Consumer research indicates that for many shoppers, ‘healthy,' is all about foods that are organic, minimally processed, natural, non-GMO, or free of artificial ingredients. But such factors should not be included in the legal criteria for 'healthy'...
Corner stores, bodegas and gas stations have a bad reputation when it comes to the healthfulness of the foods and beverages they offer, but the National Association of Convenience Stores and Cumberland Farms hope to change that by teaming up with Partnership...
Greek yogurt accounts for about 54% of the overall yogurt category in the US, coming a long way from less than 1% of the market nine years ago when Chobani CEO and founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, first brought the Mediterranean dairy food to the US.
CANADA: House of Commons to vote on GMO labeling bill on May 17
Members of the Canadian Parliament will decide whether to approve mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods in a vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Requests to delay the implementation of the updated Nutrition Facts panel, which includes a line to indicate added sugar and makes calories more visible, and a last-minute delay of menu labeling regulations are insulting to consumers, suggests Former...
Dean Foods reported an increase in net sales for Q1 2017 reaching $2bn, up from $1.88bn from the same period last year, but registered a 1.3% decline in total volume production for the quarter.
America’s dairy organizations are demanding that “dairy imitators” must start complying with federal regulations that require dairy products labeled as 'milk' to contain dairy milk.
Dean Foods announced a minority investment and distribution deal with Good Karma Foods, adding resources to expansion plans of the latter, a small Colorado-based independent company that specializes in flaxseed beverages and yogurt.
How are the next generation of natural flavors being developed? Elaine Watson caught up with Christian Kopfli, CEO of New Jersey-based FlavorHealth, which is taking high-throughput cell-based screening to the next level to identify novel natural compounds...
In many ways, the conversation about GMOs has been a debate about good versus evil, but ingredient supplier Cargill wants to shift the discussion to one simply about choice – a goal that one executive says can only be achieved if manufacturers and suppliers...
Are your taste buds tickled by the prospect of a food tour of Mexico with Chef Rick Bayless? Or maybe an intensive business strategy session with Presence Marketing CEO Bill Weiland in Barrington Hills, Illinois, is more your thing?
Fruit juice does not warrant a ‘healthy’ food label, says CSPI
There is significant disagreement between key stakeholders over how to define ‘healthy’ on food labels, with added sugar and saturated fat proving the biggest bones of contention, and heated debate over whether fruit juice deserves a ‘healthy’ label.
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...
While SmartLabel is still in its relative infancy, manufacturers are flocking to the technology to help them provide the in-depth information that today’s consumers want as part of the clean label movement, but which might not fit on product packaging.
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...
In its latest cleanup of its food facility registration database, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has culled an eye-opening 28% of existing registrations. The biggest drops happened in overseas sites.
What is healthy? Comments flood in as FDA docket closes
“If we were looking for an easy answer and widespread agreement on the definition of ‘healthy,’ we didn’t find it [at a public meeting last month],”observed the FDA in a blog post this week. So could it seriously consider banning the word from food labels...
Assuming FDA does not delay the deadline for the new Nutrition Fact label as requested by industry, then large companies have slightly more than a year left to overcome challenges associated with added sugar, the new definition of dietary fiber, changes...
All eyes have been on Whole Foods since activist investors demanded radical action to address its recent “chronic underperformance." But is Albertsons – rumored to be courting the Austin-based retailer – the right suitor?
Viking Icelandic Yogurt – which hit the market in 2015 as grass-fed products started to gain traction in the dairy case - is launching nationally with Sprouts starting April 17, says brand owner Saga Dairy, which has also won listings in conventional...
Grass-fed cottage cheese brand good culture – which launched in August 2015 with organic ingredients and some edgy savory flavors - is confident it will be in 6,000 stores by the year end after bringing out a lower-priced ‘natural’ range (with more familiar...
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...
Multiple US dairy groups have blasted Canada recently saying that the country is blatantly violating terms of the NAFTA trade agreement and that US dairy processors are suffering due to lost Canadian purchases of ultrafiltered (UF) milk.
