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How Mugabe’s milk could sour Nestle's image

How Mugabe’s milk could sour Nestle's image

Nestle is being slammed for sourcing milk from a Mugabe-owned farm in Zimbabwe. In a world where both business and information are globalised, any big business practices deemed unacceptable – wherever they take place – are liable to unleash a furious...

The benefits of a probiotic witch hunt

The benefits of a probiotic witch hunt

Get your pitchforks ready! There are evil-doers out there! We’ve been conned: Probiotics don’t work. Dannon’s settling out of court, EFSA’s rejecting health claims, and the media is starting a witch hunt.

Are health claims curbing freedom of speech?

Are health claims curbing freedom of speech?

The US FDA is being sued over its health claims regime – actions that are unlikely to succeed according to most pundits – but they raise serious questions about healthy food messaging and free speech that are being felt globally.

Folic acid: Old women and children first!

Folic acid: Old women and children first!

Look at the globe and you’d be hard pressed to find two countries further apart than Ireland and New Zealand. But they stand side-by-side on the folic acid fortification issue – it is not needed.

Defining nano: Size does matter

Defining nano: Size does matter

The Atlantic Ocean separates continents; it also separates schools of thought on the definition of nanotechnology. In order to educate manufacturers and consumers on nanotechnology a definition is critical.

Confusion reigns in cosmeceutical name game

Confusion reigns in cosmeceutical name game

The term cosmeceutical has always been controversial, but the blurring boundaries between the worlds of nutrition and cosmetics are highlighting divisions that neither industry can ignore.

A big day for European health claims

A big day for European health claims

Next Monday, June 15, is a big day for the European healthy foods and food supplements industries. Let’s call it Big Monday. Or J15.

Economic depression a stimulus for fresh business

Economic depression a stimulus for fresh business

The economic recession is biting across the globe, and bleeding casualties litter all industries, but now is not the time to cower. Those willing to spend may provoke a stimulation of their business that could set them up for years, if not decades, to...

Food safety reform: Not a century too soon

Food safety reform: Not a century too soon

On a summer’s day in 1906 Theodore Roosevelt pushed through new food safety regulation. The Food and Drugs Act passed that day over 100 years ago was the last time the US food safety system was modernized.

Who’s hoodwinked by a healthy halo?

Who’s hoodwinked by a healthy halo?

What does health taste like? As a kid, I was encouraged to hold my nose and swallow down broad beans and cod-liver oil. If they tasted bad, it was only ‘cos they were good for me.

Food supplements proving recession-proof

Food supplements proving recession-proof

The ongoing slide of global capitalism is decimating industries, but the food supplements industry is not one of them as fraught consumers turn to its potential low-cost, anti-medical, wellness promise.

Could clones be hiding out in ice-cream?

Could clones be hiding out in ice-cream?

Ben & Jerry’s campaign to ensure produce from clones is detectable in the food chain shows that bundling biotech in with conventional produce remains unacceptable – but lessons from GM do not seem to have been learned.

Could sugar shake off its bad boy image?

Could sugar shake off its bad boy image?

Sugar could be shedding its bad boy image to take a surprise spot on the public’s list of trusted ingredients, as manufacturers look to appeal to more savvy consumers.

Cargill vs Chavez: Clash of the rice titans

Cargill vs Chavez: Clash of the rice titans

Clutched to the president’s chest like a medal of nationalisation, Cargill Venezuela cannot be sitting very comfortably this week as it awaits the fate of its rice plant.

Changing the tune on GM

Changing the tune on GM

The GM debate at times seems much like the Hokey Cokey (or Pokey, if you’re US-based). There’s been a lot of putting in, some putting out, and quite a lot of shaking things all about, but as of yet, there hasn’t really been a turnaround and definitely...

No room for functional foods gloom

No room for functional foods gloom

Last week’s withdrawal of a high-profile functional food in France is disappointing for the company concerned and maybe for the healthy/functional foods industry, but you may be led to think differently if you happen to be a reader of the UK broadsheet,...

Nut so good - tainted US food system needs revamping

Nut so good - tainted US food system needs revamping

E. coli in ground beef, melamine in infant formula, and salmonella in peanut butter - what is next? Isn’t it about time the slices of the US food safety pie were taken back from the multiple federal agencies involved and surveillance placed under one...

Time to quieten the nutrition label noise

Time to quieten the nutrition label noise

Everyone from government to grocers seems to have their own idea of how best to inform consumers about foods’ nutritional content, but a labeling free-for-all has resulted in a clamor of nutrition labels which are actually getting in the way of comprehension.

In praise of pesticides

In praise of pesticides

By Mike Stones

Who likes pesticides? Misunderstood by consumers and misrepresented by pressure groups, pesticides are a soft target for legislators. The latest blow to that soft target could have hard consequences for the European food industry and for developing countries.

The invincibles – recession proof food and healthy eating

The invincibles – recession proof food and healthy eating

By Sarah Hills

There are fears that in the economic crisis consumers will put on “recession pounds” by eating unhealthily. Rightly or wrongly, food manufacturers may suffer the blame but “unhealthy” and “recession proof” do not necessarily go hand-in-hand.

A menu for American food policy

A menu for American food policy

At the time of writing, the US is poised to go to the polls. The next two days are going to be hugely exciting. And when it’s all over, after the victor gets some well-earned rest… he’ll rub his sleepy eyes and ask: ‘What’s for breakfast?'.

The hour of stevia is nigh

The hour of stevia is nigh

The course of true love never did run smooth. The same could be said of stevia’s road to regulatory approval as a food ingredient. One final concerted effort is needed to ensure approval of this hot ingredient.

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