The United Nations adopted a draft resolution on improving global nutrition last week. Calling for a focus on improved education to combat obesity, the agency remained silent on the key issues of taxation and nutritional labelling.
Better-for-you frozen food maker Luvo is ready to graduate from startup to an emerging company as it approaches a break-even cash flow and pursues the promise of profitability in the New Year thanks in part to one last infusion of capital from Dugout...
Synthetic biology specialist Amyris has embarked on a mission to capture 30% of the global stevia sweeteners market by 2022 with a Reb M sweetener produced from cane sugar by a modified yeast strain, that it claims gives it a clear competitive advantage...
Contrary to the popular belief that infants are “perfectly cooked buns coming out the oven,” newborns are far from fully formed, and as a result continue to grow at an “unprecedented rate” for the first few years of life – making what and how they eat...
If you didn't make it to Chicago last week for the FoodNavigator-USA FOOD FOR KIDS summit, you missed a truly awesome ensemble of academics, industry experts, health advocates, and our first parents’ panel, covering everything from the infant gut...
'In the US we have this view of what ‘kid food’ is, which is very different from what it is in other countries ...'
It’s time to stop blaming parents and accept that the food environment has to change if we are going to improve kids’ diets, says CSPI VP nutrition Dr Margo Wootan, who told delegates at the FoodNavigator-USA FOOD FOR KIDS summit that trying to ensure...
As FDA considers a formal definition for the term ‘healthy’ as well as who should serve on the 2020 Dietary Guidelines advisory committees, Atkins Nutritionals asks the agency to reconsider its formal stance on low-carbohydrate diets.
Immigrants and refugees moving from Southeast Asia to the US demonstrate a ‘westernisation’ of their gut microbiota, a study finds, that could provide insight into metabolic health issues affecting newcomers.
Products made and marketed for children are undergoing a renaissance as parents look for options that deliver convenience and taste but don’t compromise on nutrition, and while industry has made substantial progress in the past decade, there is still...
The amount of time Americans spend sitting down and eating a meal has shrunk over the past 10 years, while purchases of prepared food options from grocery stores and food service (carry-out, delivery, or fast food) have risen, according to the Economic...
Evaluating the gut microbiota of infants during their first two years may help identify children who are at risk of becoming overweight or obese, a recent study revealed.
Sales of kid-friendly school snacks on Amazon grew 40% year-over-year to $350m in the first half of 2018, driven by the e-commerce giant’s heavy online promotion as well as consumers’ growing familiarity and comfort with shopping online for snacks, One...
Despite some fast food chains’ efforts to offer more nutritious food options with kids’ meals, 74% of kids still receive unhealthy drinks and/or side items with their meals when they visit one of the four largest fast food chains, a study by UConn Rudd...
A voluntary decision by leading food and beverage manufacturers and restaurants to strengthen the nutritional requirements for products advertised to children in the US will require nearly half of the products currently marketed to kids to be reformulated...
New government data* shows that water accounted for 43.7% of beverage consumption among US kids aged 2-19 in the period 2013-2016, followed by milk (21.5%), soft drinks (19.9%), and 100% juice (7.3%).
Kellogg is seeking to appeal an order by California federal Judge Lucy Koh that certifies three classes of consumers in a false advertising lawsuit over the allegedly 'toxic' sugar content in some of its cereals.
The Sugar Association is fighting back against sugar’s increasingly bad reputation by launching a new consumer-oriented, science-based website that seeks to place the ingredient in a “more accurate context of an overall diet and restore consumers’ sense...
Through a two-prong approach focused on innovation and acquisition, Nestle is remaking its image from a company perceived in the US to make primarily chocolate and confections to one that is “fit for the future” with brands across multiple categories...
As it seeks to respond to today’s sugar-wary consumers, Coca-Cola has been boosting the sugar-free varieties in its trademark Coke portfolio. And while critics might point to the potential confusion between brands (how many people know the difference...
This year, cell cultured meat vied with chickpea protein, animal-free gelatin and almond protein for the spotlight at the IFT annual meeting and expo in Chicago, while the clean label trend continued to gather pace. Check out part one of our gallery of...
Startup ingredient supplier Botaniline wants to help manufacturers create allergen-friendly, healthier, cleaner label alternatives to iconic favorites, such as hot dogs and peanut butter, by offering a line of natural, “botanical” or plant-based ingredients...
Magellan Life Sciences says its patent-pending fermentation process to scale up the sweet-tasting protein brazzein will make it the first company to market the natural, zero-calorie sweetener.
Following a strong backlash from consumers and industry on a proposal to label sugars on the label of a jar of honey or pure maple syrup as 'added sugars', the US FDA has announced it will “swiftly formulate a revised approach”.
FDA proposals that the sugars in a jar of honey or pure maple syrup should be listed as 'added sugars' on food labels (albeit with an explanatory note) is “absolutely ridiculous,” according to the vast majority of stakeholders commenting on...
Dr Lustig: 'Despite the food industry's propaganda, people now understand that 'a calorie is not a calorie...'
