A diet that is very similar to the traditional Mediterranean diet is associated with lower body weight and fat percentage in children; however such diets are not common among children in Mediterranean countries, say researchers.
Launching big is not the definitive way to sustainable growth
How many consumer packaged goods that launch in the US today will still be around in two years’ time? The answer is a miserable 15%, according to Nielsen data.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) on Wednesday introduced a bill that would require a mandatory tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in a contentious move aimed at curbing the “dual” crises of obesity and diabetes.
A custom algorithm developed by University of Washington researchers that breaks down fast food restaurants (FFRs) by segment and meal type finds that children get most of their fast food calories from burger restaurants, though just 14% of children’s...
Big Interview: Chris Licata, CEO of Blake's All Natural Foods
The success of the frozen section hinges on the continued trend toward prepared meals with cleaner ingredient decks and accessible price points, says Chris Licata, CEO of natural and organic frozen meals line Blake’s All Natural Foods.
First there was juice, then there were smoothies, now there is, er, Chimp Food, the brainchild of Florida-based entrepreneur Scott Joseph, who lost 100lbs after eating like a chimp (he ditched meat, dairy & grains and ate nothing but fruits, vegetables,...
Big Interview: Maggie Radzwiller, Maggie's Conscious Vegan Cuisine
A chef and caterer was motivated by her special diets customers to launch a vegan, gluten-free line of globally inspired meals with no added sodium or oil to provide clean, flavorful meal solutions for everybody.
In the latest installment of our What do you do series, we caught up with Paul Niemann, who has been leading product development at quinoa snack firm eatKeenwa, on why new product development is more like problem solving, how many hats the EVP of a startup...
The Epic Seed is now available in 700 stores across the country
The Greek yogurt aisle was already pretty crowded by the time Jesse Rudolph started pitching his wares to the market around 18 months ago. But chia - the superfood of the moment - proved to be his secret weapon.
Nearly one in three (30%) children and adolescents in the US misperceive their weight status—the equivalent of 9.1 million youth, according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Odwalla founder: Large companies have to buy innovation
Launching a beverage brand is the easy part. The challenge is growing and sustaining it without running out of cash, steam or patience, delegates were told at the FoodNavigator-USA Beverage Entrepreneurs Forum.
While beverage’s biggest guns have pumped some serious cash into developing ‘mid-calorie’ versions of their iconic brands (Dr Pepper TEN, Pepsi Next, Coca-Cola Life), not everyone is convinced they will deliver the incremental growth to the ailing soda...
Memory, attention and focus, development, mood; there are numerous ways that a nutrient or ingredient can affect cognitive health. But which have the most science, how do they work, and how are they performing in the market. Check out our gallery of the...
The concept of a healthy diet is one that continues to evolve—as special diets gain more attention and consumers become more attuned to ingredient lists, the role of animal vs. plant fats and the growing fervor surrounding what’s considered natural.
Verde Media Group is moving forward with construction of a pilot plant in Asia that will validate its production technology that the company said will yield lower cost omega-3s from heterotrophic algae.
A mechanical engineer with a keen interest in semi-conductors, ips All Natural co-founder Sean Olson is not your typical food entrepreneur. But don’t let his résumé fool you. With an unusual product that taps into the protein trend, Olson reckons his...
Find out what's hot and what's next in the beverages aisle
Will tea replace 100% juice in your child's lunchbox? And what's the next $1bn beverage brand? Find out what our panel of beverage entrepreneurs thinks at our free-to-attend online forum kicking off at 11.30am EDT tomorrow.
Walmart cranberry pomegranate juice is mostly grape & apple juice, says lawsuit
Six weeks after the Supreme Court gave POM Wonderful the green light to sue Coca-Cola over its juice labels, Walmart has been targeted in a consumer class action lawsuit making near-identical allegations.
Proposals don't consider a product's overall nutritional value, says professor
FDA proposals to overhaul the Nutrition Facts panel on food labels are “strong” and “likely to make an important contribution”, says former FDA commissioner David Kessler, M.D. “But I believe they don't go far enough.”
Policy efforts to increase fruit and vegetable consumption across the developed world have resulted in modest gains and increased awareness (most notably among children), yet largely they’ve fallen short in impacting long-term consumption behavior, according...
Researchers claim they have developed proteins that could help bring a wider variety of low-fat foods to market without compromising on texture and taste.
The FDA’s proposed label changes would draw attention to a lot of issues worrying public health officials—from calories and added sugar to serving sizes and vitamin D. But one nutrient that won’t be mandated on labels, in spite of growing concern over...
Bottled water, energy and iced tea are expected to win big in 2014 as C-store operators predict a ‘banner year’ in packaged beverages led by brands including Sparkling Ice, Monster and Lipton.
