Food labelling

‘Netflix-style’ discovery platform developed for retail: ‘Why has this not happened in food?’

20-Jan-2020 By Flora Southey

An AI-powered food search and discovery platform has been developed for supermarket retail, offering a ‘Netflix-style curation for food’, tech start-up founder Markus Stripf tells FoodNavigator.

‘Palatinose is perfect for video gamers’: Beneo discusses the potential mega-trends of 2020

15-Jan-2020 By Oliver Morrison

German-based ingredients provider Beneo says there's a growing desire for its low-glycaemic sweetener Palatinose among the video gaming community, who are keen to use the product’s slow energy release to stay focused.

Meat-free, convenience, and traceability: EHL Ingredients reveals 2020 food trends

15-Jan-2020 By Flora Southey

UK ingredients supplier EHL has released its 2020 ‘top trends’, covering plant-based innovations, mindful eating, traceability and allergen awareness.

Meat alternatives warning: ‘More evidence is needed on health and sustainability claims’

08-Jan-2020 By Oliver Morrison

Many alternative meat products are highly processed, have high salt levels and contain the same amount of calories and saturated fat as beef burgers, according the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.

Tackling ‘pester power’: Lidl to erase cartoon characters from cereal packaging

06-Jan-2020 By Flora Southey

Lidl GB has pledged to remove cartoon characters from its own brand cereal boxes, prompting campaigners to ask: ‘If they can do it, why can’t everyone else?’

Obesity and undernutrition ‘paradox’ fuelled by poor quality food, say experts

16-Dec-2019 By Flora Southey

More than one in three low- and middle-income countries are facing both extreme obesity and malnutrition, according to a new report published the The Lancet.

Brussels Bulletin: Brexit certainty as UK election landslide boosts Boris

13-Dec-2019 By Oliver Morrison

Our latest news and views from Brussels takes in the UK’s general election result, a ban on chlorpyrifos and the EU’s food waste and sustainability plans.

Labels showing the exercise needed to burn off the calories can help curb obesity: study

11-Dec-2019 By Oliver Morrison

Labelling food with the amount of exercise needed to burn off the calories could help consumers to eat more healthily, according to a UK study.

From allergies to climate change to food fraud – the business resilience issues facing the food sector in 2020

06-Dec-2019 By Oliver Morrison

A host of factors have the potential to damage the reputation of food brands next year, warns an expert.

Artisan bakers bitter about rise of ‘sourfaux’ bread

03-Dec-2019 By Oliver Morrison

The UK-based Real Bread Campaign has criticised mainstream brands for attempting to make fake sourdough recipes and creating a ‘sourfaux free-for-all’.

Greenpeace plastic report urges innovation in packaging-free and reusable packaging alternatives

28-Nov-2019 By Oliver Morrison

Little tangible progress has been made in the past year by the UK’s largest supermarkets towards reducing their use of throwaway plastics, says a report which calls for a focus on innovative solutions.

Nestlé to roll out Nutri-score in Europe

26-Nov-2019 By Oliver Morrison

More than 5,000 products in five countries will feature the much-debated nutrition labelling system from next year.

RSPO chief on palm oil boycotts, brand responsibility, and the need to ‘rethink’ retail

14-Nov-2019 By Flora Southey

Retailers, brands, and their marketeers are ‘not doing enough’ to promote sustainably driven purchasing decisions in-store, RSPO CEO Datuk Darrel Webber tells FoodNavigator: “Sustainable products have to be front-and-centre to help consumers loosen their...

What's important to food shoppers? Jam in their doughnuts and tasty vegan options

30-Oct-2019 By Oliver Morrison

A software company has analysed 'Twitter noise' to determine the food trends important to today's UK shopper.

From plastics to plant-based: Business must find ‘intelligent ways forward’ for sustainable food

18-Oct-2019 By Oliver Morrison

Good Business CEO Giles Gibbons discusses why food firms can't ignore the two 'totemic issues' of climate change and equality.

‘Act now on food safety’, out-of-home chains told

18-Oct-2019 By Oliver Morrison

Out-of-home (OOH) food and drink firms should ‘do the right thing’ and ‘demonstrate a strong commitment to food safety’, without the threat of legislation, says Instinctif Partners, which gives advice to brands on risk and crisis management.

Calorie labelling on restaurant menus produces healthier meals: study

17-Oct-2019 By Oliver Morrison

A UK study argues that if government policy made menu labelling mandatory, it could encourage restaurants to produce healthier options, leading to public health benefits.

7 ways business leaders can transform the food system

16-Oct-2019 By Oliver Morrison

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has published a seven-point action plan that aims to positively transform the global food system and potentially unlock $4.5 trillion in new business opportunities.

