Quote, unquote: just-food's week in words

India's plan to relax restrictions on foreign investment in its retail sector continued to generate fierce debate this week. Two other contentious issues - the EU health claims process and the true potential of intense sweetener stevia - were also covered on just-food this week, as was the latest attempt by Nestle to eradicate child labour in cocoa production.

"It is a fallacious argument that only FDI-linked big chains would replace the mom and pop stores" - Rajan Bharti Mittal, MD of Bharti Enterprises, which operates 139 stores in India with US retail giant Wal-Mart Stores, argues concerns over the impact of retail reform on domestic retailers were unfounded.

"The goal is not to reject claims" - an spokesperson for the European Food Safety Authority reiterates that the agency does not set out to turn down marketing claims as she reveals that it could be asked to re-evaluate up to 200 that were rejected.

"The evidence is not me talking or Cargill talking, it's [PepsiCo beverage brand] SoBe Lifewater as a multi-hundred million dollar business" - PureCircle global director for marketing and innovation Jason Hecker claims the work that stevia suppliers have done to iron out problems over the taste of the intense sweetener is paying off.

"Our methodology is always based on unannounced visits and public reporting because we feel that those two considerations are really central to the credibility of our work" - Auret van Heerden, president and CEO of the Fair Labor Association, says there will be transparency in its work with Nestle to tackle the issue of child labour in cocoa production.

"Unilever is betraying the very staff who have worked tirelessly over decades to make Unilever the hugely successful and profitable global giant it is today" - Jennie Formby, national officer at the Unite union, hits out at the FMCG giant's attempts to reform employee pensions - plans that have led staff to vote for strike action.

"We offered a 2.2% wage increase, plus training provision which would allow workers to be multi-competent and thus move up the pay scale ladder, as a well as an increase in the allowance for working in cold conditions, but it was rejected" - McCain Foods outlines its offer to workers on strike at a plant in France, who, the company said has made "unreasonable" pay demands.

"One of Post's best assets is its great brand name and I know that the Post management team looks forward to leading the company in a creative and adaptive manner to enhance shareholder value" - Ralcorp Holdings co-CEO Dave Skarie insists the performance of branded cereal arm Post, which the US firm is set to spin off, will improve after a challenging 12 months.

"This copycat strategy could be seen to be confusing consumers into believing they are buying top-selling branded products" - Kate Carnell, chief executive of the Australian Food and Grocery Council, argues the country's supermarkets are misleading consumers with their own-label products.

"Backed by Metcash, and in the hands of independent retailers, the stores will enhance competition against the national self-supply chains" - Andrew Reitzer, chief executive of Australian retailer Metcash, believes the company's acquisition of local rival Franklins - cleared this week by the country's federal court - will increase competition.

"The key issue is generating a critical mass of product and this is only likely to be achieved by people getting round a table, essentially competitors, and agreeing to collaborate" - in the latest just-food management briefing, which focuses on logistics, Scott Waters, sales manager at UK logistics firm Aitcheson Topeka, believes multi-modal distribution can thrive if rival manufacturers collaborate.