Chocolate and confectionery ingredients

Chewing the fat: 'People are still uncertain over the healthiness of new oils'

26-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

Can on-trend oils such as coconut compete with olive oil? Is butter really back? And as sales fall in its biggest markets, does margarine have a future in Europe? We take a look at the different oils on offer and their perceived healthiness.

Flax packs in healthy fat, fibre and protein: 'This is not just an oil anymore,' says Shape Foods

25-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

The healthy fat profile of flax oil, high in omega-3 fatty acids, means manufacturers have traditionally focused on this. But the seeds also contain protein, fibre and lignin, all of which are interesting 'stealth health' ingredients, the company...

'Ideal for relishes, jams & juices': Haskap berries gain novel food approval

24-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

With up to 13 times more antioxidants than blueberries, haskap berries - also known as honeyberries - offer manufacturers a new ingredient with superfood credentials for relishes, jams or juices, says supplier Soloberry.

Novel food approval underway

'A perfect fit' for plant-based products: Chuta nuts are coming to Europe

20-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

Mexican chuta is a little-known nut with a healthy oil and high protein content, and German company JatroSolutions aims to commercialise it as "a perfect fit" within the plant protein movement.

Reaction as Mondelēz  to launch 30% less sugar Cadbury bar

20-Jul-2018 By Jenny Eagle

Mondelēz  International has announced plans to launch a 30% less sugar Cadbury Dairy Milk next year but some consumers are taking to social media to air their grievances.

Clash or compromise: Can consumer demands and responsible food ever match?

20-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

Consumers want clean, healthy food. But are companies providing it and what if demands for clean food are in direct conflict with food safety or sustainability? Four industry stakeholders debated the issue at this week's IFT in Chicago.

Nestlé back in RSPO, pledged to achieve 100% RSPO certified palm oil in five years’ time

19-Jul-2018 By Tingmin Koe

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) had reinstated Nestlé S.A.’s membership and certificates on Monday (16 July).

Cocoa & Forests Initiative expanded

Colombia pledges deforestation-free cocoa by 2025

17-Jul-2018 By Oliver Nieburg

The world’s tenth largest cocoa producer has joined the Cocoa & Forests Initiative as it looks to combat a 46% increase in tree cover loss last year.

MEPs push for a dual quality on-pack logo

13-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

Manufacturers could add a logo to food and drink packaging that tells consumers the product's content and quality is the same in all EU countries, consumer protection politicions said yesterday.

EFSA to consider limits for kaurenoic acid in stevia

12-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

EFSA may recommend limits for the impurity kaurenoic acid in stevia but suppliers have played down safety fears.

300,000-strong survey 'confirms positive impact' of NutriScore logo

11-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

Leading French retailer E.Leclerc is definitively backing the NutriScore logo after a survey of 300,000-consumers showed it is best in encouraging healthy food choices, especially among younger shoppers and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

New product trend tracker: Seaweed-infused oils, granola for kids and cocktail sweets for adults

09-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

From algae-infused cooking oils to baobab herbal teas; cocktail-flavoured sweets and low-sugar yoghurts with no sweeteners, we take a look at some new product launches that stand out from the crowd.

EFSA closes the door on titanium dioxide re-evaluation

06-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

There is no merit in re-evaluating the safety of titanium dioxide after four studies highlighted safety concerns, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has advised the Commission.

Orkla expands in Denmark with bakery filling acquisition

06-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

Orkla Food Ingredients has inked a "strategically important" deal to acquire Danish fruit filling, syrup and marmalade supplier Igos.

Aduna chooses double-digit herbal tea category to take baobab and moringa to the mainstream

05-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

Ethical start-up Aduna's range of herbal teas with baobab and moringa is aiming to take the superfoods to the mass market. "That's where the real impact is going to happen," the CEO tells us.

Prepared meals and ethnic flavours on the rise in Spain

04-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

Spaniards are buying more prepared meals and the number of people eating ethnic cuisine has more than doubled in recent years, says a government report on food consumption.

'A serious health concern': Undeclared allergens are causing accidental allergic reactions

04-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

Undeclared allergens at 'concerning' concentrations in packaged food are causing accidental allergic reactions, according to a study. "There is a perception that food allergens are no longer an issue," says one expert. "This is...

Chr Hansen to double natural colour R&D lab capacity: 'The perception of ‘naturalness’ has changed drastically in 15 years'

03-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

Chr Hansen will double the capacity at its natural colour research and development (R&D) laboratory in Montpellier, France in order to meet consumers' increasingly stringent expectations of what is natural.

