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just-food.com editor's weekly highlights | |
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Give Peas a Chance
Here in the UK, we all know just how detailed – and divisive – the debate on how foods are labelled has become. Late on Friday, after the UK had packed away for the weekend, came news that a similar debate is heating up on the other side of the Atlantic. The Smart Choices Program, a set of nutrition labels backed by the likes of Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, ConAgra Foods and Unilever, and launched to much fanfare this summer, has hit a roadblock. And that roadblock comes in the shape of the US Food and Drug Administration. The FDA is examining the nutrition claims made on labels under Smart Choices amid concerns that the labels were being slapped on foods with high amounts of sugar - and on foods with up to 80% of a consumer's recommended daily intake of fat. And, on Friday, came news that Smart Choices had "voluntarily" decided to stop rolling out the labels while the US regulators investigate. The halt to Smart Choices merely adds to the consumer confusion around the labels on the foods they buy. The UK debate over traffic lights or GDAs is nothing compared to the amount of different labels developed in the US. In the last couple of years, retailers like Hannaford and Supervalu Inc have launched their own separate labelling schemes. Then there is the NuVal scoring system used by grocers like Price Chopper and Hy-Vee. Some consumer advocates have long argued for a mandatory, nationwide system to come into force in the US. The obstacles to such a scheme, given competitive interests, are manifold. However, with Smart Choices smarting amid an FDA probe, calls for a unified system are likely to continue to grow. Until next time... Dean Best, Managing Editor Web: www.just-food.com
Food ingredients Europe 17-19 November 2009 Frankfurt, Germany
With a monthly average of over 96,000 unique users, just-food holds the key to reaching decision makers and leading executives within the global food industry.
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In the spotlight - Wal-Mart [MEM] The size and scope of Wal-Mart means that its annual meetings with analysts take place across two days. This week, the investment community heard the latest thoughts from the world's largest retailer and what they heard, particularly with regard to the US, would not have made happy reading for Wal-Mart's rivals. Dean Best reports.
Global food commodity price volatility here to stay Food commodity prices are seldom out of the news, due to a mushrooming global population, the food-for-fuel controversy, an increasing focus on sustainability and the continued growth of the organic sector. However, beyond the generality of crop prices spiralling to new highs in 2007 and 2008 and then plummeting - in some cases - back to where they were before the boom, the picture is far from uniform. This month's briefing looks at recent trends, projects, likely developments over the next few years and analyses what they mean for the global food-manufacturing sector.
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October 26, 2009 
