A bill that would have required firms to label genetically engineered foods in California has failed to secure sufficient votes in the state senate to pass into law.
The National Dairy Council (NDC) has rubbished the science behind a resurfaced People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) campaign linking dairy consumption to autism.
Greek yogurt has long been edging its way beyond the refrigerated aisles and into everything from coated snacks to bars, to baking chips and frozen yogurt. With that, the competitive landscape has grown increasingly crowded, with big names including Chobani,...
Leading academic calls results “out of line and improbable”...
The cost of New York State adopting labeling of GMO ingredient in food products could increase the cost of food for a family of four by $800 per year, says a new economic study from Cornell University. The results have been described as “out of line and...
Guest article: Mischa Popoff, author, Is it Organic?
I worked for five years as a USDA-contract organic inspector after growing up on an organic grain farm in Saskatchewan. I had the pleasure of inspecting over 500 organic farms and processors, but I began questioning this career path when I realized the...
Danone's US 'yogurt with toppers' business YoCrunch has teamed up with Kellogg's to combine the latter's most popular breakfast cereal brands with Greek and traditional yogurt.
US retail sales of organic products grew 11.5% to $35.1bn in 2013, the strongest growth the industry has seen in five years, according to new data from the Organic Trade Association (OTA), which is predicting even higher growth of 12% this year.
As anti-GMO activists celebrated their first major victory in Vermont this week with the passage of GMO labeling bill H112, the GMA said it would mount a legal challenge within weeks. But while big food companies may well win the courtroom battle ahead,...
Now the world's largest exporter of nonfat dry milk (NDM) and skim milk powder (SMP), it is fair to say the US has discovered "the power of exports," says DairyReporter.com's US commodities expert John Geuss.
Consuming probiotics may decrease the duration of common upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) by up to a day, compared to placebo, according to findings published in the British Journal of Nutrition.
The FDA’s “flawed” 2009 draft guidance on ‘evaporated cane juice’ has put food manufacturers and retailers between a rock and a hard place when deciding what to put on their labels, says a group of leading manufacturers.
84% of US consumers buy organic food sometimes, and 45% of them buy it at least once a month, according to a new national survey of 1,016 adults. However, there is a disparity between what they think the organic seal means and what they think it should...
They’re addicted to their smartphones, big fans of social networking sites, and more likely than their parents to buy store brands. But what else do we know about Millennials - the 100 million Americans born between 1980 and 2000?
Organic yogurt giant Stonyfield is recalling cups of its YoBaby brand yogurt from 122 stores across the US over fears the products may be contaminated with coliform bacteria.
“We could have expanded our market massively and aggressively if we said we’ll deliver anything to anyone, anywhere at any time. But we’d also have lost a lot of money,” says the president and CEO of one of the most successful online grocery platforms...
Just over three months after launching in the US market, grocery coupon app Checkout 51 has attracted an eye-boggling 1.4 million users, and expects to attract tens of millions more. Why? Because it’s really easy to use, says co-founder Noah Godfrey.
Consumers are confused about what evaporated cane juice (ECJ) is, but the FDA’s preferred term - ‘dried cane syrup’ - is not much better, according to one of the first groups to respond to the agency’s new request for comments on ECJ.
Greek yogurt maker Chobani has secured a $750m investment from private equity firm TPG Capital and its dedicated credit platform TPG Opportunities Partners to help fund its expansion and innovation plans.
Consumers have spent years paying over the odds for organic foods based on the erroneous belief - promulgated by stakeholders with a vested interest - that they are healthier and safer than their conventional counterparts, claims a controversial new report.
Chobani has unveiled a raft of new products that will start hitting shelves this summer, including Chobani Oats - yogurt mixed with fruit and oats; Chobani Indulgent - its first desserts; and Chobani Kids - snack packs for kids.
Proposed changes to the Nutrition Facts panel on food and beverage labels are well-intentioned, but may not have as much effect on how consumers perceive products as policymakers hope, according to Hartman Group.
Chobani has increased its Australian production from 25,000 cases a week to 25,000 cases a day in the past year, becoming the second best-selling yogurt brand in the nation’s top supermarket chain Woolworths, and announced ambitious expansion plans in...
