Walmart is asking meat and poultry suppliers to stop using antibiotics and antimicrobials for non-therapeutic purposes (eg. to promote growth and boost feed efficiency rather than exclusively for treating sick animals) amid concerns the practice may be...
Plant waters such as aloe, birch, artichoke, maple, cactus, and almond water are starting to challenge coconut water’s pedestal, with NPD in this emerging category booming, according to Innova Market Insights.
Meet execs from Sparkling ICE, Chobani, Tio Gazpacho, NASA
Imagine a place where you can meet the entrepreneurs behind new food & beverage categories and retail channels; pioneers in the field of nutrigenomics, edible insects, and 3D printing; food law attorneys; investment bankers; and number crunchers who...
Swiss fermentation specialist Evolva and sweeteners expert Cargill have agreed to start engineering work so they can produce next-generation stevia sweeteners via fermentation at a Cargill biofuel and corn milling facility in Blair, Nebraska, ready for...
Trans fat ban / Nutrition Facts Panel overhaul / FSMA implementation
Bakers must be prioritize and collaborate in the face of policy upheaval on nutrition, ingredients and food safety this year, warns the American Bakers Association (ABA).
'Millennials are increasingly health conscious...'
As widely predicted, multiple class action lawsuits were filed against KIND on Friday following the publication of a Food & Drug Administration (FDA) warning letter citing a long list of concerns over label claims on its bars and its website.
Dr Pepper Snapple Group has invested $15m in a minority stake in Bai Brands, which has generated explosive growth in multiple retail channels with its 'antioxidant infusion' low-calorie Bai5 beverages.
Artisan Bistro hopes to coax back to the frozen food aisle consumers who have given the category the cold shoulder by raising the culinary and ingredient bars with its boldly flavored meals that are healthy for consumers and the earth.
A California federal judge has given the green light to a false advertising lawsuit filed against Hain Celestial accusing it of misleading shoppers by describing its Sunflower Dream beverage and related products as ‘all-natural’ when they contained “artificial,...
The adventure-seeking co-founders of freeze-dried snack fruit start-up Berry Golden hope to lead consumers by example to step out of their comfort zone and try something new.
The proliferation of snacks along with the growing number of ways to get them has created too many options for consumers who, above all else, like a limited variety to suit their needs, says David Calabrese, founder of San Francisco-based HealthyCheats,...
Jamba Juice has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit filed in California alleging it misled shoppers by labeling its smoothie kits as ‘all-natural’.
A judge in Illinois has thrown out a class action lawsuit against KIND LLC over “no refined sugars” claim on its Healthy Grains products, which contain evaporated cane juice, a form of sugar, and molasses.
Earth’s Best and Ella’s Kitchen’s partnership with the No Kid Hungry campaign is helping to end childhood hunger in the U.S., while also expanding the organic children’s food brands’ consumer base and relationship with Walmart.
'I wouldn’t say it’s out of the question that we could be a public company'
Multinationals are snapping up smaller, more entrepreneurial brands in the natural or organic food and beverage space faster than you can say ‘because that’s where the growth is’. So will Zevia – one of the fastest-growing non-alcoholic brands in the...
'We lack a clear positioning; the shopping experience hasn’t matched what our guests expect'
Some details about Target's food 'reinvention' plan emerged during its Q4 earnings call last week, but more flesh was put on the bones this week as bosses outlined plans to completely "redesign" their food strategy.
The latest in a series of class action lawsuits filed over the use of synthetic leavening agent sodium acid pyrophosphate (SAPP) in foods marketed as ‘all-natural’ has been given the green light by a federal judge.
There have been more than 200 class action lawsuits filed against food and beverage companies over allegedly deceptive labeling since 2012, 60 of which have been dismissed at various stages, and 25 of which have been settled, but none have yet gone to...
The founder of Tessemae’s All Natural, the maker of the No. 1 refrigerated salad dressing at Whole Foods and Safeway, originally took the road most traveled, but when that did not work out, he back-tracked and took the one least traveled, and that, he...
From the steady decline of carbonates to the dramatic rise of energy, the prospects for Keurig Cold and how 7-Eleven evaluates new products, our beverage trend-watching panel debate covered a lot of ground. Here are some of the highlights from the 40-minute...
Hear from the CEOs of Mamma Chia, HonestTea, KeVita, KonaRed, Vertical Water, and Reed's
From the impact of the Safeway Albertsons deal to dubious alcohol levels in kombucha, the CEOs in our beverage entrepreneurs debate on Feb 4 did not hold back. Here are some of the highlights from our 60-minute session, which is now available on demand as...
Pure Circle is close to signing an agreement with the Kiambu County Government that will see them work together to boost stevia crop production in the Kenyan region.
Stevia First Corp, producer of a fermentation-based steviol glycoside ingredient, is moving its technology beyond its namesake high intensity sweetener into new ranges of functional ingredients that the company is billing as “geroprotectors.”
Will Pepsi True & Coca-Cola Life revitalize the cola market, or are today’s more demanding and sophisticated consumers looking for more than refreshment and ‘no-artificial’ claims from their beverage calories these days?
