With more and more class-action lawsuits against the food and beverage industry making headlines, FoodNavigator-USA caught up with an attorney specializing in complex corporate litigation to discuss the proper role of the courts, the shorter window for...
Attending a series of sessions on sugar reduction during the Institute of Food Technologists’ (IFT) 2014 Wellness conference, a few common themes kept resurfacing: that obesity remains a big problem, and that—like it or not—the sugar industry is assuming...
Diet soda sales remain in a funk according to the latest Nielsen data, with dollar sales in the four weeks to March 15 plunging 7.3%. Regular soda fared somewhat better (+ 0.6%), while energy drinks (+8.3%) and sparkling water (+26.2%) continued to steam...
If chef-inspired brand LUVO grabbed a lot of the limelight at the recent Expo West show, another exhibitor on a mission to revitalize the frozen case is premium world cuisine brand Saffron Road, which has been generating enviable growth in both the conventional...
Heinz has vowed to vigorously defend itself after becoming the latest food giant to be targeted in a false advertising lawsuit alleging it is misleading consumers by describing products made from GM crops as ‘all-natural’.
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.
If big food brands start to lose the GMO argument at the checkout and in the court of public opinion, they will feel compelled to respond, whether they are in favor of GM crops or not, predicted trend-watchers at Expo West.
Butter might be winning the PR war in the spreads category owing to its all-natural credentials and short ingredients list; but from a nutritional standpoint, the healthier choice is margarine, says the National Association of Margarine Manufacturers...
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.
Moving enzyme production largely into factories using genetically modification has resulted in better functioning enzymes, yet the bakery industry has been a poor communicator on both the ubiquity and benefits of GM enzymes, said one baking enzyme expert.
While manufacturers faced renewed pressure to clean up labels following recent media attacks on the dough conditioner azodicarbonamide and artificial preservatives, far less attention has been paid to what these ingredients are actually being replaced...
Snack maker PopChips looks set to become the latest firm to stop using the term ‘all-natural’ to describe its products after agreeing to settle a lawsuit alleging it misled consumers by using the controversial term.
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 the number of lawsuits filed against food and beverage manufacturers over ‘all-natural’ claims appeared to peak in 2012 and drop off again in 2013, it’s too early for the industry to start cracking open the champagne just yet, say legal experts.
Vancouver-based stevia supplier GLG Life Tech is moving into the monk fruit (luo han guo) sweeteners market and expects to have commercial quantities of high-purity extracts available later this year.
New non-cola products sweetened with stevia and sugar will hit the US market this year, while cola products combining stevia and sugar will be tested in other markets, says PepsiCo.
Kraft Foods is removing the artificial preservative sorbic acid from some of its individually wrapped Singles slices in the latest of a series of moves by major food producers to clean up their labels.
A federal judge has granted preliminary approval to a $3.4m settlement of a class action lawsuit accusing Trader Joe’s of falsely advertising certain products as ‘all natural’.
Bread product launches have continued to rise globally in recent years, though amid tightening health claim regulations in the EU and North America, growth in the functional bread sector has slowed somewhat, according to Innova Market Insights.
Brazzein - a protein from the berry of the West African plant Oubli claimed to be 2,500+ times sweeter than sucrose - could play a key role in the natural sweeteners market in future as formulators look beyond stevia, says one entrepreneur intent on commercializing...
First there was the leaked GMA discussion document; now the industry’s biggest players have put their cards on the table via the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food, which is seeking federal legislation to create an FDA-administered voluntary program to...
What do genetically engineered soybeans, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and chickens raised with the use of antibiotics all have in common? They are all in products that come with ‘all-natural’ labels.
Sensient Colors has expanded its vegetable juice-derived natural brown colors platform to give customers more options in the wake of a recent report that has reignited the debate over 4-MeI levels in some caramel colors.
Civil litigation over whether GMOs belong in ‘all-natural’ products will continue to clog up US courts owing to the FDA’s refusal to weigh in on this issue, says Mission tortilla chips maker Gruma Corp.
'Marketing can and should be science-driven and scientists are great marketers': VIRUN CEO
BeverageDaily.com Personality of the Year 2013, VIRUN CEO Philip Bromley, reveals his lust for life and how soft drinks can combine ‘want with need’ to kick start the category, in the first part of an exclusive interview.
It was a “Herculean task”, but the years spent developing the technology and protocols to comply with USDA organic regulations and produce commercially viable organic stevia crops have paid off, say bosses at Sweet Green Fields (SGF) after launching their...
