It’s time to get out our crystal balls and predict the hottest trends in the European food and drink sector for the year ahead. What’s in store for 2015?
There was more than one Palaeolithic diet, and none of them may have been that healthy - but barely any of the foods eaten are available anymore anyway, say researchers.
As 2014 draws to a close, let’s take a minute to look back and ask, how accurate was our forecast for the year? FoodNavigator looks back at its trend predictions for 2014.
Following a Mediterranean style diet may be associated with greater telomere length - a finding that further supports the diet’s links to health and longevity, say researchers.
98.3% of foods in the EU contain pesticide residues within legal limits, but there were “significantly higher” maximum limit exceedance rates for products from outside of Europe, according to a report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Food and drink manufacturers must emphasise the role of exercise in reducing obesity or risk being sidelined in the debate and hit with stricter regulation, according to new research.
Alternative proteins are a “hot area” of interest and products such as sandwich spreads made with meal worms could be a thing of the future, according to one food trend expert.
A new inulin-propionate ester (IPE) ingredient may increase appetite-reducing hormones and make people feel fuller, according to research published in the journal Gut.
A new and extensive review of the associations between food and drink groups and major diet-related diseases will guide the way for future research and policy interventions, say researchers.
Functional food specialist Dr Zak’s has developed a high-protein bagel and has flatbreads in development as it looks to stretch its offering in a niche market, its managing director says.
New technologies are vital to the future growth of the food and nutrition industry, but their future success depends on much more than the science behind them.
Nitrate from leafy greens may thin the blood and help oxygen circulate around the body more efficiently, according to one of three studies conducted by the University of Cambridge and Southampton.
Mintel says the presence of nutritionally beneficial compounds could see stevia-based sweeteners of the future that combine functional benefits as well as calorie-free sweetness.
Finland’s VTT research centre has developed processing technologies and recipes for the faba bean – up to now little-used in human food – which deliver high-protein, gluten-free alternative breads, pasta, snacks and other products.
Labour is about to set out its plans for improving public health if elected next year and while tougher regulation can be expected, sugar and fat taxes will not be part of the mix, it has emerged.
Pursuing health and environmental sustainability goals at the same time requires trade-offs, argues an Aarhus University associate professor in Current Opinion in Food Science.
Consumers are generally able to use nutrition labelling systems to identify more and less healthy foods, but the use of different reference amounts may be confusing, say researchers.
Salt replacer use is growing but low salt claims are not, as food companies favour a ‘quiet’ approach – but growth in gourmet table salts may threaten salt reduction efforts.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Health Organisation (WHO) have published a 60 point plan as part of a ‘framework for action’ to improve global food and nutrition systems.
The global functional food market is forecast to reach $54bn (€43bn), an increase of 25% compared to the last available data from 2013, says Leatherhead Food Research.
Sales of herbal and other teas increased by 5.9% in the United States in 2013, capping off a decade of solid growth, according to a market report by the American Botanical Council. It was ABC’s first such report on the tea sector.
Many different approaches have been taken to reducing salt, from mineral-based salt replacers to gradual reduction to alter consumer preference – but some ignore salty flavour altogether.
The EU’s central science agency has rejected a health claim submission linking prunes (Prunus domestica L) with normal bowel function in under-3s for a lack of infant-specific data. A carbohydrate-based claim was also rejected while zinc and selenium...
Choosing gluten-free food is a lifestyle choice, but there is no evidence that it’s a healthier option for those not suffering from gluten intolerance, say experts.
Plant-derived foods have been suggested as preferable to those of animal origin from an environmental perspective as well as for health – but nutrient density must be taken into account, suggests a new study.
Following a Mediterranean style-diet may be better at cutting obesity rates than following diets that involve continually counting calories, say researchers in the UK.
"When we put all this data together, there isn't a country that doesn't experience significant malnutrition"
Malnutrition is costing the global economy $3.5 trillion (€2.8trn) a year in both the developing and developed worlds, the biggest ever global survey of nutrition has concluded.
Researchers have urged food producers to develop good tasting protein-rich products that are based on foods that the elderly already regularly consume.
A greater focus on emotional training may be a more effective way of encouraging healthy food choices than nutritional training, according to research.
Manufacturers think health is most important for consumers but sales data show they actually look for indulgence more often, according to a report from Canadean.
Participants in a ten-day vegan diet programme saw significant improvements in biomarkers associated with risk of heart disease and metabolic disorders, according to a retrospective study.
Consumers underestimate calorie counts for, and consume more of, foods from companies with positive corporate responsibility programmes, say researchers.
Past celiac research has focused on gluten wheat proteins as the cause of reactions, but researchers say there may be other non-gluten proteins in wheat also to blame.
A Channel 4 investigation into inorganic arsenic levels in rice has questioned the safety of products aimed at children like rice cakes and Kellogg's Rice Krispies - although all companies implicated say their levels fall within current recommendations.
More than four-fifths of food and consumer goods companies say that water poses a fundamental risk to their business, according to a new report from CDP.
A new strategy to identify and quantify the levels of polysaccharide used to structure food has been developed by a group of Dutch researchers led by industry giant Unilever.
DuPont’s nutrition & health division will play a big part in the launch of 4000 food-related products in the next six years, its chief said as the company celebrated 50 years at its Brabrand base in Aarhus, Denmark yesterday.
