Firms from the chemicals and pharmaceuticals manufacturing sectors are among the latest groups to join in a campaign on workplace maintenance.

Seven multi-national companies, including Dupont and CPME, have now become partners in the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) Healthy Workplaces campaign, taking the total number of participating firms to 52.

According to EU-OSHA director Jukka Takala, around 20 per cent of the accidents in European workplaces are related to maintenance, and for a quarter of the companies who have joined the scheme this is the primary reason for them getting involved.
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The baking industry is looking at ways to combat the increasing pressure applied by inflation.

According to the Federation of Bakers chairman Mark Fairweather, the baking industry is highly competitive at the moment, with margins being cut by the rising cost of ingredients, fuel and packaging, British Baker reports.

Mr Fairweather says that these costs are real, and are things that the industry is going to have to adapt to.
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Pharmaceuticals manufacturing firms could soon be using corn starch to improve the performance of their products.

According to food scientists at Pennsylvania State University, corn starch compounds can help create stable controlled release drugs.

This is because the compound forms a protective "pocket" around the vitamins as they travel through the body, preventing heat and acids from harming the molecules.
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A new report is pushing firms in the baking industry to reduce the amount of acrylamide that is found in food.

According to British Baker Magazine, the new study by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has identified the production of bread and biscuits as a major source of the acrylamide in the food chain.

The EFSA noted that presence of the chemical has reduced in crackers and infant biscuits, but recent attempts to curb acrylamide levels in bread have had a modest impact.
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The UK baking industry is getting to grips with new energy-saving initiatives backed by the Carbon Trust.

With financial backing from the Regional Growth Fund, a number of companies are altering their manufacturing processes to make them more energy efficient, according to British Baker magazine.

One example is Irwins Bakery, which has used its funding to pay for new thermoplastic tins that reduce energy consumption by up to 13 per cent during the heating process, when compared with the performance offered by steel tins.
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Drug developers need to develop new ways to produce and test treatments more efficiently, according to leading industry experts at Tufts University.

New strategies that encompass manufacturing and improving the operational efficiency of clinical trials should be developed, according to the university's Center for the Study of Drug Development (CSDD).

Research by the centre indicates that two-thirds of investigative trial sites fail to meet enrollment requirements, while the procedures patients are subject to are on the increase.
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Scientists have made a breakthrough in metabolic engineering which will speed up and improve the industry's capability to identify cellular and micro-organism proteins.

According to researchers at the US Department of Energy Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBEI), the demonstration of 'targeted proteomics' is expected to prove valuable to chemical manufacturing over the long-term.

Findings published in the journal Metabolic Engineering are expected to simplify the existing complex process involved in optimising metabolic pathways in microbes, which are critical to the success of metabolic engineering.
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Firms in the baking industry have been warned that supplies of wheat could be affected by the spread of a new disease.

According to a study by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, new strains of rust wheat diseases have destroyed up to 40 per cent of wheat field in recent harvests across Africa, Central Asia and the Caucuses.

The centre's director general Mahmoud Solh said that this epidemic presents a "real threat" to regional food security, while reducing the overall supply of the crop.
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Firms in the baking industry have been warned that there is currently a shortage of Group 3 wheats.

According to Farmers Guardian, a grain that once made up 50 per cent of the UK's total harvest is now in high demand with dwindling stocks.

It suggests that some premiums for Group 3 wheats have now gone as high as £15/tonne.
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Firms in the baking industry have been experiencing a rising demand for brown bread, according to the latest figures.

Data from market research firm Kantar Worldpanel shows that instore sales volumes for brown bread increased by 6.1 per cent in the 12 months to March 2011, British Baker Magazine notes.

The primary driving force behind this demand is the influx of seeded products, Kantar Worldpanel claims, which have been popular with consumers.
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