By Bruce Friedrich, executive director of the Good Food Institute
Activists should take a pragmatic approach and be willing to work with 'big food' in order to support an increase in consumption of plant-based options, Good Food Institute (GFI) executive director Bruce Friedrich suggests.
Publication of the European Commission’s new bioeconomy strategy last October may have passed many in the food sector by. However, the agri-food chain lies at the heart of the concept.
‘Shrinkflation’ – cutting the size of a product without changing its price – was again in the news this week, following a report from the UK Office of National Statistics (ONS) highlighting the phenomenon.
Momentum is growing behind calls to impose fiscal sanctions on unhealthy foods. And while such stringent action is not on the immediate horizon that could change if the food industry fails to step up its efforts on reformulation.
Meat taxes are a controversial idea that get strong reactions on both sides of the debate. But, with pressure on global resources continuing to rise, it is a topic that is likely to remain on the agenda in the coming years. Here’s FoodNavigator’s guide...
The Swiss electorate has overwhelmingly rejected two proposals on ethical and sustainable food, with concerns over the impact on price, competitiveness and trade dominating the debate.
A new report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that the progress on tackling hunger made over the last decade was wiped out this year. The global food sector must respond by stepping up its efforts to combat malnutrition and...
Food manufacturers are caught between sometimes contradictory consumer expectations around value and values. As people understand more about what goes into their food – driving demand for higher quality standards – they may also need to swallow higher...
CAOBISCO – which represents the Chocolate, Biscuits and Confectionery Industries in Europe – has rebuffed a study’s suggestion that placing a tax on sweets snacks could be an effective tool in fighting obesity.
Since the horsemeat scandal of 2013 there has been a steady stream of food scares and scandals, which has played neatly into the hands of organic food. Sales were up more than 11% in Europe at the last count, but is the sector making the most of growing...
You wouldn’t want to be Margrethe Vestager at the moment. In the next few days (perhaps as early as tomorrow), the European Commission’s competition chief will publish the conclusions of her investigation into the proposed €55 billion deal between German...
Rising obesity levels are one of the most significant public health issues facing the world today. As concern mounts, could we see further policy action from UK regulators?
Inaction is not an option for confectionery brands if they want to survive in an age of increased regulation on sugared products, writes Neil Davidson, managing director of brand agency HeyHuman.
The UK's childhood obesity strategy has been criticised again – this time in an analysis published in the British Medical Journal. Will all this flak put other EU countries off the idea?
Is food marketing awash with bad science? If so, who is to blame?
There was plenty of handwringing at the IFT show this year about the lack of scientific literacy characterizing the debate around food and farming, backed up by scores of press clippings about ‘franken-foods.’ But is the media solely to blame, and what’s...
Britain has voted to leave the European Union and Prime Minister David Cameron has resigned as a result. Across Europe and the UK, the food industry is coming to terms with the outcome.
The UK government should seriously consider taxing unhealthy foods and drinks to reduce their consumption, a paper from the Food Research Collaboration (FRC) has urged.
After a few years of negativity, the industry has a spring in its step again. But with renewed optimism comes the question of where the future successes lie.
FoodDrinkEurope has said legislators could have been more ambitious in their efforts to reduce food resources for fuel and welcomed a 7% cap on biofuels, but not all of its members agree.
Public health messages intended to tackle obesity should focus on unhealthy eating rather than physical activity, which does not promote weight loss, according to an editorial published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
An EU-wide revamp of on-pack nutrition information is a missed opportunity to make front of pack labelling compulsory, says the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC).
Business plays a crucial role in meeting sustainable development goals – but it should not lead the social agenda, according to Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke, speaking at the World Economic Forum’s meeting in Davos.
Social media engagement is a fact of business for nearly all food companies, but many are still getting to grips with how to use it, according to social media expert Adrian Moss.
The European Union needs to update the way it regulates biotechnology as advances are made in plant breeding – or risk disrupting trade in commodity crops, according to Professor Huw Jones of Rothamsted Research.
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.
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.
Researchers have questioned the received wisdom on dietary fat in recent years asking, is saturated fat actually good for us? Are unsaturated fats really as healthy as we thought? And is it even possible to study fat without the context of other macronutrients?
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.
Market pre-eminence has reduced food to a commodity subject to financial speculation, Pope Francis told attendees at a major nutrition conference in Rome this morning.
By Barney Wallace, associate partner at OC&C Strategy Consultants
Bigger isn't necessarily better when it comes to achieving international success, argues Barney Wallace from OC&C Strategy Consultants in this guest article.
Bread and milk have always been natural indicators for what is happening inside the average household. Both are reliable dietary staples and both have the ability to inspire passion and excitement on a marketable level.
By Steve Spice, head of regulatory affairs at Campden BRI
The Provision of Food Information to Consumers Regulation (FIC) is fast approaching the key date in December 2014, after which the majority of its provisions start to take effect. In this guest article, Campden BRI expert Steve Spice addresses some of...
The EU nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR) put many health-related product marketeers noses out of joint. But having survived two years since legislative enforcement, are we now witnessing a positive and unpredicted consequence? argues Pegasus's...
Fourteen years after Unilever spent $2.3bn (€1.7bn) to buy Slim-Fast, it has sold up for an undisclosed sum to a private equity player. Analyst and author Julian Mellentin tracks the decline of a mega-brand and considers what he sees as a category in...
Draft guidance on the Food Information for Consumers Regulation 2014 was issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) last month.
Manufacturers should look to reduce overall use and reliance on sugar and not focus on replacing fructose with glucose, while concerns over HFCS should start to disperse as newer research invalidates current thinking, says Laura Jones of Mintel.
If the European Court redefines obesity as a disability, the rules of responsibility could shift horribly away from the parties involved - including the food industry.
The sensationalist media coverage around so called ‘stealth halal’ is only fuelled by the lack of certification harmonisation, Food Navigator’s Annie-Rose Harrison-Dunn argues.
Consensus was real innovation was difficult to perceive with the naked eye at Vitafoods Europe this year. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t exist, says Healthy Marketing Team president and expert consultant, Peter Wennstrom, in this guest article.
By Han De Groot, executive director at UTZ Certified,
Chocolate could become a small and expensive niche product unless we all do more to help cocoa farmers escape poverty, writes UTZ Certified executive director Han De Groot.
Using stevia to reformulate just 20% of carbonated soft drinks could slash more than 6,000 calories per year from the diet of consumers, says Diana Cowland of Euromonitor International.
‘The Food Information for Consumers Regulation (EU 1169/2011 – also known as ‘FIC’), which will start to be enforced in December this year, will have a big impact on all those involved in the supply and sale of food and drink products.
