Americans are often described as lagging behind their European counterparts when it comes to awareness of probiotics, but the growth potential in the US market is “huge”, says leading supplier DuPont.
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.
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).
Replacing modern wheat with Kamut International’s trademarked ancient wheat in the diet may reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), finds research.
Baby food producer Beech-Nut is launching a new range of foods to restart the declining ‘tired and dated’ baby food category, with the products co-created with moms, says the company’s CEO.
Despite recent improvements in the American diet, public health concerns about obesity and hunger still abound. At the center of the both issues is a call for better access to and consumption of fruits and vegetables.
It’s 70 degrees, and there are a lot of free snacks, so the FoodNavigator-USA team did the decent thing and headed to Anaheim to bring you the highlights from the nation’s biggest natural products show: Natural Products Expo West…
The word ‘game-changer’ is used so liberally these days that Cargill has not given in to the temptation to employ it here. But ViaTech - its new range of stevia-based sweeteners - opens up completely new territory for food and beverage formulators, enabling...
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has again urged the FDA to come up with its own mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labeling system and “ignore” the industry-backed, voluntary ‘Facts up Front’ scheme.
Check out who’s moving onwards and upwards as we head into spring with the latest FoodNavigator-USA round-up of movers and shakers in the food industry.
By Winnie Byanyima, executive director, Oxfam International
Food and drink companies can have a big influence over sustainability and ethical issues in their supply chains - and have the power to change them rapidly. One year on from Oxfam's first Behind the Brands sustainability scorecard, nine of the ten...
The foodservice sector could generate explosive growth for gluten-free products, although it’s hard to predict exactly when talk will translate into action, according to the firm behind leading gluten-free brands Udi’s and Glutino.
Are consumers who say they’re avoiding gluten really just avoiding wheat? Can we trust survey data about the number of people following ‘gluten-free diets’? Are market researchers' (wildly differing) estimates about the size of the gluten-free market...
On Thursday the Obama administration unveiled the changes that the Food and Drug Administration drafted to the nutrition facts panel (see what the FDA is proposing here). In anticipation of the announcement, the Center for Science in the Public Interest...
From ready meals to breakfast bars, lots of pulse flour-based gluten-free products are coming on stream, says Margaret Hughes from Best Cooking Pulses, Inc., with the favorable nutritional profiles and moderate costs gaining traction with manufacturers...
Snack maker PopChips looks set to become the latest firm to stop using the term ‘all-natural’ to describe its products after agreeing to settle a lawsuit alleging it misled consumers by using the controversial term.
Ganeden Biotech - the Ohio-based company behind ultra-resilient probiotic BC30 (Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086) - has scored another industry first after teaming up with coffee firm Copper Moon to launch the first K-Cups with probiotics.
High prices for fresh fruits and vegetables are associated with higher Body Mass Index (BMI) in young children in low- and middle-income households, according to new research.
When PepsiCo replaced the word ‘Simply Natural’ with ‘Simply’ on some Frito-Lay lines recently, some commentators wondered if this signaled the beginning of the end of the industry’s love affair with all-natural claims. However, new data suggests otherwise.
While some analysts predict US private label penetration rates (which have remained stubbornly at around 18% of dollar sales for in recent years) could reach 25-30% or higher in the next few years, their “exuberance… is perplexing at best”, according...
While the number of lawsuits filed against food and beverage manufacturers over ‘all-natural’ claims appeared to peak in 2012 and drop off again in 2013, it’s too early for the industry to start cracking open the champagne just yet, say legal experts.
Vancouver-based stevia supplier GLG Life Tech is moving into the monk fruit (luo han guo) sweeteners market and expects to have commercial quantities of high-purity extracts available later this year.
The new non-GMO formulations of Original Cheerios and Grape Nuts might be made without ingredients from genetically engineered crops, but they also come with fewer vitamins - although brand owners General Mills and Post Foods won’t say why.
