New Jersey-based FlavorHealth – best known for using high-throughput cell-based screening to identify natural compounds that enhance sweetness and saltiness and reduce bitterness – is aiming to commercialize a novel natural high-intensity sweetener with...
FDA commissioner: 'We will have more to say on the 'natural' issue soon'
By Charles Sipos, partner; and Lauren Staniar, associate, Perkins Coie
While defining ‘natural’ for the purposes of food labeling has not appeared to be high on the FDA’s priority list since it announced its 2015 probe, things could be about to change, predict Perkins Coie attorneys Charles Sipos and Lauren Staniar.
Most food, beverage and supplement brands know that stating or implying that their wares can treat, prevent, or cure a disease is a definite no no. They may not, however, be aware that retweeting, re-posting, or simply ‘liking’ social media postings to...
More products boasting the energy-managing, cognitive-enhancing and mood-moderating effects of adaptogens, CBD and nootropics will break out in 2018 as consumers continue to seek holistic and preventive ways to manage their mental health, according to...
Think you’re on safe ground if you follow the letter of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act? It’s a good start, said attorneys at a recent webinar, but it won’t stop you getting sued: “We’re beyond the days when you can just check for compliance with FDA...
The FDA has signaled its intent to “modernize certain standards of identity” in its 2018 strategic roadmap, suggesting that it might, after all, weigh into the plant-based ‘milk’ and ‘cheese’ debate in 2018, although it has not clarified which standards...
Does the world need another packaging seal? Real estate on most food labels is limited, acknowledge the backers of the new ‘High Pressure Certified’ seal, but an independently-verified logo will help ensure the integrity of high pressure processing (HPP)...
Bigelow has promised to vigorously defend itself against a “frivolous” lawsuit filed by The Richman Law Group on behalf of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) alleging it misrepresented its green tea as ‘all natural’ owing to trace levels of glyphosate...
2017 has been a rollercoaster ride for the food industry, with Amazon coughing up a cool $13.7bn for Whole Foods, a flurry of M&A activity from Nestlé, Hershey, Campbell Soup and Kellogg, and an exodus from the industry’s biggest trade association,...
Claims in high-profile false advertising case vs Dannon not plausible, court rules
A judge has granted Dannon’s motion to dismiss a high-profile false advertising lawsuit alleging shoppers were misled by its ‘all-natural’ claims on dairy products from cows that may have eaten GM feed.
Consumers are looking for cues signaling ‘clean’ and ‘natural’, but they don’t necessarily expect to see those words on food labels, and may even be suspicious of brands that use them on pack, says Hartman Group.
Fruit infused water brand Hint has until February 2, 2018, to conduct a settlement conference* to resolve a legal dispute with plaintiffs who have accused it of misleading shoppers with its ‘all natural’ claims.
With vanilla bean prices skyrocketing in recent months, interest in alternatives with natural and clean label credentials is intensifying in mature markets in Western Europe and North America, although demand for artificial vanillin is still growing in...
Frito-Lay North America – which has already removed ‘made with all natural ingredients,’ claims on some corn-based foods – has agreed not to use this or other natural claims on the products in future unless the FDA officially gives companies the green...
An appeal has been filed challenging a federal judge’s recent decision to toss a high-profile lawsuit* over ‘100% natural’ claims on Quaker Oats products containing trace levels of the herbicide glyphosate.
Courts should dismiss the ‘daisy-chained’ logic underpinning a new wave of ‘natural’ lawsuits looking beyond the ingredients list to factors such as animal feeding and rearing practices, says cheesemaker Sargento.
In general, talking about how a food or beverage is processed is not a way to win the hearts, minds and money of today’s consumers, who increasingly want products that are fresh, made with clean ingredients and as close to their natural state as possible.
General Mills has been hit with a second putative class action lawsuit alleging that shoppers are being misled by ‘natural’ claims on Annie’s salad dressings containing xanthan gum – a widely used thickener and stabilizer produced via microbial fermentation.
Despite continued pressure from the on-the-go lifestyles that dominate today’s culture and have fueled the rise of convenience foods, packaged snacks and quick service restaurants, new research shows many consumers are beginning to shun these options...
A commonly held perception of the ongoing renaissance in the food and beverage industry is that only small, nimble startups are innovating to meet consumers’ evolving needs, and that large, legacy companies must acquire or incubate new brands to keep...
There has been a resurgence in ‘all-natural’ litigation in 2017 as the industry has waited in vain for the FDA to provide a definition of the much-maligned term. However, a line item in an appropriations bill might spur the agency into action, say attorneys...
Consumers who begrudgingly endure the medicinal taste and multisyllabic, chemical-sounding ingredients in some energy drinks in exchange for the boost the beverages provide no longer need to make that trade off thanks to the launch of Zola’s purely plant-based...