Cheaper plastic set to test market’s ‘true commitment to sustainability’, warns report

15-Oct-2019 By Oliver Morrison

Lipton’s decision to switch to 100% recycled plastic in the Netherlands as it prepares to make all its bottles from recycled plastic by 2023 in Europe as a whole illustrates the industry’s commitment to plastic recycling. But a new report warns that the...

UK policymakers urged to ‘rebalance’ food prices: ‘It is too easy to make money from selling unhealthy food’

10-Oct-2019 By Flora Southey

‘Children are drowning in a flood of unhealthy food’, says England’s outgoing chief medical officer Dame Professor Sally Davies, who is pushing for urgent regulation to tackle obesity.

‘It’s been a rollercoaster’: Ugly Drinks CEO shares lessons learnt from US launch

07-Oct-2019 By Flora Southey

Twelve months on from launching in the US, Ugly Drinks CEO and co-founder Hugh Thomas shares lessons learnt from challenging the soft drink market across the pond.

Germany plans to introduce Nutriscore: ‘This is a milestone in nutrition policy’

01-Oct-2019 By Oliver Morrison

Germany’s food minister Julia Klöckner has backed the controversial NutriScore system as Germany plans to establish a national voluntary food labelling scheme in the coming year.

BASF bulks up in biotech: ‘An efficient and sustainable route to produce natural ingredients’

30-Sep-2019 By Katy Askew

BASF is entering the natural flavours and fragrances space through two deals that will extend its aromas portfolio in this segment.

Nestlé quashes ‘dual quality’ suspicions in Romania: Minor ingredient ratio variations ‘do not reflect an East/West division’

23-Sep-2019 By Flora Southey

Food giant Nestlé has defended its recipes after Romania’s consumer watchdog raised concerns that ‘dual-quality’ food products were intentionally manufactured to contain unequal nutritional and compositional profiles for the Romanian market.

‘Best before, often good after’: Unilever adopts anti-food waste labels on food packaging

13-Sep-2019 By Flora Southey

Unilever is placing a new packaging label directly after the ‘best before’ text on certain food products: ‘often good after’. The initiative, developed in collaboration with Too Good To Go and industry players, aims to reduce food waste at the consumer...

Will an Owen’s law follow Natasha’s?

13-Sep-2019 By Oliver Morrison

The CEO of Byron Burger says "current rules and requirements are not enough” after allergy death.

What does ‘natural’ food mean? Researchers develop index to boost transparency, simplicity, and trust

27-Aug-2019 By Flora Southey

Researchers have developed a comprehensive index that measures the degree of naturalness in foods. The integrative tool could “significantly improve transparency, simplicity, and trust in the food marketplace,” Hero Group’s Luis Manuel Sánchez-Siles tells...

Nine products that reach NutriScore, NOVA, Yuka and Siga consensus: Capital

21-Aug-2019 By Flora Southey

French business magazine Capital has published nine food products approved by a range of well-known rating methods, from nutritional composition-focused NutriScore to processing-driven NOVA.

Evaluating the Yuka ‘phenomenon’: How effective is the scanning app in practice?

20-Aug-2019 By Flora Southey

An independent study has investigated how French smartphone app Yuka, which aims to help consumers choose products good for their health, works on the shop floor.

Consuming gluten in childhood linked to higher risk of coeliac disease: study

19-Aug-2019 By Oliver Morrison

The risk of developing coeliac disease is connected to the amount of gluten children consume, a study has confirmed – but its authors stressed the study is observational and therefore does not prove causation.

Are ‘reduced sodium’ labels worth their salt? Study

07-Aug-2019 By Flora Southey

Researchers in Denmark are investigating whether consumers are willing to purchase salt-reduced food products, and why.

Anheuser-Busch InBev joins new IBM blockchain

06-Aug-2019 By Oliver Morrison

Beverage giant Anheuser-Busch InBev is among the big firms to join IBM’s new blockchain project called Trust Your Supplier, aimed at improving supply chain transparency.

Video gaming for health? Children play Munchy Monster to test front-of-pack labels

01-Aug-2019 By Flora Southey

A gaming study investigating the effectiveness of front-of-pack labelling strategies on children has determined that colour – such as that used in traffic light labelling – is king.

‘Sales of aspartame should be suspended’: EFSA accused of bias in safety assessment

22-Jul-2019 By Katy Askew

EFSA’s decision-making process may have been biased by ‘conflicts of interest’ and the distribution and sale of aspartame in the EU should be suspended, says the author of a new research dossier calling the safety of the sweetener into question.

Deep dive: Six mega-trends shaping innovation in flavours and colours

17-Jul-2019 By Katy Askew

Shifting consumer demand is shaping innovation in food flavours and colours. FoodNavigator speaks to experts in the field to bring you a rundown of the top six trends delivering disruptive innovation.