UK food industry is not failing on sugar reduction targets, says expert

02-Jul-2018 By Niamh Michail

UK food and drink manufacturers are achieving "substantially better" sugar reductions than has been reported, according to a health policy expert. "It's good news for public health as well as private business."

Fat-carb combo intensifies brain reward signals and triggers overeating: Study

29-Jun-2018 By Niamh Michail

Combining fat and carbohydrates in food intensifies the reward signalling to the brain regardless of calorie-count, liking or portion size, creating a desire to eat even beyond satiety, researchers have found.

Summer trendwatch: Jackfruit, 'naturally essenced' water and snack pairing

28-Jun-2018 By Niamh Michail

Forget hot dogs and soda, this summer's staples will be barbecued jackfruit, naturally 'essenced' water and snacks that 'perfectly pair' with alcoholic drinks, according to market research analysts at Mintel.

Isoglucose is not more of a health risk than sugar - if its fructose content does not increase: BfR

28-Jun-2018 By Niamh Michail

The type of isuglucose currently used in Europe poses no greater health risk than sucrose – but if manufacturers increase its proportion of fructose, the potential risks must be communicated, said the German risk authority.

‘Clean label alone is not enough’: Firmenich on why taste is still king

26-Jun-2018 By Katy Askew

Firmenich is launching a new business platform to focus on natural and clean label products. But, the ingredients supplier says, it is important to go beyond clean label to convert purchase intent.

UK firm claims to have first commercially viable scale-up process for brazzein

22-Jun-2018 By Niamh Michail

Magellan Life Sciences says its patent-pending fermentation process to scale up the sweet-tasting protein brazzein will make it the first company to market the natural, zero-calorie sweetener.

News in Brief

Eurostat: Food price levels highest in Denmark

21-Jun-2018 By Joseph James Whitworth

Food price levels in the European Union were highest in Denmark and lowest in Poland and Romania last year, according to Eurostat.

EU should follow our trans fat ban success: Denmark

21-Jun-2018 By Niamh Michail

Denmark's trans fat ban is a public health and food reformulation success, and should be rolled out across the EU, says the Danish government. "The European Commission should be inspired by our good example," says the minister for food.

A texture, taste and legal challenge: Chocolate start-up shirks sugar for dates

20-Jun-2018 By Niamh Michail

London start-up Kaakao managed to overcome texture and flavour challenges when sweetening its chocolate with dates instead of sugar but the regulatory challenge - the EU definition of chocolate - is proving to be more difficult.

‘A largely unexplored opportunity’: The science linking texture and calorie reduction

20-Jun-2018 By Katy Askew

The texture of food can influence people’s calorie intake, Dr Ciarán Forde of the National University of Singapore and Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences believes.

Investment

Cargill invests €12m in world-class liquid chocolate production line in its Mouscron facility

19-Jun-2018 By Anthony Myers

Additional €12 million ($14m) spend brings total investment in the Belgium site to €47m ($54m) by Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate

Exotic but European superfoods: From Dutch vanilla to French chia seeds

15-Jun-2018 By Niamh Michail

Instead of shipping ingredients across the world, would it be more sustainable to grow them in Europe? From Dutch vanilla to French chia or Italian goji berries, FoodNavigator takes a look at some companies doing just that.

Moving towards a plastic-free planet is 'an evolution, not a revolution'

14-Jun-2018 By Niamh Michail

A myriad of solutions are needed to make plastic food packaging more sustainable, said top brass at Ekoplaza, Ikea and Futamura last week. “In some cases we need to completely break free, in some we need to use different materials and in others we need...

Child labor

Zero incidents by 2025? How the cocoa industry intends to eradicate child labor from the supply chain

14-Jun-2018 By Anthony Myers

A raft of promises and reports were published on this year’s World Day Against Child Labor, highlighting the extent of forced labor in the cocoa industry with calls for greater transparency to help solve the problem.

EU exports of agri-food products up last year

11-Jun-2018 By Joseph James Whitworth

EU exports of agri-food products reached €138 billion last year - an annual increase of 5.1% - according to the latest statistics.

In 30 years, every successful food company will be a ‘personalised food company’: Nutrino CSO

06-Jun-2018 By Niamh Michail

As consumers become increasingly invested in their health, personalised nutrition and gene-tailored diets will become the norm, says the chief science officer of Israeli start-up Nutrino. “The future of food is in personalisation and companies who fail...