If you want to see what success looks like in US grocery retailing, look no further than Trader Joe’s. Its unique combination of affordable prices, innovative private label items and gourmet, organic, and natural foods have helped drive sales per square...
Peruviuan cuisine is a hot culinary trend and a “powerful funnel for bringing resurgent South American cuisine into the US food retail and foodservice market”, according to a new report from Packaged Facts.
On the face of it, the FDA’s proposal to revoke the GRAS status of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) - the source of most of the ‘artificial’ trans fats in the US food supply - seems like a no-brainer. After all, even if the jury is apparently still...
A recent study linking protein intake to an increased risk of cancer death could have detrimental public health implications for adults seeking to maintain muscle health and avoid sarcopenia, says a group of leading protein experts.
As the debate over the role of saturated fat in cardiovascular disease intensifies, the authors of a new commentary claim that the “real villains” in the American diet are trans fat, sugar, and high-GI foods that rapidly convert to sugar.
When Winder Farms CEO Mike Dutton first started tapping private equity firms for cash to support his online grocery shopping business, memories of Webvan (which went bankrupt in 2001) were still fresh, and more than a few doors were slammed in his face...
UPDATED* - A high-profile study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine last week has re-opened the debate about whether saturated fat has been unfairly cast in the role of nutritional bogeyman. But how should policymakers respond?
Americans are often described as lagging behind their European counterparts when it comes to awareness of probiotics, but the growth potential in the US market is “huge”, says leading supplier DuPont.
If it’s in the natural channel today, it could be in food, drug and mass merchandise stores tomorrow, so food and beverage trend-spotters were out in force at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim on March 6-9.
New data from Nielsen reveals that Chobani’s Simply 100 Greek yogurt already has a 1.3% dollar share of all refrigerated yogurt, just six weeks after its national launch, with distribution still cranking up.
It’s been gracing food labels for years, but more recently, it’s also prompted a tsunami of civil litigation against firms from Chobani to Trader Joe’s. So what exactly is ‘evaporated cane juice’ (ECJ), and does the name accurately reflect what it actually...
Chobani will make its first foray into the organic market later this year with the introduction of 32oz grass-fed multi-serve packs of its Greek yogurt.
Activist group GMO Inside has turned its attention towards Starbucks in the latest phase of its campaign to persuade big brands to move away from GMOs.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has again urged the FDA to come up with its own mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labeling system and “ignore” the industry-backed, voluntary ‘Facts up Front’ scheme.
By Winnie Byanyima, executive director, Oxfam International
Food and drink companies can have a big influence over sustainability and ethical issues in their supply chains - and have the power to change them rapidly. One year on from Oxfam's first Behind the Brands sustainability scorecard, nine of the ten...
The fat composition of food not only influences cholesterol levels and the risk of cardiovascular disease but also governs where the fat will be stored in the body, say researchers.
A high-profile class action lawsuit accusing Chobani of deceiving consumers with the term ‘evaporated cane juice’ on labels has finally been dismissed with prejudice (ie. the plaintiff can’t re-file and the case is officially closed).
On Thursday the Obama administration unveiled the changes that the Food and Drug Administration drafted to the nutrition facts panel (see what the FDA is proposing here). In anticipation of the announcement, the Center for Science in the Public Interest...
The Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) has signaled its latest move away from its celebrity-driven 20-year old got milk? campaign, but insists that the iconic marketing program is not being dumped.
Mead Johnson Nutrition is still waiting for the outcome of a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probe that could see it penalized on home soil for alleged promotional payments made by employees in China.
Customer care has come a long way since the pen and ink complaints letters of yesteryear – so how has a major company like Unilever made the transition to digital media?
When PepsiCo replaced the word ‘Simply Natural’ with ‘Simply’ on some Frito-Lay lines recently, some commentators wondered if this signaled the beginning of the end of the industry’s love affair with all-natural claims. However, new data suggests otherwise.
While some analysts predict US private label penetration rates (which have remained stubbornly at around 18% of dollar sales for in recent years) could reach 25-30% or higher in the next few years, their “exuberance… is perplexing at best”, according...