As US consumers embrace a healthier lifestyle focused on prevention rather than treatment, they increasingly are turning to the natural and organic channel for products that are clean, natural and have added health benefits.
Superfoods are no longer restricted to exotic and hard to find plants in under-developed countries. Rather, the latest batch comes from a little closer to home and likely already are in most US consumers’ pantries, according to a food trendologist.
Widespread confusion about how packaged foods are made and labeled is eroding consumer trust in brands and threatening future product sales, according to new research from Label Insight.
As recently as 15 years ago, most Americans had never heard of hummus, or even its base ingredients of chickpeas and tahini. But now the dip is a staple in many US homes and makes common appearances in lunchboxes, at picnics and on many restaurant menus.
With clean label now “the most dominant trend in food and drink," many food and beverage manufacturers are moving away from fortifying foods with minerals, vitamins and other nutritious ingredients, says Euromonitor International.
The drive toward shorter, cleaner labels and the oft-mentioned dearth of innovation in the supplement sphere are both factors of the maturation of the dietary supplement and functional foods industries, according to one expert.
US-based Schuman Cheese is taking a stand against what the CEO described as widespread adulteration and fraud that currently are “diluting and polluting” some sectors of the Italian cheese market by rolling out the industry’s first trust mark.
If a high percentage of the calories in your product are from added sugar, and you are stating or implying that it’s healthy and nutritious, are you at risk of a false advertising lawsuit? A flurry of lawsuits recently filed vs Kellogg, General Mills...
An infusion of $3 million from new and existing investors will help dairy innovator and industry newcomer good culture advance its mission “to bring cottage cheese back.”
Consumer demand for local food and beverages is no longer a niche market – rather it is fully mainstream. But an outgrowth of this trend that is just starting to peek over the horizon is a “do-it-yourself” food and beverage movement, according to market...
Last year, 1.6 million Fairtrade farmers and workers across 75 countries benefited from an estimated €138 million (approx. US $155 million) in a Fairtrade premium, according to Fairtrade International.
Reasonable consumers may well be misled by the packaging of Welch’s fruit snacks, a magistrate judge has concluded, prompting a lengthy rebuttal from the defendants in court documents filed this month.
Nestlé-owned brand Stouffer’s has reformulated its lasagna to use “ingredients that consumers trust and recognize from use in their own home kitchens.”
Sales of vinegar, a long-time and often-overlooked pantry staple, are skyrocketing as consumers increasingly embrace it as a clean, functional ingredient that offers health benefits, sought-after flavor variety and versatility, according to a category...
Grass-fed claims on products are a beacon for consumers who are health-conscious, want minimally processed food and care about animal welfare, and as such manufacturers increasingly are using them on products across categories and channels to drive up...
New research attempts to set the record straight on the safety of carrageenan – a controversial but widely used stabilizer and thickening ingredient that has been called into question as a potential cause of inflammation.
New name would 'improve consumer understanding and promote clear food labeling' says Unilever
Unilever and The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) have both voiced their support for a citizen’s petition asking the FDA to permit ‘potassium salt’ as an alternate name for potassium chloride on food labels, while the Salt Institute has...
After pitching potential investors for “two years solid,” all the hard work of the co-founders of Hip Chick Farms finally paid off – literally – to the tune of $2 million from Advantage Capital Partners and $500,000 from CNBC’s reality show Texas Investors...
While the SmartLabel initiative has been dismissed by some as an elaborate conspiracy by big food companies to avoid mandatory on-pack GMO labeling statements, it will ultimately have far broader significance – and potentially a huge impact on how consumers...
Epidemics of seasonal viral infections, such as the flu, or seasonal fluctuations in mothers’ vitamin D levels, could explain why celiac disease is strongly associated with children’s season of birth and shed light on what triggers the autoimmune disorder,...
Time-crunched parents are more likely than those without children to make grocery lists, but sticking to them can be more of a challenge if their kids tag along to the store, according to new research analysis from the Corn Refiners Association.
Perfect Day, a new ‘animal-free’ milk scheduled to launch at the end of next year, contains all the same components as cow’s milk, including dairy proteins, but doesn’t use any animals in its production process. But will consumers embrace it as cruelty-free...
In an effort to engage consumers, General Mills called for submissions of rabbit videos doing athletic tricks to build awareness around the removal of artificial colors and flavors in some of its cereal brands. The competition goes hand-in-hand with the...