THE FOODNAVIGATOR-USA BUSINESS LEADERS ROUND TABLE DEBATE
It might have enraged those in favor of mandatory GMO labeling, but a leaked document outlining the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s (GMA’s) ideas for a federally regulated 'voluntary' approach to this issue has been praised by one ex-FDA...
Ben & Jerry’s - which voluntarily agreed to stop using the term ‘all-natural’ on its ice cream three years ago - has scored a legal victory in a case filed just before it axed the emotive phrase from its packaging.
Kraft Foods has vigorously defended the way it labels its Crystal Light lemonade and iced tea mixes after receiving a letter from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) threatening legal action if it does not stop promoting them as ‘natural’.
As Coke and Pepsi watch their diet soda sales stagnate, the arrows on the sales growth chart on Zevia CEO Paddy Spence’s wall are going in the opposite direction, with growth of his zero-calorie sodas up in the triple digits.
The FDA has written to three federal judges handling civil cases vs food manufacturers over natural claims to “respectfully decline” their request to come to an administrative determination of whether GMOs belong in ‘all-natural’ foods.
One of the most emotive - and politically-charged - claims in food labeling, ‘all-natural’ is also one of the most hotly disputed from a legal perspective.
Anti-GMO activists have reacted with fury to leaked proposals by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) to develop federal rules governing GMO labeling that would pre-empt state-driven initiatives.
What will 2014 bring on the regulatory front for the food and beverage industry? From the stagnant farm bill to the ongoing debate on biotech to consumer confusion on the various forms of sweeteners, trade associations representing the sugar, HFCS and...
The FoodNavigator-USA business leaders round table debate
What are the hottest trends in food and beverage? And are the big bucks really in blue-sky innovation, or have the most successful firms played with an existing concept and just done a better job at executing, marketing and selling it?
What might give the food and beverage industry's regulatory affairs teams sleepless nights in 2014? From more evaporated cane juice lawsuits to proposed changes to the Nutrition Facts panel, stay up to date with this FoodNavigator-USA gallery…
Amid mounting false advertising lawsuits and increased pressure from consumer advocacy groups, the future of the historically vague marketing term "natural" is in question.
Preservatives have a poor reputation among consumers – but that doesn’t mean that natural options are completely off the menu, says Nicole Patterson-Lett, principal analyst at Leatherhead Food Research.
Looking ahead to the coming year, the biggest trends in R&D for the food and beverage industry will be clean label, natural ingredients and industry regulations, though there are several, more fragmented “micro” trends from sodium reduction and fiber...
60-second interview: Matt Fifer, co-founder, 8th & Walton Group
Want to get on the shelf at Walmart? Prepare to put in some serious work, says Matt Fifer, who spent nearly 13 years in senior roles in store & club operations, people development, marketing, and international marketing at Wal-Mart before co-founding...
Hain Celestial has been targeted in a first-if-its-kind putative class action lawsuit alleging that it falsely advertised Celestial Seasoning teas as 100% natural when they in fact contain “potentially dangerous” levels of pesticides, herbicides, insecticides,...
Coca-Cola has been targeted in another proposed class action lawsuit alleging that it misrepresents Coke as being free from added preservatives and artificial flavors, despite containing phosphoric acid, an 'artificial flavoring' and 'chemical...
San-Diego-based flavor innovator Senomyx says the first products arising from a collaboration with PepsiCo using a novel sweet taste modifier called S617 should hit shelves next year - contingent upon a GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) determination.
Annies Inc. has announced the $6 million acquisition of a cracker and cookie plant in Joplin, MO that will more than triple the company’s volume in the important snacks segment.
Washington DC-based non-profit the Center for Food Safety (CFS) has urged the FDA to reject calls to make an administrative determination over whether GMOs belong in products marketed as ‘natural’.
Last month, Pyure Brands rolled out organic non-GMO erythritol after seeing there was a space in the marketplace for products using natural alternative sweeteners. Now the sweetener supplier is seeing increasing demand for reformulations using non-GMO...
As US consumers have fallen out of love with artificial additives and long, unpronounceable ingredient lists, the food additive industry is undergoing a considerable shift, according to a study by Packaged Facts.
Organic yogurt maker Stonyfield is rolling out new packaging hammering home its organic credentials with a new logo featuring the phrase ‘no toxic pesticides used here’ following research suggesting 74% of Americans would like to eat food produced with...
Colorado-based beverage startup Züm XR has made a splash with its patented technology that delivers slow, sustained caffeine release that has made its line of beverages the best sellers in their category in the western states region of Whole Foods Market,...