By Sneha Pasricha, research analyst, Frost & Sullivan
Aspartame and sugar are likely to be the main substitution targets for emerging stevia sweeteners, and beverages the initial main application, writes Sneha Pasricha, a research analyst for Frost & Sullivan, in the first of two guest articles.
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...
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.
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.
Thousands of food companies make and sell products; why do some become so much more successful than others? Is it luck, or is it better people? Dr Michael Lee of CPL Executive Search says individuals make all the difference – and firms need to use the...
Sugar politics means high prices are a bitter pill for US and Indian sweet food and beverage makers; while the European industry is sitting pretty on the back of the recent sugar reforms.
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.
How best should Britain plan to secure reliable supplies of reasonably-priced food? Should the nation put its trust in home production or food imports from the world market?
It looks like the FDA has finally got some muscle. Never mind new legislation – if anything can prevent America acquiring a weedy reputation for food safety, it’s the might of Dr Margaret Hamburg.
Cutting back meat consumption is the new darling cause of pop stars. But if necessary environmental and health goals are to be achieved, the whole supply chain needs to be strumming along in tune.
Not again! As if industry is not struggling enough with the severity of the European Food Safety Authority’s nutrition and health claims rulings so far, the situation has not been helped by the kind of articles that appeared in the UK press today and...
Industrial accidents are not funny. Does anyone need a reminder? Apparently yes; judging by how some headline writers and bloggers made light of the plight of Vincent Smith who died last week after falling into a vat of liquid chocolate at a New Jersey...
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.
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.
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...
You can try your best to avoid it, but when it comes to measuring carbon footprint, almost everything we do these days, either as a business or individuals, is likely to have a negative impact on the environment.
This month saw the final stage in the introduction of a Europe-wide system for registering and protecting geographical names for foodstuffs and drinks. Owen Warnock. food law partner at Eversheds, explains why we will see PDO/PDI labels on more foods...
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.
As yet another TV show concludes that supplements are unnecessary, is the ignorance of the mainstream media few putting the health of the many at risk? Isn’t it time to change the record?
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.
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.
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.
Short of an earth-bound deity walking amongst us and miraculously multiplying our fish stocks, industry must invest more in alternative sources of omega-3 to meet nutritional needs.
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.
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.
Owen Warnock, partner and food law expert at international law firm Eversheds, checks the fine print on calls for legislation in the UK regarding country of origin meat labelling.
Consumer concerns about a synthetic growth hormone used in milk production have prompted two leading food producers in the United States – General Mills and Dannon – to reformulate their dairy product lines. It is a decision that will have immediate implications...
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...
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,...
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...
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.
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.
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.
One of the most fiercely debated and amended pieces of European Union food law history is playing out before our eyes, and its effects are beginning to be felt.
“Four legs good, two legs bad.” When the pigs take over the land in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, they have no hesitation; any creature with four legs is beyond reproach and any human is bad, mad and dangerous to know.
There was something magical about the recent news that the caloric value of both gum arabic and erythritol have been officially lowered, but whether it turns out to be a sleight of hand or a real change remains to be seen.
The long shadow cast by obesity over public health means that encouraging healthier eating should be high on the agenda of every food firm, come financial rain or shine.
This year’s Beijing Olympic Games may have been good for China’s public image but the smooth running of the event was built on multiple state-prompted sacrifices and the food ingredients industry was one of the lambs that copped it in the neck for ‘the...
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 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.