Sweeteners (intense, bulk, polyols)

Nestlé accused of adding sugar to baby food in lower income countries

18-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

Sugar is added to some of Nestlé’s baby food products sold in poorer countries, but not in its main European markets, claims a new report.

GUEST ARTICLE

Expert vs consumer sensory panels: Best of both worlds?

17-Apr-2024 By René Floris, NIZO Food Research Division Manager

If consumers don't like a product, they won't buy it. Testing with sensory panels can help determine consumer liking, so what kind of sensory panel should manufacturers go for?

UPF watch: What’s the latest on ultra-processed food?

16-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

Ultra-processed food is making headlines. In our rolling coverage of UPF, we unpack the good, the bad, and the confusion around this classification of products. Here’s the latest…

Do non-sugar sweeteners make people hungrier?

15-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

This is the question posed by researchers, who also wanted to find out whether swapping out sugar for artificial and natural sweeteners reduces blood sugar levels.

Barry Callebaut reports sales rise of 11%, operating profit falls 40%

10-Apr-2024 By Anthony Myers

Barry Callebaut, the world’s largest cocoa and chocolate supplier, reported a sales rise of 11% to 4.6 billion CHF ($5.09bn) compared to last year, but one-off expenses caused by its transformation plan amounted to a lower-than-expected half-year profit.

Why Portugal is officially adopting Nutri-Score

08-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

Portugal has become the eighth country in Europe to officially adopt Nutri-Score.

PepsiCo products back on shelves in Carrefour after price increase dispute

08-Apr-2024 By Rachel Arthur

Supermarket giant Carrefour is bringing PepsiCo products back onto its shelves in France, Belgium, Italy and Spain: following a dispute over price increases.

How KFC is reformulating the classics to cut fat, salt and sugar

05-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

From burgers to fries, the QSR major is cutting calories from menus in the UK and Ireland. Which reformulation strategies are at play?

Food as medicine: Could a healthy diet improve diabetes?

03-Apr-2024 By Donna Eastlake

Diabetes affects around 422 million people worldwide but could diet help to improve the condition and, if yes, how effective is it?

Danone, Nestlé, Kraft Heinz baby food ‘unfit for promotion’: ATNI

27-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

In fact, none of the 1,297 complementary foods tested from six companies were up to scratch, according to the Access to Nutrition Initiative. The food makers disagree.

From non-HFSS cereals to desserts: How unlikely foods hit the sweet spot with regulators

20-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

How are brands cutting fat, salt, and sugar from popular product categories to hit the mark with both policymakers and consumers?

Non-HFSS doughnuts: Which nutrient is toughest to cut when reinventing the wheel?

13-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

It’s very difficult to ‘crack’ better-for-you indulgence, according to maker of HFSS compliant doughnuts Urban Legend. Here’s how founder and ex-Graze CEO Anthony Fletcher claims to have done it.

NPD Trend Tracker: From gut-friendly sweets and flapjacks to edible insects

11-Mar-2024 By Donna Eastlake

Healthy living is firmly on the agenda in this week’s new product roundup: There are immunity-boosting drinks, gut-friendly sweets and flapjacks, and an alternative protein source in the form of edible insects. Elsewhere we have a sparkling lemonade that's...

'A relationship turned sour’: How Yoplait plans to reverse a declining yoghurt trend

08-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

The UK kids’ yoghurt category is in long-term decline. Having researched the root causes, dairy major Yoplait now wants to reverse the trend.

Ultra-processed food linked to 32 poor health outcomes in largest study to date

05-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

We ask lead author Melissa M Lane where she stands on the ultra-processed food debate.

Reformulating Ben & Jerry’s dairy-free: Why Unilever swapped out nuts and seeds for oats

27-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

Having experimented with almond and sunflower bases for Ben & Jerry’s vegan ice cream products, Unilever is changing tack.

The case against ultra-processed food: 'UPF is designed to increase consumption and profit'

23-Feb-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

Do ultra-processed foods lead to poor health outcomes by definition? A ‘hyper-literal’ focus on definitions is not the point, suggest Henry Dimbleby and Chris van Tulleken: ‘ultra-processed food’ as a category encapsulates the toll that an industry dominated...

Can links be drawn between Nutri-Score and ultra-processed food?

19-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

Are ultra-processed foods more likely to have low Nutri-Score ratings? And should the Nova classification system be incorporated into the Nutri-Score algorithm?

An ‘all time low’ for orange juice? Disease and drought squeeze supply

06-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

Is a global orange juice shortage set to plague the beverage industry?

