Acrylamide is a recognised carcinogen that we’ve known is in our food at dangerous levels for a decade. Today, the food industry has tools to mitigate it, but uptake is slow.Industry, beware. This is how scandals are made.
The much debated launch of a consistent ‘front-of-pack’ nutrition label is currently the talk of the food manufacturing and retail industry, writes Ian Pickett, joint founder of specialist recruitment agency Drayton Partners.
Europe’s new health claim laws are the strictest in the world, with only the most strongly backed nutrient-health associations permitted on-product and whole sectors enraged about stripped comms tools. But immunity claims have fared better than most,...
A French study on the effects of Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) maize in rats has said little about the safety or otherwise of GM crops – but it has said plenty about how the media can be used to push an agenda.
Western breakfast brands don’t often work in China. They need manipulating to appeal to very different tastes, packaging and format preferences and, of course, another language.
Dealing with problems that may arise in the formulation of food and beverage products is vital for manufacturers. In the second part of his look at troubleshooting, Leatherhead Food Research’s Dr Wayne Morley applies his top tips to real case studies.
As foods become ever more complex, the need to be able to efficiently troubleshoot problems becomes even more critical. In this guest article, Wayne Morley, PhD, head of food innovation at Leatherhead Food Research, outlines his top 10 tips for efficient...
Yesterday a large scale scientific review revealed that organic produce may not be more nutritious than ‘conventionally’ produced goods. But since that isn’t the main reason people buy them, does it really even matter?
‘Fat tax’ is a neat thought, but like all simplistic ideas it falls down at the execution, as the progress of the policy in Denmark shows – it simply doesn’t work in practice.
Sourcing cocoa from certified farms can minimise incidence of child labour, but if that’s enough, why else should chocolate manufacturers commit to third-party certification?
Barely a week goes by without another food company being challenged in court over its use of the word ‘natural’ – and it’s just a matter of time before the claim loses its front-and-center on-pack appeal.
Vitafoods celebrates its 15th birthday next week. It’ll be my 11th consecutive May visit to Geneva for the jamboree and promises to be one of the most intriguing chapters with the (partial and belated) resolution of years of ambiguity regarding health...
Anyone who has spent any appreciable amount of time working in the food industry realises that the issue of ‘junk food’ marketing to children is a hydra that rears two heads for every one cut off.
Five years ago the European Union nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR) became law. Around the bloc, hopeful EU healthy foods and supplements stakeholders submitted more than 44,000 health claim applications.
Can you make it taste better?" is a question I've been asked time and time again, usually by people who don't actually know what they want and who don't understand the word 'taste' at all – let alone the journey you need...
The European Food Safety Authority last week delivered the fifth batch of article 13, general function health claim opinions bringing the total issued to 2723. There are just 35 to go – to be published next month in a final mini-batch that will conclude...
The United States lists sodium on nutrition labels while salt is more common in the European Union. Salt and sodium are not the same, and a standardized term would only cause confusion.
‘I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter!’ When it comes to transparency you can’t get much clearer than Unilever’s famous exclamation-turned-margarine-brand. But new labelling rules to prevent one food masquerading as another should distinguish between intent...
All is not well down on the novel foods farm. If food innovation in Europe is to thrive anew, MEPs and the Council need to get past the recriminations over the failed talks and remove the troublesome question of cloned foods from the negotiating table.
Today is Pancake Day. It is also International Women’s Day. An important date, then, not just for food lovers in countries where Mardi Gras is a big deal, but a day to consider the role – and the potential – of women involved in food provision all over...
The food industry has a responsibility to label allergenic ingredients as big and bold as they can – but also not to over-egg the slimmest of slim possibilities that a trace amount of an allergen may have slipped into a product.
When Tunisian street vegetable vendor Mohamed Bouazizi chose to end his life in fiery suicide, no one could have foreseen the firestorm his death would unleash across the Arab world. But, two months later, as the Arab Revolt shows no sign of fading, the...
The food industry should not rage against the idea of professionalised local food systems, nor unleash its lobbying force to uproot them before their green shoots can reach maturity. Rather, it should explore ways to benefit from local foods and, in turn,...