Curating the National List of non-organic substances that are allowed in products certified as organic is a core responsibility of the National Organic Standards Board, and as such stakeholders will lobby the USDA advisory board to add and delete several...
Cottage cheese brand Muuna has rolled out to 4,000 retail locations nine months after its US launch, and is supporting its rapid growth with a multimedia marketing campaign and influencer program featuring dietitians and fitness professionals.
After eight years under the Obama Administration of a “whole lot of fun” for nutrition policy advocates, the next four years under the Trump White House likely will feel like a “swinging pendulum” to the far other extreme, according to a prominent food...
FDA is “listening” to requests “on both ends of the spectrum” related to the upcoming deadline for changes to the Nutrition Facts Label currently slated to go into effect next July for large companies and in July 2019 for smaller firms, according to a...
Lifeway Foods has vowed to defend itself “vigorously” against a lawsuit claiming it falsely advertised its fermented dairy products as ‘99% lactose free’ when they allegedly contained almost 4% lactose (milk sugar).
Ever since coconut water burst on to the US market several years ago, Americans have been enthralled with all things coconut, but while manufacturers are reaping the rewards of the ingredient’s sustained popularity, the farmers and suppliers are not.
As a percentage of the overall grocery retail market, Amazon’s $350m in Q1 grocery sales (annualized – that’s $1.4bn) is pretty small fry. But its mouthwatering 30% year-on year-growth suggests that CPG manufacturers that don’t have a clear strategy for...
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...
How stevia controls blood sugar levels has remained a mystery until now as researchers think they have unravelled the natural, no-calorie sweetener's action that results in its observed health benefits.
PepsiCo has launched an incubator programme to help nurture the ‘best and brightest’ entrepreneurs in the nutrition, health and wellness sectors. Eight ‘breakthrough brands’ will benefit from a €25,000 ($26,500) grant each, and access to experts from...
Two of the biggest hurdles to ending hunger in the US are the lack of consequences for politicians who vote against programs designed to reduce hunger and food insecurity, and misconceptions about who receives the benefits, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) told...
Activist investors led by Jana Partners have acquired 8.3% of Whole Foods’ stock according to an SEC filing, which says Whole Foods must take radical action to address its recent “chronic underperformance."
Non-profit Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network, backed by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and World Business Chicago, launched last week to establish the Midwestern city as a hub for food manufacturing innovation.
As demand for local, fresh and healthy food increases community supported agricultural models are evolving to capture a larger share of consumer spend and could become a threat to more traditional retailers that rely on foot traffic generated by regular...
The number of class action cases filed against food and beverage companies continues to surge with the number of cases brought last year alone reaching a staggering 170, compared to a mere 20 cases in 2008, according to new research released earlier this...
USDA encourages organic poultry farmers in areas where outbreaks of avian flu have been reported recently to bring their birds inside, and reassures them that doing so will not risk their organic status, according to a memo released this week.
The implementation deadline for the new Nutrition Facts label, which includes a new line indicating added sugars, could be pushed back several years if President Trump’s nominee for FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is confirmed.
Israeli start-up DouxMatok - which has developed patented technology which effectively makes sugar taste sweeter – has struck a series of joint development agreements with leading food manufacturers and says the first products containing its enhanced...
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.
While President Trump’s nominee for USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue breezed through his Senate Agriculture Committee confirmation hearing late last month, he could face a long delay before the full Senate can consider his nomination. But that isn’t stopping...
An FDA-issued alert from frozen dessert brand Dream reiterating that some of its products contain traces of milk also warns other plant-based product manufacturers that they may need to go beyond legally mandated allergen warnings when it comes to dairy...
A new survey found that there was disconnect between what consumers think labels like organic, antibiotic-free, or ‘no added hormones’ mean, and what the labels actually mean.
Spring has finally sprung, which means birds are chirping, crops are blooming and bees are pollinating – at least those that survived the winter, and the varroa mites, damage from pesticides, the dearth of natural food sources and problems related to...