Dr Robert Lustig’s mantra – that not all calories were created equal - appears to be resonating with more US consumers, with one third (33%) of Americans believing that sugars are the ‘source of calories most likely to cause weight gain’ compared with...
Americans’ obsession with dieting is nothing new, but which diets are in and which ones are out is constantly shifting – creating a marketing nightmare for food and beverage brands that want to link their products to consumers’ desired outcomes.
The FDA has made it clear it wants to remove all PHOs (partially hydrogenated oils) from the US food supply and has shot down the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s (GMA) petition seeking to allow specific and limited uses of PHOs.
The World Health Organization’s draft recommendation that adults and children reduce trans-fatty acid intake to less than 1% of total energy and industrially produced trans-fatty acids be removed from the global supply chain leaves both public health...
McDonald’s aggressive goals to improve the nutrition and limit the calories of its Happy Meals “has tremendous potential to improve child nutrition” and raises the bar for kid’s meals at by fast casual restaurants and CPG manufacturers, according to a...
To win the battle of the bulge and “fix the food system,” advocates for health and nutrition need to work with “disparate allies” that have a stake in the fight against obesity but are not currently on the front lines, according to Dariush Mozaffarian,...
Based on emerging consumer concerns about their health and that of the planet, the future of packaged food must be both healthier for people and sustainable for the planet to succeed, according to the founder of the conceptual grocery store The Future...
Portion control may be the best chance – and biggest challenge – at turning around the current obesity epidemic, according to industry experts at the Partnership for a Healthier America Summit in Washington, DC, this month.
Mass. Rep. Jim McGovern and other members of the House Hunger Caucus are taking the adage of an apple a day keeps the doctor a way to a new level with the bipartisan Food is Medicine Working Group, which seeks to improve health outcomes by expanding access...
Habit meal delivery business on hold as testing and nutrition plan components ramp up
Personalized nutrition platform Habit was originally billed as "food company, not just a recommendation engine." However, delivery of customized fresh prepared meals based on its dietary advice – trialed in the Bay Area last year – is on hold...
As public enemy No. 1, sugar often is portrayed online as “toxic” or as “poisoning our bodies,” but this characterization is “a complete … web myth,” that oversimplifies the cause of diet related chronic diseases and doesn’t take into account the benefits...
Many parents strive to feed their babies a variety of fruits, vegetables and proteins, but for the most part in the US they shy away from spices – something several up and coming baby food makers want to change.
After two years of radio silence, during which some legal commentators – and several judges dealing with civil litigation on the issue – suspected it might die on the vine, the FDA has given its clearest indication yet that it will attempt to define ‘natural’...
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have urged courts to toss claims in a series of lawsuits* alleging consumers are being led to believe that diet sodas “will assist in weight loss or management,” when in fact the opposite may be true.
EverSweet - the hotly-anticipated ‘next-generation’ Reb D and Reb M sweetener from Cargill and Evolva produced via fermentation – is now available in commercial quantities, say the partners, who have also struck a deal to explore whether other high intensity...
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...
‘All of these people yelling at each other…the vegans vs the Paleos vs the ketogenic people, this is insane…’
A calorie is a calorie, right? Wrong, argues pediatrician, sugar-nemesis and author of best-selling book ‘Fat Chance’, Dr Robert Lustig, who caught up with FoodNavigator-USA at the Natural Products Expo West trade show in Anaheim last week.
The food industry remains on the hook along with families and local communities to more actively address childhood weight gain after new research published yesterday in The BMJ found comprehensive school-based programs that promote healthy-eating and...
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Could cold brew tea be as big as cold brew coffee? Is there a legal definition of kombucha… and a ‘correct’ way to manufacture it? Are consumers paying attention to the debate over the nutritional merits of plant-based versus dairy milks?
2017 “was a pretty challenging year for the beverage industry in general, but we still grew pretty significantly in terms of dollar sales and case volumes,” says the president of Sparkling ICE brand owner Talking Rain, who is exploring a “caffeinated”...
A high fat diet may not sound like a logical way to shed extra pounds, but consumers are flocking to the controversial ketogenics diet as a way to manage their weight and in doing so are creating a new market ripe for innovation but not necessarily longevity,...
Blaming genes for failing to lose weight may no longer be an excuse – in fact, genetic predisposition for obesity actually could magnify diet-based weight loss efforts, according to new research in The BMJ.
While the jury is still out on what role, if any, sugar plays in the development of diabetes, recommendations to restrict consumption should be strengthened and research should be redoubled until a clear determination is found, according to an essay in...
Dieting has become a dirty word in food marketing, says Atkins
Weight management brand Atkins Nutritionals has deployed movie star Rob Lowe – it’s first male brand ambassador – to front a new campaign focusing on living a healthy lifestyle, rather than ‘dieting,’ as it reaches out to the ‘tens of millions’ of Americans...
National dietary guidelines in the US and the UK to restrict fat intakes, and saturated fat in particular, are not supported by scientific evidence, and should be re-examined, says a new meta-analysis and systematic review that again questions if saturated...