Food

14 Oct 2019; (UMM): India has slipped to 102 in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) in 2019, from 93rd rank in 2015, the website that tracks hunger and malnutrition said on Wednesday. Pakistan, on the other hand, has improved its ranking from 106 in 2015 to 94 in 2019, while Sri Lanka has gone up from 82 to 66.

Countries like Yemen and Djibouti, which are conflict ridden and facing severe climate issues respectively, fared better than India.

MEXICO CITY, Oct 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexico’s lower house unanimously passed a Bill to make manufacturers put warning labels on junk food, defying industry pressure in a bid to protect consumers’ health in one of the world’s most obese countries.

The Bill, which requires food packages to carry labels on the front if the contents are high in sugar, sodium or saturated fat, passed the Chamber of Deputies with 445 votes in favor and three abstentions.

ADEN, Yemen, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The UN World Food Program (WFP) has begun to partially suspend food assistance operations to areas of war-torn Yemen under the control of Houthi rebels, putting thousands of hungry people at risk of starvation.

The UN agency, which is feeding more than 10 million people across Yemen, repeatedly complained of some "obstructive and uncooperative" Houthi leaders who interfered with food distribution in the country's northern areas.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 07 (APP): Unsafe food kills an estimated 420,000 people every year, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said while marking the first-ever UN World Food Safety Day.
Children under-five are the most at risk, carrying 40 per cent of the foodborne disease burden, amounting to 125,000 deaths every year, according to WHO.

LONDON (AP) — Amazon is investing in British meal delivery company Deliveroo, giving the online shopping behemoth a larger stake in the fast-growing restaurant delivery business.

Amazon failed to get its own restaurant delivery business going in the United Kingdom, shutting it down for good late last year. It faced tough competition from Deliveroo, as well as its other rivals in the country such as Just Eat and UberEats. Amazon’s service, called Amazon Restaurants, still operates in several U.S. cities.

ROME, May 18 (Xinhua): China's poverty reduction approach can serve as a useful model for developing countries around the world, United Nations (UN) experts and Chinese officials said at a seminar on poverty reduction.

The seminar took place at the third International Seminar on Global Poverty Reduction Partnerships held here during the 2019 International Cooperation Expo earlier this week.

CHANGSHA, May 16 (Xinhua): A leading saline soil rice research center in eastern China's Shandong Province made the decision to expand its experimental land to over 666 hectares early this month.

The Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center in the coastal city of Qingdao said the move aims to speed up research and development and optimize the types of saline soil rice.

The center said one other important purpose of the expansion is to seek the best cultivation methods.

CANBERRA, May 15 (Xinhua): Australia will import grain for the first time in over 10 years as the country recovers from the devastating 2018 drought.

The Australian government has approved a single shipment permit to import bulk wheat from Canada to mitigate the rising domestic prices for grain caused by the worst drought in decades on the east coast, according to the report of Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Wednesday.

WELLINGTON, May 13 (Xinhua): New Zealand dairy company Fonterra has sold its ice cream company Tip Top for 380 million New Zealand dollars to British dairy giant Froneri.

Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell confirmed the sale, saying it was a bittersweet moment for Fonterra. "Fonterra received a number of quality bids for Tip Top, we have secured a good price for our farmers and unit holders," Hurrell said.

It is understood that Fonterra had signed an agreement with the new owner to supply milk which ensured Fonterra farmers would continue to contribute to Tip Top.

BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese agriculture scientists have bred new rice varieties named "Green Super Rice (GSR)" for developing Asian and African countries to reduce hunger and increase the income of farmers.

Supported by the Chinese government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project has bred 78 GSR varieties for 18 countries with a total growing area of 6.12 million hectares since its launch in 2008, hoping to benefit 30 million resource-poor smallholder rice farmers in Asia and Africa.