Ingredients giant Roquette has struck a deal with Iowa-based non-GMO corn and soybean specialist World Food Processing (WFP) under which WFP will manufacture Roquette’s pea protein in the US.
Food accounted for 37% of Wal-Mart’s US sales in 2012 vs 23% in 2002, but its growth has started to decelerate, and we can expect more destocking of major brands, a greater focus on private label, and renewed interest in higher-end health & wellness...
While most start-ups struggle to raise the funds to turn their dreams into reality, Hampton Creek Foods CEO Josh Tetrick has convinced some of the world’s wealthiest people that his plant-based egg replacers are worth a serious punt.
The omega-3 market continues to grow and appears to have unstoppable momentum worldwide, according to expert Diana Cowland, who keeps tabs on the sector for Euromonitor International.
As CPG’s big guns congregate in Florida for the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference, many of them are at a strategic crossroads, says Rabobank.
While market researchers predict continued healthy growth for the US gluten-free market*, not everyone is convinced that it is built on a solid foundation.
If there is a natural ceiling to the gluten-free market, we’re nowhere near hitting it yet, according to Weston Bakeries, which is rolling out its new All But Gluten fresh bakery range across Canada and the US.
Tate & Lyle says it predicts a substantial deterioration in sucralose pricing owing to a glut of unsold Chinese sucralose which has forced it to reduce pricing in recently renewed contracts.
Food product marketers have less than three seconds to grab consumer attention, and need think back to the old days of products in supermarket circulars to connect with consumers in the mobile era, says a leading marketing guru.
Big interview: David Janow, co-founder and CEO, Axiom Foods
Protein is undergoing a renaissance in food marketing, with high-protein claims appearing on everything from snack foods and sports beverages to soups and frozen yogurt. And plant proteins - particularly pea and rice - are gaining momentum.
Could coffee fruit be the next pomegranate? One firm on a mission to turn the one part of the coffee plant most growers aren’t interested in into the next big thing in beverages, has just struck a series of deals it hopes will turn it into a household...
A federal judge has granted preliminary approval to a $3.4m settlement of a class action lawsuit accusing Trader Joe’s of falsely advertising certain products as ‘all natural’.
High pressure processing (HPP) has breathed fresh life into the US juice market. But if beverage firms are excited about the technology, so, it appears, are plaintiffs' attorneys, who are starting to take issue with the way some HPP-treated products...
Brazzein - a protein from the berry of the West African plant Oubli claimed to be 2,500+ times sweeter than sucrose - could play a key role in the natural sweeteners market in future as formulators look beyond stevia, says one entrepreneur intent on commercializing...
Californian natural flavors firm Blue Pacific has joined a growing number of ingredients suppliers to go through the Non-GMO Project Verified certification process.
First there was the leaked GMA discussion document; now the industry’s biggest players have put their cards on the table via the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food, which is seeking federal legislation to create an FDA-administered voluntary program to...
A judge has dismissed a shareholder lawsuit filed in 2011 against stevia firm GLG Life Tech Corporation for alleged failures to disclose the decline of its relationship with Cargill, then its largest customer.
The founder of the International Probiotics Association (IPA) has called on the Global Alliance for Probiotics (GAP) to work with it to develop the science and dossiers that can win health claims in Europe and elsewhere.
This week Nestlé announced the sale of its sports nutrition business under the Powerbar and Musashi brands to Post Holdings. As the aging brand assumes new ownership, industry experts to weigh in on whether Powerbar will get an update to stay relevant...
The market for probiotic yoghurt in 20 key European Union markets will fall 4.5% in the five years between now and 2018, but the overall sector trend remains positive, Euromonitor International analyst Ewa Hudson told a packed Probiota congress in Amsterdam...
Locusts, lentils, seaweed or “hybrid” meat? Researchers have found that consumers prefer the thought of non-specified meat substitute snacks over those containing insects or seaweed.
