October 26, 2009
Issue 495
just-food.com editor's weekly highlights
Give Peas a Chance
If you’re looking for an ingredient that is not only healthy and nutritious, but good for the environment, think pulses. Peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas - offer improved sustainability in the field and positive nutritional results on the plate.
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
Email: editor@just-food.com
Twitter: just_food
Food ingredients Europe 17-19 November 2009 Frankfurt, Germany
Don't miss the global event that offers you the opportunity to drive your product development initiatives forward. Whether you are looking to control costs, reformulate existing products, or develop products in your pipeline, Fi Europe is the event!
- Global market review of probiotics – forecasts to 2013
- Cereal Products
- Fast Food in Asia-Pacific (download)
- Fish and Seafood in Spain (download)
- The Bakery Products Market in Western Europe (16 countries)
- US: Smart Choices Program halted on FDA probe [MEM]
- INSIGHT: Danone has "no concerns" over dairy division [MEM]
- UPDATE: US: Dole shares slide after IPO [REG]
- In the spotlight - Wal-Mart [MEM]
- Quote, unquote: just-food's week in words [OPEN]
- SPAIN: Food industry faces "difficult" economy in 2010 [OPEN]
- UK: Cadbury investor “backs higher Kraft bid” [OPEN]
- INSIGHT: Coles boss hails turnaround [MEM]
- FRANCE: Danone confident despite drop in sales [OPEN]
- US: Wal-Mart eyes “aggressive growth”- CEO [REG]
- INSIGHT: Nestlé to ride out high commodity prices [MEM]
- INSIGHT: Hershey sees margin improvement despite higher costs [MEM]
- SPAIN: Ebro Puleva studying bid for Sos rice unit [MEM]
- INSIGHT: Cadbury shrugs off sticky volumes [MEM]
- RUSSIA: Magnit to use share offer for store roll-out [REG]
- FRANCE: Intermarche parent president resigns [MEM]
- Cadbury's Q3 numbers - what the analysts say [MEM]
- UK: Cadbury sweetens sales, margins targets [OPEN]
- It's natural for Tesco to boss climate change debate [MEM]
- INSIGHT: Supervalu to double size of discount chain [MEM]
- RUSSIA: X5 hails success of multi-format approach [MEM]
- INSIGHT: Woolworths sees further food deflation [MEM]
- NETHERLANDS/ITALY: Perfetti van Melle to reformulate Mentos [MEM]
- CHINA: Lotte expands with Times buy [MEM]
- FRANCE: "The worst is behind us", says Kraft on economy [MEM]
- FRANCE: Asian markets showing signs of recovery - Guylian [MEM]
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.
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.
- US: Wal-Mart to speed up remodelling in US [OPEN]
- US: Wal-Mart eyes “aggressive growth”- CEO [REG]
- Smoke, mirrors or transparency?
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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