Consumer groups increase calls for mandatory labelling as Nestlé adopts Nutri-score

26-Jun-2019 By Oliver Morrison

Nutri-Score campaigners receive a boost after Nestlé adopts it but the labelling system is not immune from criticism.

Start-up says its 'bumpy' food packaging tech could cut unnecessary waste in half

26-Jun-2019 By Oliver Morrison

Solveiga Pakštaitė, creator of the Mimica Touch, tells FoodNavigator how her award-winning innovation that could eliminate the problem of best before dates and food waste was inspired by working with people experiencing the challenge of visual impairment.

UK’s ‘Natasha’s Law’ demands full ingredients lists on pre-packaged foods

25-Jun-2019 By Flora Southey

New legislation named after allergy victim Natasha Ednan-Laperouse requires food businesses to include full ingredients labelling on pre-packaged foods.

Dual quality: Results quash East-West divide debate, yet reveal disparities back-of-pack

24-Jun-2019 By Flora Southey

A European comparison study investigating ‘dual quality’ across the bloc has found that one-third of products tested have an identical or similar front-of-pack appearance, yet differing compositions.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Paying a premium for sustainability: Do we want to, and can we afford it?

21-Jun-2019 By Flora Southey

With sustainably grown and sourced foodstuffs taking increasingly greater market share, can we all afford to dig deep for the planet?

Olive oil giant aligns with SDGs to protect against oversupply: ‘The current model is not sustainable’

19-Jun-2019 By Flora Southey

The world's largest olive oil company, Deoleo, has aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals to “transform the industry”, chief commercial officer Miguel de Jaime tells FoodNavigator.

Brussels Bulletin: Not labelling Israeli foodstuffs from Occupied Territories to reflect its origin ‘could mislead the consumer’

14-Jun-2019 By Flora Southey

An Advocate General has questioned whether the absence of the indication of the origin or place of provenance of a foodstuff originating in a territory occupied by Israel could mislead the consumer. This last fortnight also saw EFSA raise concerns regarding...

Flow Hive ‘single frame honey’ creates buzz in boutique market

11-Jun-2019 By Flora Southey

Unprocessed, single-frame honey allows for greater flavour retention, according to Flow Hive CEO Cedar Anderson, who told FoodNavigator his invention is adding value to the boutique honey market.

Value-adding ‘organic conversion’ label to reduce financial burden for farmers

07-Jun-2019 By Flora Southey

Transitioning from conventional to organic farming methods is an expensive and time-consuming process. In an effort to better support farmers as they transition, French cooperative D’Aucy has developed a front-of-pack label that adds value and raises...

FDF publishes updated UK gluten guidance to tackle labelling confusion

05-Jun-2019 By Oliver Morrison

Updated gluten labelling guidance has been published in the UK by the Food & Drink Federation, which aims to “achieve greater consistency in how the presence of cereals containing gluten and gluten-free claims are labelled on pre-packed foods”.

Obesity campaigners demand ban of cartoon characters on food and drink packets

04-Jun-2019 By Oliver Morrison

Campaigners in the UK are calling for a government ban on cartoon animations on packets that market unhealthy products to children and compulsory ‘traffic light’ nutrition labelling after a survey discovered that half of over 500 food and drink products...

Brussels Bulletin: EU Council adopts ban on single-use plastics

31-May-2019 By Oliver Morrison

The EU Council has adopted a total ban on single-use plastics by 2021, farmers are angry as the Mercosur deal inches closer, while environmentalists have warned about a failure to tackle agriculture’s contribution to climate breakdown. FoodNavigator brings...

Fraudulent ‘Made in Denmark’ claims spark blockchain development for SMEs

29-May-2019 By Flora Southey

The Technical University of Denmark is developing blockchain solutions for small and medium-sized food manufacturers in an effort to combat food fraud in high-value products.

Julian Mellentin: 'Investors in meat substitutes are likely to be disappointed'

What does ‘plant-based eating’ really mean, and how can firms tap into the trend?

23-May-2019 By Elaine Watson

Next-generation meat, egg, and dairy alternatives have garnered a huge amount of press (and investment), but there are many other ways for brands to meet demand for plant-based foods, says a report from consultancy New Nutrition Business querying whether...

Brussels Bulletin: Pro-NutriScore group calls for ‘single official labelling system’

17-May-2019 By Flora Southey

The Romanian government has cut VAT rates on healthy and traditional foods, a ‘Pro-NutriScore’ consumer group is urging the Commission to simplify nutritional labels, and an EU project has identified an olive tree disease in southern Italy. FoodNavigator...