As palates in North America change and acidified foods become more acceptable, space is created, too, for additives such as pectin that can handle specific pH regimes.
Flavor innovation is usually seen as a key component of food product development and of less concern for supplements. But as sports nutrition brands seek competitive advantages and to bring in fringe, lifestyle-type consumers, flavors are taking center...
General Mills has won a lawsuit alleging its Nature Valley granola bars cannot be labelled “100% natural” as they purportedly contain traces of herbicide.
Ingredient company Blue California has launched a new flavor ingredient gamma-decalactone—an aromatic compound found in many fruits that gives peaches and ripening fruit their distinctive flavor.
Arla Foods has been ordered to halt its new $30m ‘Live Unprocessed’ ad campaign – which makes a virtue of using milk from cows that have not been fed the growth hormone rBST - in the wake of legal action* filed by rbST maker Eli Lilly (Elanco).
The number of class action filings against food and beverage companies dipped from 158 in 2015 to 145 in 2016, largely due to a drop off in ‘natural’ lawsuits, but food manufacturers remain vulnerable to legal action on a host of other fronts, from slack...
Sargento attorney: This case is without legal basis and speculative
Should dairy brands using milk from cows that may have consumed GM feed or been treated with rbST be allowed to market their wares as ‘natural’? Not according to the latest in a new wave of false advertising lawsuits arguing that products utilizing genetic...
Flavored water brand Hint Inc has urged a California court to stay (put on ice) a high-profile lawsuit accusing it of falsely advertising its wares as ‘all natural.'
Will the July 2018 deadline for compliance with the new Nutrition Facts panel stand? Will federal GMO labeling regulations stop GMO-related lawsuits? And will the FDA nail down ‘natural’ anytime soon? FoodNavigator-USA headed to the American Conference...
A majority of consumers, 78%, said that they encounter a lot of conflicting information about what to eat and avoid, according to a new survey by the International Food Information Council Foundation (IFIC).
The price of vanilla is expected to go higher due to supply shortages. Prova steps in with the launch of a new vanillin ingredient that falls within FDA labeling guidelines for ‘natural flavor.’
The clean label movement may have started as industry’s response to consumers who wanted foods and beverages made without artificial or “chemical” sounding ingredients, but overtime as brands continued to one-up each other, the concept morphed and metastasized...
Think clean label just means no artificial ingredients? Think again
Think 'clean label' just means ditching ‘artificial’ ingredients and avoiding anything attracting negative press (warranted or otherwise)? Think again. Today, brands are also questioning whether ‘natural’ flavors, preservatives and sweeteners...
To the casual observer, ‘cleaning up’ our food sounds like an eminently sensible thing to do. But where is the clean label trend going, and is ditching every ingredient you can’t pronounce really the key to fixing the ‘broken’ food system (as Panera implies...
The results of the 2017 FoodNavigator-USA reader survey are in… and not surprisingly, given the breadth of our readership, they’re pretty mixed, with many readers excited about their company’s prospects and others feeling trapped in a race to the bottom...
Should brands making dairy products from cows that may have consumed GM feed be allowed to market their wares as ‘all natural’? Absolutely, insisted Dannon in court papers filed this week urging the judge to dismiss the “daisy-chained” logic of a false...
Multinationals are investing in – or snapping up - smaller, more entrepreneurial brands in the natural and organic food and beverage space faster than you can say ‘because that’s where the growth is’. So will Spindrift – which is on a mission to disrupt...
For those who enjoy the taste and ritual of drinking a hot cup of coffee in the morning or after dinner, but don’t want the caffeine jolt the beverage delivers, The Vegan Nest is launching an alternative that also is a superfood.
What do the most successful food and beverage brands in 2016 have in common? “Prevention, personalization, and pizzazz,” said Susan Viamari, vice president of Thought Leadership for market analytics firm IRI.
California-based B’BOX Group claims to have developed a proprietary technique for producing clean-tasting, high-purity stevia extracts that is so fast and cost-efficient that it says leading CPG manufacturers are considering buying the technology and...
Today’s consumers want products that are natural, sustainable and environmentally friendly, but manufacturers hoping to appeal to these values face significant threats from lawsuits alleging greenwashing and evolving regulations and enforcement efforts...
Senomyx has identified a new zero-calorie, high-potency sweetening compound found in trace levels in monk fruit, which it plans to produce on a commercial scale via fermentation.
If high purity Reb A used to be the only game in town when it comes to stevia, the game has become a lot more sophisticated in the past couple of years as suppliers compete to provide the best-tasting combinations of steviol glycosides, and products become...
POM v Coke got there, but will another high-profile food litigation case – this time over GMOs and 100% natural labels on cooking oil (Briseno v ConAgra) - also end up in the Supreme Court?
Sales of natural and organic products may be steadily increasing – and even outpacing that of the overall food industry – but three main barriers continue to hold them back from their full potential, suggest new research.