Novonesis: Chr Hansen and Novozymes merge to form €3.7bn ‘biosolutions’ major

02-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

Just over a year after announcing plans to merge, Danish enzyme and cultures suppliers Novozymes and Chr Hansen have joined forces under a new company name: Novonesis.

Fermentation-based stevia with ‘cleaner, sugar-like profile’ wins EFSA safety nod

01-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

EverSweet, a stevia sweetener made via fermentation rather than stevia leaf extraction, is one step closer to market entry in Europe having received positive safety opinions in the EU and UK.

‘A mutually beneficial opportunity’: Ingredion prepares to market Better Juice sugar reduction tech

17-Jan-2024 By Flora Southey

From Q2 2024, Ingredion will begin marketing Better Juice’s sugar reduction technology to its customer base. It’s a ‘win-win situation’ that leverages each company’s strengths, Better juice co-founder and co-CEO Gali Yarom tells FoodNavigator.

How will food additives’ reputation fare in 2024?

15-Jan-2024 By Natasha Spencer-Joilliffe

Off the back of shifting political landscapes, evolving biotech-led categories and regulatory changes in 2023, we look at how these influence food additives in 2024 and what further changes we can expect to see.

From ‘travelling through taste’ to cognitive health: The 2024 trends predicted to shake-up food and beverage

03-Jan-2024 By Flora Southey

What food and drink trends have been predicted for 2024? We catch up with ingredients suppliers ADM, Arla Foods Ingredients, and Prinova Europe to ask how they’re preparing for the year ahead.

Do consumers prefer sugar or non-nutritive sweeteners? It’s complicated

02-Jan-2024 By Flora Southey

Consumer confusion over how best to reduce sugar in one’s diet persists. Are they still looking for ‘zero added sugar’ in sweet drinks? Regulatory and ingredients experts weigh in.

Labelling landscape at risk of further turbulence in 2024

14-Dec-2023 By Natasha Spencer-Joilliffe

Following uncertainty and disruption in 2023, potential political shifts in 2024 may spell further food labelling frustrations and challenges in the UK.

Biggest threat to additives development? Quality data, says food industry

13-Dec-2023 By Natasha Spencer-Joilliffe

As the World Health Organization (WHO) publishes its latest information on additives, the food industry details how insufficient quality data is the biggest threat to their growth and management.

How can industry turn the tide on seaweed consumption?

07-Dec-2023 By Flora Southey

In Europe, many consumers associated seaweed with the rotting, smelly kelp that washes up on beaches. How can industry cultivate consumer appetite for marine plants?

Recreating Willy Wonka flavours with food science: 'In principle, we could simulate any flavour'

05-Dec-2023 By Natasha Spencer-Joilliffe

Food and flavours collide with the film world and a fictional favourite as a University of Warwick professor explores the most famous creations of chocolate idol Willy Wonka ahead of its reimagined release premiering in December 2023.

How Mars is rethinking reformulation on its path to net zero

29-Nov-2023 By Flora Southey

As part of Mars Inc.’s strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the confectionery major is optimising product recipes to include more environmentally friendly ingredients.

NPD Trend Tracker: From wholegrain spelt to Christmas dinner pie

27-Nov-2023 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

In this week’s NPD Trend Tracker, we have a range of festive products, including a festive wrap, festive ice-cream flavours and a pie containing an entire Christmas dinner. We also have a new flavour from Tate & Lyle, a wholegrain spelt from Merchant...

Why Unilever wants its ice cream competitors to reformulate

15-Nov-2023 By Flora Southey

The Magnum, Wall’s, and Ben & Jerry’s owner is reformulating its ice creams to withstand warmer temperatures, and wants others to do the same.

Is it time for the ‘outdated’ supermarket free from aisle to evolve?

27-Oct-2023 By Oliver Morrison

As free from brands spot long-term growth potential, a perpetual debate is reigniting: is it best for these products to be in separate or standard aisles?

GUEST ARTICLE

Industry Insights from NIZO: Great flavour without compromise for plant-based food

26-Oct-2023 By René Floris, NIZO Food Research Division Manager

To successfully launch a plant-based product onto the market today, businesses have to go above and beyond in flavour to stand out. How can a new, more holistic flavour approach put an end to organoleptic compromise?

Could ancient Peruvian crops promote a healthy gut and help those living with type 2 diabetes?

24-Oct-2023 By Oliver Morrison

The Andes has traditionally been a source of excellent food and medicinal plants. Now science is turning to ancient Peruvian crops to explore their benefits in boosting the gut health and preventing and treating type 2 diabetes.

