Ayman Shahin Export invests US$20m in new Moussy malt beverage factory in Egypt

EGYPT – Ayman Shahin Export, an export management and manufacturing company, has invested US$20 million in a new Moussy malt beverage factory in Egypt.

The factory was established with technical assistance from the Danish beverage company Carlsberg, which owns the Moussy brand.

The new plant, spanning an area of 8,000 square meters, has a production capacity of about 30,000 bottles/hour.

Group chairman Ayman Shaheen

Nutrition

GLOBAL – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United nations (FAO) have settled for “Cellbased food” as the term to describe meat that has been produced in the lab.

Defending their preferred name, the two organizations noted that cell-based food was “less confusing, conveniently overarching and generally well-accepted by consumers”, and accurately reflects the science of the product.

In their report, they noted that other popular terms such as “cultured” and “cultivated” can be confusing as they are often used in the aquaculture sector to indicate farmed fish and fisheries.

The term “cellular agriculture” can be considered too general as it may include the topic of plant cell culturing or fermentation, the report noted.

WHO and FAO also deliberately drop the term “meat” in favor of “food” to make the product easily acceptable across geographies regardless of cultural and religious convictions.

“The use of the term “meat” to refer to a cell-based food product might not be acceptable in all regions and may also complicate halal or kosher labeling,” the report indicated.

told Zawya Projects that the factory supports the Egyptian government’s goal of local manufacturing and will operate sustainably by rationalizing energy and water consumption and avoiding environmentally harmful chemicals.

He added that the project targets a sales volume of up to US$13 million and an export volume equivalent to 25 percent of the factory’s production capacity in the first 12 months.

WHO recommends against use of non-sugar sweeteners to control body weight or reduce the risk of NCDs

GLOBAL – The WHO has recommended against the use of non-sugar sweeteners to control body weight or reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

According to the world health body, the recommendation is based on the findings of a systematic review of the available evidence which suggests that the use of NSS does not confer any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults or children.

Results of the review also suggest that there may be potential undesirable effects from long-term use of NSS, such as an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults.

“Replacing free sugars with NSS does not help with weight control in the long term. People need to consider other ways to reduce free sugars intakes, such as consuming food with naturally occurring sugars, like fruit, or unsweetened food and beverages,” said Francesco Branca, WHO Director for Nutrition and Food Safety.

The recommendation however does not apply to low-calorie sugars and sugar alcohols (polyols), which are sugars or sugar derivatives containing calories and are therefore not considered NSS.

Common NSS include acesulfame K, aspartame, advantame, cyclamates, neotame, saccharin, sucralose, stevia, and stevia derivatives.