Summary of newsmakers of the previous day –1.2.2008

A scare DDT is back. Its remains are in milk

Still improving technology used for detection of content of substances in foodstuffs obviously will prepare not only surprise to consumers. A company Check of Ecological Agriculture found out currently that milk from farmers contains remains of insecticide DDT forbidden already for many years. “Well, we have found remains of DDT in milk although its content does not exceeded permissible limits”, a director of the firm Milan Berka confirms.

Industry criticizes proposal of Commission for food marking

In the middle of a strong lobbing from a side of food industry the European Commission proposed new strict rules for marking of foodstuffs. It wants to help consumers to choose healthier foodstuffs because obesity becomes a serious problem in the whole Europe. Food producers and retail dealers expressed immediately big fear of the proposal which according to them is “unworkable”.

Meat cattle breeders will be better

If a new proposal of complementary direct payments in such a form as it is now, meat cattle breeders can look forward to higher subsidies than they were last year. The proposal for this year counts on the fact that the payment for meat cattle will be in fact divided into two parts. The first part will be from money which is determined for breeders of all ruminants indiscriminate breed according to the number of animals to the 31.3.2007 (it is not really dealt with a typist’s error). It means that financial means will be paid also to farmers who have not bred cattle any more. Only breeders who breed their cattle in a system without market milk production will be able to ask for the second part of money.

Report on Czech brewing and malting industry introduced

For the first time in its 135-year history the Czech Beer and Malt Association (ČSPS) has published a “Report on Czech brewing and malting industry” An executive director of the Association Jan Veselý informed on it and added that the publication has both the Czech and the English version and except an introduction ten chapters in total. The among others contain explanation of problems of Czech beer as a unique phenomenon; they describe a position of Czech beer on world markets, and they inform on what is the significance of brewing industry for Czech economy.