News

According to the latest government data, French farmers have increased the use of plant protection agents, pesticide use increased by 24% in 2018 compared to 2017. According to statistical data, the use of pesticides in France also increased by 25% between 2009 and 2011, and 2016 and 2018.
More information is available here.

The Polish parliament discussed new legislation on taxation of sweetened drinks and small bottles of spirits last week, on the basis of a proposal from the Polish Ministry of Health in December. According to the first bill, the price of soft drinks containing sugar was to increase by 0.70 zloty (0.16 EUR) per litter, or by 0.80 zloty (0.19 EUR) if a larger proportion of sweeteners is contained in the drink. If the drink contains caffeine or guarana, the increase could be up to 1 zloty (0.22 EUR) per 1 litter of drink. Taxation should also affect a small, 300 ml bottle of alcohol (so-called 'małpka'), where each bottle will be increased by 1 zloty. However, the fee is paid not by the manufacturer but by retailers offering small bottles. The new tax law is due to enter into force in April 2020, bringing up to 3 billion zlotys (EUR 0.7 billion) per year in the state treasury. Already from 01/01/2020, an increased excise tax of 10% on alcohol, tobacco and liquid used in e-cigarettes has been applied in PL.
More information is available here.

The Portuguese Directorate-General for Health (DGS) recommends that the government of Portugal adopt one simple nutrition labelling scheme to help consumers and professionals choose and choose healthier foods. The DGS, together with the Institute of Environmental Health of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon (ISAMB-FMUL), stated in its report that there should be only one consensus labelling system that is adaptable to products sold in Portugal. The French food labelling system using the Nutriscore colour label has received dynamic support in Europe, but has not been supported by DGS and ISAMB-FMUL.
More information is available here.

Eight world dairy leaders have launched a joint global initiative called 'Farming for Generations' to ensure the sustainability of dairy production. All members of the initiative will assess and collect the best and most recent solutions to enhance sustainability in the dairy sector, including cultivation and plant protection techniques or digitization, across all farm sizes and different agricultural structures. The initiative planned for the next 3 years will initially work with 25 dairy farms in the EU, the US and Russia to identify examples of good practice, and the number of cooperating dairy farms is expected to increase to 2500 after 2 years.
More information is available here.

The Spanish company NovaMeat, which has been working on the development of vegetable meat substitutes for a long time, has already introduced the second version of its steak alternative. Version 2.0 simultaneously shows the structure and appearance of beef. The technology based on “biotprinting” can fine-tune the structure of plant proteins at the microscopic level, is flexible and adaptable to the needs of producing vegetable meat alternatives with different textures from different ingredients. NovaMeat's next step is to develop a product with the texture, appearance and taste and nutritional value of beef. In the future, the company expects to sell technology to produce vegetable alternatives to meat and meat products.
More information is available here.