurogroup for Animals, representing a large number of animal welfare organisations within the EU member states.

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The Belgian government has advised a ban on all laying-hen cage systems as from 2025. However, EU minimum standards do not offer sufficient guarantees for welfare, reports Eurogroup for Animals, representing a large number of animal welfare organisations

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A stakeholders' committee has advised the Belgian Health Minister to bring in a ban on all cage systems for laying hens in the country by 2025. It was their opinion that the EU ban on conventional battery cages does not go far enough for good animal welfare. Millions of laying

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As from 1 January, 2012, using classical battery cages for layer hens will be banned in the EU. Most Belgian poultry producers won't make that switch in time, warns Ilka Hertogs, secretary at the Flemish Industry Poultry and Rabbit Producers (Vepek

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Belgian farmers look like Irish farmers, work hard like Irish farmers, complain about prices like Irish farmers, but their livestock is different. Whether it is

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- Poultry numbers have slightly come down over the past 12 months in Belgium, official May figures of the Belgian Ministry of Economic Affairs indicate.Total numbers came down from 32.5 mln to 32.3 mln. The number of layers went up 4.5% to 12.0 mln but the

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Angry pig producers have blocked access to four large retailer distribution centres in Belgium late last week, the Flemish Information Centre for Agri- and Horticulture reports in its newsletter.According to the Flemish union for pig producers (VeVa), about 750

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