A false advertising lawsuit alleging that Chobani’s labels are confusing and deceptive, paints American consumers as credulous fools unable to apply common sense when they go shopping, argues the yogurt maker in court documents urging the judge to toss...
While the word ‘natural’ still appears on the label of 11% of new food and beverage introductions in the US according to Mintel data, brands that are part of the so-called natural foods industry need to embrace a new form of conscious capitalism if they...
Making a profit and promoting health are not mutually exclusive, and healthy food brands now generate some serious profits. But no business will willingly engage in initiatives that could damage sales of its biggest – and sometimes unhealthiest - legacy...
If you want to take a journey back in time on your next trip to the grocery store, go buy some pancake mix, says the co-founder of Birch Benders, a Boulder-based start-up seeking to shake up a sleepy category with fresh ideas, recipes and packaging to...
Seafood checks many of today’s on-trend boxes, including being high in lean protein and omega-3 fatty acids, sustainable, natural and minimally processed – yet consumption of it in the US continues to fall, prompting manufacturers and public health advocates...
While the financial threat to traditional grocery stores posed by the burgeoning meal kit delivery category may be manageable for now, it is growing as more players enter the space and consumers become more comfortable with the concept – prompting some...
The Olympic Games in Rio has been branded a “carnival of junk food marketing” as campaigners published new research on advertising tactics used by Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Mars brand M&Ms. Kellogg’s were also singled out as sponsors of Team Great...
Eager to expand its footprint in the exponentially growing packaged salad space and meet consumer demand for healthy, fresh and convenient produce, Ready Pac Food launches four new Organic Chopped Salad Kits, which it claims create a new segment in the...
For all their hype, superfoods often are restricted to trend-setting consumers with higher incomes who shop the natural channel, but the makers of Shanti Protein and Energy Bars want to change that by making the ingredients easily available to the masses...
The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) has urged the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to stop enforcing a San Francisco ordinance requiring sugary drink ads to include health warnings, on the grounds that they violate manufacturers’ First Amendment...
For most manufacturers, an inability to keep product on the shelf consistently would be considered bad for business, but for Hoboken Farms, the maker of three marinara sauces with a cult-like following, it is a point of pride – and a major selling feature.
While fiber hasn’t quite reached the same superstar status as protein, consumer interest in the ingredient is rising rapidly as they look for ways to manage their weight while still enjoying food and beverages with high quality taste and familiar mouthfeel.
New NGS DNA testing methods will replace PCR, predicts Clear Labs
As the Non-GMO Project states on its website, ‘GMO-free’ claims are “not legally or scientifically defensible due to limitations of testing methodology" coupled with cross-contamination risks. In future, however, that could change as testing methods...
Bottled water brand Waiakea has “never claimed” to be spring water, founder and CEO Ryan Emmons has insisted in the wake of media reports in Hawaii alleging that the company uses a municipal water source, yet appears to imply, through the way it markets...
A class action lawsuit accusing Coca-Cola subsidiary Odwalla of misleading consumers by using the term ‘evaporated cane juice’ (ECJ) on labels is now back in play in the wake of the FDA’s finalized guidance – and is likely to be joined by scores of others,...
Is food marketing awash with bad science? If so, who is to blame?
There was plenty of handwringing at the IFT show this year about the lack of scientific literacy characterizing the debate around food and farming, backed up by scores of press clippings about ‘franken-foods.’ But is the media solely to blame, and what’s...
While Americans may increasingly want to cook authentic, ethnic cuisine in their kitchens, most do not have the time track down hard-to-find ingredients or master unfamiliar culinary techniques that are needed to properly prepare a dish from another culture.
A ring-tailed lemur will be the new ringleader for Madécasse chocolate and vanilla, which will undergo a brand refresh this fall with new packaging designed to make the difficult-to-pronounce company’s products more accessible and memorable.
Consumer demand for products and companies that “do good” – such as donate a percentage of sales to a non-profit, follow environmentally friendly practices or meet religious needs – continues to rise and in doing so illustrates that doing good is not...
Consumers’ increasing demand for healthier options is reshaping the competitive landscape across categories – including indulgent ones such as chocolate, where they increasingly want darker chocolate, nutritious inclusions, and new formats that help them...
The US House of Representatives has voted to pass a federal GMO labeling bill (306:117 votes) that would pre-empt and nullify all state-led GMO labeling laws including the one that has just come into effect in Vermont.
