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,...
The FDA’s “flawed” 2009 draft guidance on ‘evaporated cane juice’ has put food manufacturers and retailers between a rock and a hard place when deciding what to put on their labels, says a group of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.
Kellogg subsidiary Kashi has joined a growing list of big food companies that have agreed to stop using the term ‘all-natural’ to describe certain products in response to a tidal wave of civil litigation over the controversial term.
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...
While calorie labeling on restaurant menus is still in its infancy - as is academic research attempting to measure its impact - a new study suggests it is not driving a significant change in consumer behavior.
A judge has certified a class of consumers accusing Twinings North America of misbranding its teas as a ‘natural source of antioxidants’, but said they cannot seek monetary damages because they have not come up with a viable legal theory for how to calculate...
An Abbott Laboratories shareholder proposal to label genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in its Similac infant formula range received about 5% of the vote, and has been rejected by the company.
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.
General Mills found itself at the center of a bad PR storm this month after a seemingly routine change to its online legal terms to include an arbitration clause. Food & beverage attorney Ron Levine talked with FoodNavigator-USA on the good and bad...
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.
A bill requiring foods produced with genetic engineering be labeled in Vermont has passed the house and the senate, and now just needs Governor Peter Shumlin’s signature to be signed into law. However, legal experts say a First Amendment challenge could...
The questions posed by Supreme Court Justices during oral arguments in a false advertising case brought by POM Wonderful against Coca Cola were nothing short of “astonishing”, according to one food law attorney that has been closely following the case.
POM Wonderful and Coca-Cola both got a grilling at the Supreme Court on Monday as they traded blows in a false advertising case, but while the justices seemed to give Coke a tougher time, this doesn’t necessarily mean POM is going to emerge victorious,...
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.
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.
It’s not quite as dramatic as the Oscar Pistorius trial, but in the world of food law, a false advertising case brought by POM Wonderful against rival Coca-Cola is being followed just as closely. And all eyes will be on the Supreme Court on Monday, when...
Being a minnow in a pool of sharks is both scary and exhilarating, admit the entrepreneurs behind caffeinated fruit juice Frava. But “in the worst case scenario, it’ll make the subject of a good business school essay” (presumably about biting off more...
The good news? Two-thirds of primary household shoppers who own smartphones have used their mobile devices on a shopping trip. The bad news? Most of them were not bowled over by the experience.
As the class-action lawsuits pile up amid growing public health concerns over obesity and ongoing labeling debates, one has to wonder: Is Big Food going the way of Big Tobacco? And who should regulate food and beverage industry marketing? Companies, government...
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...
Managing explosive growth is not a problem most entrepreneurs have to worry about. Most of them are too busy burning money, and wondering what on earth motivated them to give up the day job to compete for shelf-space with the likes of PepsiCo and Kellogg...
There’s a reason why soda is generally sweet and comes in three flavors (cola, lemon & lime and root beer), because that’s what sells, right? Wrong, says DRY Soda founder and CEO Sharelle Klaus, whose best-selling flavors include lavender, rhubarb...
Honey mixed with other sweeteners must be labeled as a blend, rather than just “honey”, according to a draft guidance issued by the US Food and Drug Administration last week. So what’s the most interesting part about the guidance?
The FDA’s March 5 decision to re-open comments on its 2009 draft guidance on ‘evaporated cane juice’ (ECJ) may well kill off most ECJ-related lawsuits, or at least kick them into the long grass, say legal experts. But food and beverage firms should wait...
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning letter to Dewmar International BMC Inc., alleging that despite labeling its Lean Slow Motion…Potion beverage as a dietary supplement, the manufacturer is representing it as a conventional food...
What is the future of food? Simple communication of complex advances will be crucial, as well as picking up the pace amid a global population boom to feed the world nutritiously and sustainably, according to FoodNavigator and NutraIngredients senior editors.
San Diego-based flavor innovator Senomyx has entered into a collaborative agreement with PepsiCo to identify flavors with "modifying properties intended to restore the desired salty taste in products with reduced salt".
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...
Another class action lawsuit taking issue with the food industry’s use of the phrase ‘evaporated cane juice’ (which plaintiffs argue is just plain old sugar and should be described as such) has been impacted by the FDA's decision to look again at...
FDA proposals to revoke the GRAS status of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) in order to crack down on trans fats will lead to increased saturated fat intakes, greater reliance on imported palm and canola oil and the “diminished ability for food manufacturers...
The exponential growth and availability of “Big Data” offers food and beverage marketers unprecedented access to consumer information, but it also raises some ethical questions when it comes to how companies use it—particularly when it comes to children....
A bill requiring foods produced with genetic engineering be labeled in Vermont has made further progress after passing in the Senate Judiciary committee in a 5-0 vote.
The American Herbal Products Association has set a new policy for how member companies ought to calculate the amount of protein in their products to deal with a situation in which the amount of protein has potentially been overreported in some products...
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...
Suntava - the Minnesota-based firm promoting anthocyanin-packed purple-corn ingredients - has gone through the Non-GMO Project verification process to reassure customers and consumers that the corn from which they are derived is not genetically engineered.
A class action lawsuit accusing Coca-Cola subsidiary Odwalla of misleading consumers and misbranding its products by using the term ‘evaporated cane juice’ (ECJ) on labels has been put on ice by a California judge following the FDA's decision to...
Two practical alternatives to a blanket ban on partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) would help the FDA achieve its objective (cracking down on trans-fats) without causing formulation nightmares, claim leading food manufacturers.
The recent Let’s Move! nutrition related announcements by the White House mark ongoing efforts by this Administration to make good on a number of nutrition commitments from the first term. Following on the heels of the effective ban on transfats by the...
While die-hard opponents of GM crops probably won’t undergo a damascene conversion after checking out the latest updates on ag-biotech-funded website GMO Answers, they are not the target audience, say its backers.
While General Mills’ decision to rid Original Cheerios of GMOs has generated an enormous amount of publicity, it has not, apparently, translated to the top line.
The fees claimed by the plaintiff in a high-profile - but ultimately unsuccessful - class action lawsuit against JM Smucker over trans fats are “grossly excessive”, according to the judge handling the case.
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’.
How many products with ‘0g trans-fat’ on the label still contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, a key source of harmful artificial trans-fats? Not as many as you might think, according to a new study.
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.
Sabra Dipping Co has submitted a citizen’s petition to the FDA asking it to establish a standard of identity (SOI) for hummus based on the traditional ingredients of chickpeas and tahini (sesame paste).
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.
Network marketing giant Herbalife has confirmed that is the subject of an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. Trading in shares of the company were briefly halted on the New York Stock Exchange after the price plunged 12% in the minutes after...
Markets, whether for dietary supplements, functional foods or other consumer products, are divided between “market makers” and “market followers.” You don’t want to be in the latter group if you can help it, said market research expert Peter Leighton.