It was an Emperor’s New Clothes moment for the US food industry last week, when it was revealed that a major initiative touting its responsible advertising to kids actually allows promotion of many unhealthy foods. Is anyone really surprised?
The complacency being exhibited by Brussels over the ongoing dioxin contamination incident is every bit as concerning as the carcinogenic chemical that has found its way into the food and feed chains since the end of last year.
Change4Life healthy food vouchers are just the ticket for food industry marketers. But changing eating habits requires consistent, co-ordinated policy – not hand-outs to ease the population’s post-Christmas conscience.
As 2010 draws to a close, our journalists look back at the issues that have topped agendas across the food, beverage and dietary supplements industries in the last 12 months. Commodity prices, Bisphenol A, obesity, health claims, safety regulations, and...
When PepsiCo put up $5.4bn last week to acquire Wimm-Bill-Dann, it was seduced by the promise of high revenue growth but like any high-yield investment the Russian deal does not come without risks.
The hand on the tiller that is food safety in Europe has been left somewhat unsteady by the recent regulatory actions taken by the European Commission on BPA and food colours – moves that are pandering to consumer fear and showing contempt for the food...
As all parties would probably admit in these stressful times for the European Union functional food industry, we are still some way away from resolving the core issues that resulted in the adoption of Regulation 1924/2006 – the 2006 nutrition and health...
Uh-oh, surely not another industry-sponsored front-of-pack nutrition label! Food industry engagement is welcome, but let’s take it slowly – no one benefits until we figure out a system that works.
Somewhere, in some time, there exists a land of beauty and promise for nutricosmetics products, where beauty supplements, foods and drinks can frolic, happy in the knowledge of their justifiable claims.The problem is that getting to this promised land...
To BPA or not to BPA? While the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) backed the continued use of bisphenol A last week, the real question is whether the verdict was a full-blown reprieve for the controversial chemical or merely a stay of execution.
Once upon a time sugar was sugar, and sugar was most definitely not good for you. So the Corn Refiners Association move to rebrand high fructose corn syrup as corn sugar is a daring move – but should do little to sweeten its reputation.
There’s something incongruous about the hi-tech modern food industry sniffing around the Palaeolithic era for the next big consumer trend. But hold the side order of cynicism. There might just be some logic to good old-fashioned instinctive eating.
Kids are not going to stop liking chocolate, pizza, ice cream, or fries. Heck, neither am I. So why is industry so afraid of mandatory restrictions on marketing to children?
There’s nothing like a shortage of wheat to send some news media searching for superlatives. Talk of “soaring” wheat prices and “rocketing” bread prices were common, in the British press, after Russia decided to temporarily ban grain exports earlier this...
The world’s first 100 percent biodegradable chip packet attracted a lot of noise last week, but not the buzz that SunChips’ maker FritoLay had been hoping for.
Do you want a statin with that cheeseburger and milkshake? Touting pharmaceuticals as the neutralisers of fast food is not the answer to unhealthy diets and even the suggestion sends out the wrong message.
Big oops. Meat and milk from the offspring of cloned animals has entered the UK food chain. Cue scary headlines and scared consumers. But the leviathan of EU-lawmaking means no-one actually knows if it’s legal or not. And that’s an even bigger oops.
Let's get talking about nanotech. The science of the very small has filled the food industry with big ideas – but industry is torn on how to present nanotechnology to consumers, stalling product development.
Here’s a radical thought for the marketers - the benefits of antioxidants may not be related to antioxidant activity. Last week’s NutraIngredients Antioxidants Conference suggested some tough choices are ahead.
‘Billion dollar deal’ was not a phrase bandied about the food ingredients industry much last year. With BASF buying Cognis for €3.1bn and Corn Products International paying $1.3bn for National Starch, M&A looks to be thawing – but best not get over-excited...
Always read the small print. Good advice and nowhere more so than in food labelling with today’s increasingly savvy consumers demanding to know what’s in their food, where it came from and what it’s going to do to them.
Sorry guys, the World Cup is not all about football. It’s about food too, and this year’s tournament should kick off a whole new debate about our sporting food culture.