As the US Food and Drug Administration prepares to issue voluntary sodium guidelines for food manufacturers and restaurants, US consumers are demonstrating less concern about sodium intake and seeking it out less on labels than in the past, according...
The marketers of a cactus drink have agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle false advertising charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission. Such charges could be levied against many companies, said Denver-based attorney Justin Prochnow.
Hormel & Virun help ease omega-3 F&B fortification headaches
While food & beverage manufacturers have been fortifying their wares with omega-3 fatty acids EPA + DHA for years, few have been able to include anywhere close to the efficacious doses contained in many supplements without running into technical or...
Despite tight margins and even tighter competition, it’s a great time to be in the food and beverage industry—and an even better time to be a seller, according to New York accountant and advisory firm, Anchin, Block & Anchin.
Consumers are tired of bars, says quinoa 'snack in a bottle' founder
While a scary percentage of new food & beverage brands end up quietly disappearing when their backers run out of cash, luck, or endurance, a small number succeed. But what distinguishes the winners from the losers?
FoodNavigator-USA takes you through the latest and greatest in new product launches, from affordable healthy snacks and chia energy drinks to all-purpose stevia and dairy-free desserts.
Crumbs' closure could spell trouble for the cupcake category
The struggling retail cupcake chain Crumbs Bake Shop closed its doors for good this week as it mulls filing for bankruptcy. Analysts from market research firm NPD Group weigh in on what went wrong, and whether this signals the end of the cupcake’s reign.
While many cardio health products are still focused on reducing 'bad' LDL cholesterol, the next generation will cover a broader range of benefits from improving endothelial function to protecting LDL cholesterol from oxidation, predicts tomato...
So Delicious Dairy Free brand grew at a 30% CAGR over past five years
While gluten-free gets all the glory, dairy-free products such as almond and coconut milk are growing at an equally explosive rate, says So Delicious Dairy Free, which has notched up a compound annual growth rate of 30%+ over the past five years, and...
General Mills - which has just unveiled a host of new protein-packed product launches - is seeking to patent a way of ensuring certain protein particulates can be incorporated into snacks containing moist fruit pastes but stay crunchy.
DIGGING INTO WHEAT TRENDS WITH ARDENT MILLS: PART II
The grain-based industry is late to the protein game and they need to catch up because opportunities are vast, says Ardent Mills’ director of consumer insights.
H.U.M.A.N., the company behind better-for-you vending machines and healthy micro markets, has taken its business-to-business healthy snack distribution model into corporate offices with the launch of SnackNation.
Plant waters are all the rage - at least that’s what trend watchers keep telling us - but can artichoke water emulate the meteoric success of coconut water? Or is Arty Water - an intriguing mix of artichokes, mint and pandanus leaf sweetened with monk...
The US food and beverage industry anticipates continued sales growth in 2014 on the heels of strong performances the past two years, according to the second annual "US Food & Beverage Industry Study" from accounting, tax and advisory services...
Lackluster sales of packaged bread & ready-to-eat cereals might suggest that years of carb-bashing and changing lifestyles have finally driven some grain-based categories into terminal decline. However, flour milling giant Ardent Mills begs to differ.
At $88.3bn in 2013, the size of the US specialty food prize is already mouthwatering, and if current trends continue (sales grew 9.6% in 2012 and 8% in 2013), it will blast through the $100bn barrier in 2015. But which categories are growing most rapidly?
PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi says she didn’t want a short-term ‘cut, slash and burn’ policy that would have seen the company make enormous earnings from 2006 despite the upset her long-term nutritional foods focus caused some investors.
What is the future of ‘naturality’ on product labels? Are sin taxes and warning just policy tools disguised as a consumer advocacy? And should health and wellness be part of every brand’s messaging?
Health-related buzzwords such as “heart healthy”, “organic” and “all natural” can lead consumers to rate unhealthy foods as healthy, according to a study of college students at the University of Houston (UH).
More and more consumers rely on the internet for their news, and stories can go viral within minutes, so it’s unsurprising that certain food ingredients have become the subject of fear and avoidance in this information age.
Tea isn’t just for grown-ups anymore, as instant and ready-to-drink teas are paving the way for strong positioning among families, children and teens, according to a recent report by market research firm Packaged Facts.
A lot of food manufacturers are not happy with FDA proposals to revoke the GRAS status of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs). Meanwhile, the soybean industry is urging the agency to hold off until larger quantities of new high oleic soybean oil are available....
If the cover of TIME magazine earlier this month (headline: Eat Butter) is anything to go by, it would seem that the conversation about fat, and saturated fat in particular, is changing, at least in the media. But are policymakers sitting up and taking...
Snacking is becoming more of a lifestyle than simply a between-meal indulgence for time-strapped US consumers, which means more opportunity to innovate in flavor, nutrition and delivery formats for snack food manufacturers like Snyder’s-Lance Inc.