Latest trends on beverages, gluten-free, clean-label, snacks
From the perils of putting ‘all-natural’ on your label to what beverage execs really think about plummeting sales of diet soda, FoodNavigator-USA’s online discussion forums and face to face events tackle some of the hottest topics in food and beverage,...
Acai Roots hopes its new fruit bar will entice back to the frozen dessert aisle consumers who have given the category the cold shoulder in recent years because they perceive it as filled with unhealthy treats.
New consumers continue to enter the organic category for the first time, but the health halo cast by the US Department of Agriculture’s certification is dimming as it becomes more mainstream and as shoppers’ interpretation of the standard evolves.
Mandatory GMO labels will be seen as 'warning labels', warns GMA
Supporters and opponents of GMO labeling will square up in a courtroom in Burlington, Vermont, today (Jan 7) to present oral arguments over the merits of Act 120, which will require mandatory labeling of foods produced with genetic engineering.
GLG Life Tech Corporation has announced another milestone in its effort to breed new cultivars of the stevia plant. The company has developed a variety that expresses higher levels of Rebaudioside A, or Reb A, the most commercially important stevia fraction...
The absence of clean labels and fast energy from New Nutrition Business’ list of top 10 food, nutrition and health trends for 2015 is just as important as what made the cut.
To make it in the crowded energy and nutrition bar category, a company needs a great tasting product, top-notch packaging, persistence, fortitude and differentiation, says Mark Brooks, founder of Mudd+Wyeth, a lifestyle company for dogs and their owners.
Eating all your vegetables might be easier in 2015 than in recent years as they increasingly show up in unexpected places, including desserts and drinks, according to the International Food Network.
The biggest rise was in products making non-GMO or GMO-free claims
Non-GMO, Kosher, gluten-free, ethical, environmentally-friendly, lactose-free, vegan, no additives/preservatives, and on-the-go claims are all gaining more traction on US food labels; while growth in ‘all-natural’- antioxidant- and low/no/reduced sugar/sodium/fat...
Vancouver-based GLG Life Tech has developed a new variety of stevia containing “remarkably high” levels of Reb C glycosides, which it claims could “revolutionize the global food and beverage industry’s ability to utilize naturally-sourced Reb C”.
General Mills has agreed that it will not use the term ‘100% natural’ to describe Nature Valley bars that contain certain ‘artificially produced’ ingredients in order to settle a long-running false advertising lawsuit*.
Mainstream retailers that have been slow to take up the natural and organic product mantle now are realizing the trend is not a flash-in-the-pan and are scrambling to stock more healthy options, which is good news for Hain Celestial, company executives...
Whole Foods Markets has decided to go big, with a national TV ad campaign that kicked off during a recent World Series game. The message is one of “values,” talking about the natural grocery store chain’s commitment to sustainability and transparency.
As one analyst suggests that Dr Pepper Snapple Group has hit a ‘home run’ with Mexican mineral water brand Penafiel, the company says it hopes to increase distribution in the US.
Consumers want to see what you are putting into the product as well as what isn’t in there
With revenues going from zero to “north of $20m” in three years, the growth of Way Better Snacks has been nothing short of meteoric. But while great branding, its focus on ‘sprouted’ seeds and the CPG experience of its founder & CEO Jim Breen have...
Leavening agent sodium acid pyrophosphate (SAPP) doesn’t belong in products making ‘all-natural’ claims, even if they are USDA certified organic, the FDA has told a Massachusetts-based baker.
Just weeks after the US launch of Coca-Cola Life, PepsiCo has unveiled plans to launch its own mid-calorie soda sweetened with a combination of sugar and stevia under the Pepsi True brand.
The notion that defining ‘natural’ is just too hard - either for the FDA or for the food industry - and that we therefore shouldn’t even bother to attempt it, is defeatist and “disingenuous”, says the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
In part one of our coverage of FoodNavigator-USA’s natural & clean label panel debate we looked at whether the FDA - or industry stakeholders - should define ‘natural’. In part two, we look at all-natural lawsuits, and whether consumers understand...
Diamond Foods is "competing with products addressing the trends in convenient protein, natural, organic, gluten-free, and non-GMO", CEO Brian Driscoll told analysts Thursday. And while its nuts and chips tap into some of these trends, he said,...
What’s more sustainable? Using acres of land, water and energy to grow plants that produce minuscule quantities of natural flavors, sweeteners or phytonutrients; or making them via a fermentation process using baker’s yeast that’s been engineered to produce...
While new class action lawsuits over ‘all-natural’ claims on food labels are still filed in the ‘food court’ in California on a weekly basis, some recent orders from judges handling these cases present a glimmer of hope for beleaguered food & beverage...
B&G Foods is the latest firm to be hit with a class action lawsuit accusing it of misleading shoppers by labeling products containing ingredients that are “highly processed” or/and derived from genetically engineered crops as ‘all-natural’.
Chicago-based Sensient Flavors has unveiled a new toolbox of natural flavor masking ingredients that can tackle bitterness associated with everything from stevia to caffeine by selectively targeting multiple taste receptors.