Cocoa leaders demand a fair price for all

23-Oct-2023 By Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe

Off the back of Tony's Chocolonely’s warning that the new cocoa farmgate price is still too low, other chocolate brands and global organisations call for an end to corporate greed and push for equity.

NPD Trend Tracker: From dandelion-spiced rum to gut-health-boosting dairy-free yoghurt

23-Oct-2023 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

In this week's NPD Trend Tracker, we have a medical drink to help children with disease-related malnutrition and an educational programme to help children learn about food waste. We also have a dandelion-spiced rum, condiments that help metabolic...

Collaboration over competition? Cocoa companies push for equitable farming

20-Oct-2023 By Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe

Amid rising farmgate prices yet insufficient Living Income Reference Prices (LIRP), cocoa companies turn to communication, connection and collaboration throughout the sector to advocate better wages for farmers.

Eight crops endangered by climate change

19-Oct-2023 By Oliver Morrison

From staple crops like potatoes and maize, to cash crops for wealthier customers like cocoa and coffee, climate change is having a widespread impact on global agricultural production.

Identifying some foods as addictive could bring health benefits, scientists say

12-Oct-2023 By Oliver Morrison

An international team of researchers, writing in the British Medical Journal, have called for a global rethink of food choices.

Sustainability

Touton outlines plans for a more agile cocoa supply chain to meet new legislation

11-Oct-2023 By Anthony Myers

French cocoa supplier the Touton Group said it is adjusting its business strategy to meet upcoming sustainability and compliance requirements with a fresh investment in climate-friendly solutions and a commitment to strengthen its collaboration with partner...

PepsiCo raises 2023 full-year earnings outlook on Q3 performance, Gatorade loses market share to PRIME

10-Oct-2023 By Ryan Daily

PepsiCo released its 2023 third quarter fiscal year report and beat Wall Street estimates, citing increased demand for smaller-sized snacks and healthier options, as the company faces challenges from PRIME in the sports drink category and anticipates...

From AI to VR: Diageo launches lab to develop digital concepts which go 'beyond the bottle’

10-Oct-2023 By Rachel Arthur

Diageo has launched a new partnership lab, called Fusion by Diageo, which will bring in innovators to ‘co-develop the next generation of digital products that will elevate consumer experiences’.

Mars, PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz, and Givaudan on how AI can improve NPD

06-Oct-2023 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

NPD takes time. Long hours of R&D lie between an idea and a product launch. AI, however, is helping a range of major companies generate product ideas, as well as do market research and gain insights into the minds of consumers.

Tagatose finds a home in lean labeling

28-Sep-2023 By Deniz Ataman

Despite FDA’s labeling of tagatose as an added sugar, the alternative sweetener’s nutritional and functional benefits continue to generate interest from the food and beverage industry, particularly with lean labels, Jim Kappas, VP specialty ingredients,...

Oobli rethinks sweetness using sweet proteins for new RTD tea

28-Sep-2023 By Deniz Ataman

With Oobli’s first commercial launch of three fruit-flavored sweet teas, the company is building its product development around the oubli fruit’s sweet protein, brazzein, which Oobli reports is up to 5,000 times sweeter than sugar and metabolizes as a...

Monk Fruit Corp.’s GM discusses sweetener’s rise, how it taps into current consumer trends

28-Sep-2023 By Ryan Daily

Monk fruit has gained popularity as a natural sweetener, and is poised for growth alongside natural and better-for-you trends as consumers and brands reduce sugar across categories, Monk Fruit Corp.'s GM David Thorrold told FoodNavigator-USA.

The Better Bakehouse bakes up better-for-you sweet treats with Donutful launch

28-Sep-2023 By Ryan Daily

The Better Bakehouse is shaking up the baked goods category with a better-for-you donut under its Donutful brand, while tapping into trends around clean label, company founder and CEO Tony Davis told FoodNavigator-USA.

‘More than mylk’: Alternatives to coffee, cocoa, salt and sugar on the table at Mylkcubator 3.0

27-Sep-2023 By Flora Southey

The Mylkcubator programme has largely focused on next-gen dairy innovation to date. But for the incubator’s third edition, dairy-major Pascual wants to expand its focus to alt coffee, cocoa, salt, sugar and more.

ADM’s nutrition business slows, but execs are confident in ‘ambidextrous’ growth approach

13-Sep-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Global nutrition giant Archer-Daniels-Midland is adopting an “ambidextrous” approach that relies on improved productivity and innovation to drive short- and long-term growth across its business and offset ongoing softness in its nutrition segment, according...