Nestlé Nutrition has reiterated its belief in the immune system-related benefits of its Gerber brand probiotic-enriched infant nutrition products, after a US District Judge threw out a lawsuit that branded its claims "misleading."
Consumer demand for hotter, spicier, foods has continued to increase on both sides of the Atlantic, says natural extracts specialist Kalsec, which has tied up with Mintel to develop ‘heat indexes’ measuring usage of peppers in retail and foodservice.
Chobani has vowed to remove hemp seeds from its Blueberry Power Flip Greek yogurt pots, after the US Air Force banned consumption of the product over concerns about the seeds' potential to produce false positive drug test results.
60-second interview: Greg Kaminski, executive research chef, Synergy Flavors
What will we be eating more of in 2014? Elaine Watson caught up with Greg Kaminski, executive research chef at Synergy Flavors to find out what’s hot and what’s not in the world of flavor for 2014.
While any flavor house with sufficient resources can monitor what’s happening in stores, restaurants and bars to get a sense of emerging trends, this only tells you what’s happening now, not what the future might taste like, says Firmenich senior marketing...
What have you heard lately about Michigan? That its biggest city (Detroit - once the wealthiest city in the world) recently filed for bankruptcy? Or that from December 2009 to March 2013, it was the #1 state in the nation for creating manufacturing jobs,...
While there’s been a lot of buzz around the FDA’s recent approval of spirulina extract as a natural blue food color for candy and gum, WILD Flavors says its fruit-juice-derived blue color - which has been on the US market since 2009 - has broader applications...
Unilever has announced plans to pump $152.5m into its New Century margarine and spreads manufacturing plant in Gardner, Kansas, increasing its size by 50% to 447,929 square feet and creating 100 new jobs.
You can’t paint a horse like a cow and expect people not to notice – but grind their meat into patties and it may be a different story. So what makes an ingredient vulnerable to food fraud?
Can consuming dairy products reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes? The answer, according to a systematic review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition last week, is a qualified YES.
Some of the biggest contributors of calories, sat fats and added sugar in the American diet are also the largest contributors of vital nutrients, says a new study highlighting some potentially unintended consequences of diets that just focus on calorie...
Is your brand getting some decent bang for the bucks you spend on paid-for (‘promoted’) tweets? The answer, according to a new trial with 35 big names in consumer packaged goods (CPG) including Mondelez, is YES.
Many US supermarkets are stuck in a timewarp, and their market share will continue to decline unless they makes radical strategic changes, according to a provocative new report from Hartman Strategy.
WhiteWave Foods has filed a motion to dismiss the latest in a “tsunami of lawsuits” alleging consumers are being misled by the use of the term ‘evaporated cane juice’ (ECJ) to describe dried sugar cane syrup (aka sugar).
A Minnesota-based firm making waves with anthocyanin-packed purple-corn ingredients says it has had significant interest from the snack food market, but is also talking to microbrewers, confectioners, and firms manufacturing everything from sourdough...
What precedent might it set if firms are forced to label foods made using new technologies, even if the end product does not differ in any meaningful way from foods developed by ‘traditional’ methods?
US yogurt consumers have shown that their taste for Greek yogurt isn't waning after voting Chobani, Yoplait, Dannon and Stonyfield Farms amongst their favorite yogurt brands in the influential 2013 Harris Pool EquiTrend study.
From California to Washington, and from Connecticut to Vermont, initiatives to label the presence of ingredients derived from genetically modified foods are dominating headlines. Despite this, the CEO of BI Nutraceuticals doesn’t think we’ll see government...
Chobani has been selected as the product of choice for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Greek yogurt pilot program, after successfully undercutting bids from a number of rival Greek yogurt manufacturers.
While many new products generate impressive year-one sales after blasting out of the starting blocks bolstered by great distribution and piles of promotional cash, few sustain this momentum. But Dannon’s Oikos Greek yogurt brand is a notable exception.
A year after Starbucks announced it would stop using crushed bugs to color its Frappuccinos following a petition on Change.org, Dannon has been urged to remove carmine in its yogurts by The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which is backing...
Open innovation used to be just for the likes of P&G and Unilever, but today, it's being embraced by a lot of mid-sized companies in the $100m-$1bn revenue range as well, according to Andy Zynga, CEO of open innovation expert and corporate matchmaking...
Chobani has vowed to “explore the complexities” of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) following the launch of a petition in the US that claims it is reliant on milk from cows fed a diet full of genetically-altered produce.