‘Extended supply chains are broken’: Why Mars thinks the commodities era is over

06-Jun-2018 By Katy Askew

Food giant Mars is using procurement to tackle some of the most significant social and environmental challenges facing the world today. FoodNavigator spoke to Barry Parkin, chief procurement and sustainability Officer at Mars, to find out more.

FoodProfiler app shines light onto European's eating habits

05-Jun-2018 By Niamh Michail

Which vegetable do Brits eat the most? When do Belgian girls eat yoghurt? And do Dutch men prefer dessert or fruit? An app that gathers insights into European's eating habits could help fine-tune new product development.

Macadamias: On a mission to crack the on-trend nut market

01-Jun-2018 By Niamh Michail

Macadamias only represent 1.5% of the tree nut market, held back by limited supplies and high prices, but a tree-planting programme could change that. "Customers are crying out to use macadamias as an ingredient. It’s up to us to make that opportunity...

ANIA sets 1000-day deadline to 'make food better'

31-May-2018 By Niamh Michail

The French trade group ANIA has set itself a 1000-day deadline to ‘make food better’ in a bid to close France’s food and nutrition gap.

The online store of the future: Is your business ready?

31-May-2018 By Niamh Michail

From unattended deliveries to 'invisible shopping' via videos or face-recognition technology for payments, e-commerce platforms are becoming more sophisticated, says market research firm IGD.

The claims are there but does ‘deforestation-free’ palm oil exist?

30-May-2018 By Niamh Michail

Companies' unilateral, no-deforestation commitments - and on-pack deforestation-free claims - are unsuited to the complex palm oil supply chain and, therefore, likely to fail, say researchers. "A broader suite of complementary mechanisms"...

Obese people enjoy food less, say researchers

30-May-2018 By Niamh Michail

Obese people get less enjoyment from food than lean people and may overeat in order to compensate for this, according to a study.

Carob's health halo beats cocoa for kids confectionery, says UK start-up

29-May-2018 By Niamh Michail

Far from being cocoa's poor cousin, carob powder is the ideal ingredient for healthy confectionery for kids, mimicking the "shine, snap and silky smooth texture" of milk chocolate without the stimulants caffeine and theobromine, says Supertreats...

French politicians back mandatory labelling of GM feed and pesticide use

28-May-2018 By Niamh Michail

After a week of debates on the country's Agriculture and Food Bill, French politicians have backed mandatory labelling for GM animal feed and pesticide use on fruit and vegetables but rejected measures to stop marketing unhealthy foods to children.

Diet (not genes) decides fat taste sensitivity

25-May-2018 By Niamh Michail

People on a high fat diet lose the ability to sense or taste fat in the food they eat, researchers have found.

Nestlé top for tackling nutrition issues - but all global firms need to improve

23-May-2018 By Niamh Michail

Nestlé is top for addressing the double burden of obesity and malnutrition, and while many firms have stepped up efforts, a "disappointing" number have too many unhealthy products in their portfolios, according to the Access to Nutrition Index...

British food firms fail on government's 5% sugar reduction target

22-May-2018 By Niamh Michail

UK food and drink manufacturers have fallen short of Public Health England’s 5% voluntary target for sugar reduction, achieving just 2% at the end of the first year.

France looks set to ban titanium dioxide

22-May-2018 By Niamh Michail

As France looks poised to ban titanium dioxide by the end of 2018, the government has praised “pioneering” manufacturers for voluntarily removing the colouring from food products.

‘Early adopters’ add plastic-free logo to products

18-May-2018 By Niamh Michail

Retailers Iceland and Ekoplaza and tea brand Teapigs will add the plastic-free logo to select products this year.

Open call for candidates: PepsiCo accelerator hunts for 10 start-ups

17-May-2018 By Niamh Michail

After helping 2017's winners generate growth worth €10 million, PepsiCo's accelerator programme Nutrition Greenhouse is looking for 10 more start-ups for the 2018 round.

True blue botanicals: Why the appeal of spirulina and butterfly pea flowers is more than just colour

16-May-2018 By Niamh Michail

Blue mermaid lattes and unicorn smoothie bowls may have star status on social media but their appeal is not just visual. The ingredients behind the blue hue – spirulina and butterfly pea flowers – are seen as inherently healthy.