A lawsuit filed in Hawaii alleges that Cargill is misleading shoppers by marketing its Truvia retail products as ‘natural’ as the Reb-A steviol glycosides they contain are "highly chemical processed" and the bulking agent used (erythritol) is...
Those who feel uneasy about the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics’ (AND’s) ties with corporate sponsors such as Pepsi and McDonald’s argue that getting into bed with such purveyors of ‘junk food’ - however transparently or responsibly you go about...
Your favorite ice cream flavor could say more about you than you might think, US specialty ice cream store chain, Baskin Robbins, has claimed. What's you favorite flavor?
Day three of the show began with a lively education session on genetically engineered crops - and whether to label foods containing ingredients derived from them - (standing room only), followed by a final whistle-stop tour of the expo floor to see what’s...
On day two of the IFT show in Chicago, the FoodNavigator-USA team headed once more unto the breach (well, the show-floor) at McCormick Place to check out the latest developments in food and beverage development, labeling and regulation.
After ‘exceeding expectations’ last year, Walmart is giving American entrepreneurs and business owners another chance to get their innovative products to the market.
FoodNavigator-USA's intrepid editorial team headed to the windy city to chew the fat (or maybe replace it with algae) with the great and the good of the global food industry, and keep up to speed with the latest developments in everything from open...
Dairy-based, quiche-like muffins and an American twist on gulabjamun took the top two spots on the Dairy Research Institute’s New Product Competition podium, as the product developers of tomorrow provided ‘excellent thought starters’ to the product developers...
As part of FoodNavigator-USA’s probe into natural colors for our Natural & Clean Label Trends 2013 online event, Elaine Watson caught up with Tammi Higgins, Natural Colors Commercial Development Manager at FMC BioPolymer.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is inviting bids from vendors to supply the Greek Yogurt Pilot Program, which will trial Greek and other protein-rich yogurt products on school lunch menus in New York, Idaho, Tennessee and Arizona.
healthyAisles - a merchandising system enabling retailers to highlight products containing attributes from ‘low sodium’ to ‘good source of calcium’ via customized shelf tags and other tools - is now used in more than 5,000 stores across the US.
Is it a safer bet to say 'Made with natural ingredients' than 'All-natural' on pack? Are consumers in the UK and the US looking for different cues on a label to determine if something is natural or wholesome? And did you know that...
Big interview: Brian Meadows, president, GLG Life Tech
Stevia supplier GLG Life Tech has resumed trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and reassured investors that “the stevia market is growing worldwide, and we are positioned to take full advantage.”
Big interview, Gregory Jaffe, Director of Biotechnology, CSPI
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has made a name for itself by tackling the food industry’s big guns on everything from artery-furring entrees to misleading label claims. But where does it stand on genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?
General Mills CEO Ken Powell fielded questions on everything from Greek yogurt to liquid breakfasts on the firm’s Q4 earnings call yesterday, including one on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
General Mills is launching a new version of Yoplait Greek yogurt after learning that “many consumers were not fully satisfied with the fruit on the bottom and aftertaste of its current Greek offering”, says the firm.
Hydrocolloid giant CP Kelco has announced the first phase in a series of projects to expand its Brazilian pectin operation by 30% to cope with rebounding demand for the ingredient.
60-second interview: Rohit Tibrewala, CEO, Roha, North America
As part of FoodNavigator-USA’s probe into clean labels ahead of our June 26 Natural & Clean Label Trends 2013 online event, Elaine Watson caught up with Rohit Tibrewala CEO, Roha, North America, to talk natural colors…
Dean Foods has announced plans to close its Springfield, Virginia dairy plant within the next two months - a move which will see the end of its Shenandoah’s Pride brand and eliminate 110 jobs.
60-second interview: Carol Locey and Gary Augustine, Kalsec
As part of FoodNavigator-USA’s probe into clean labels ahead of our June 26 Natural & Clean Label Trends 2013 online event, Elaine Watson caught up with Carol Locey, colors product director, and Gary Augustine, market development director, at Kalsec,...
PL Thomas claims to be taking the wholefood concept to a completely new level with the launch of whole food powders made using a novel process that can turn “pretty much anything that is a food into a powder”, from salmon to pumpkin.
60-second interview: Kurt Seagrist and Byron Madkins, Chr. Hansen
Not so long ago the gap between the performance - and price - of natural vs synthetic colors was huge, but more efficient supply chains, advances in extraction technology and more sophisticated microencapsulation techniques have closed the gap considerably...
If you’re looking for a natural red food color, carmine can deliver. It’s vibrant, but stable, and prices have recently returned from the stratosphere after hikes in 2010/11. The only problem is that it’s made from crushed insects, and once they find...
