Discount food retailer Aldi is beginning an increased roll-out of stores in Australia, with Queensland being a major focus of the company at the moment. Aldi has purchased a site in Beaudesert’s business centre and is now beginning construction on the retail centre. The Gold Coast Bulletin reports that there will also be four retail tenants and a Hungry Jack’s takeaway food outlet on the site. Aldi are also planning to have supermarkets in Beenleigh and in Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast.... ...Read more »

International prices of most agricultural commodities have started to decline, but they are unlikely to return to the low price levels of previous years, according to Food Outlook - a production by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. “Food is no longer the cheap commodity that it once was. Rising food prices are bound to worsen the already unacceptable level of food deprivation suffered by 854 million people,” said FAO Assistant Director-General Hafez Ghanem. Despite a favourable... ...Read more »

McDonald’s Corporation has switched to trans-fat free oil in all of their US and Canada restaurant outlets, CEO Jim Skinner said this week at the annual shareholders meeting. The change has only been to some of their products so far, with all products expected to be trans-fat free before the end of the year. McDonald’s has also committed to reducing trans fat levels in most of their outlets worldwide with plans to decrease trans-fat per serving to 0.5 grams in the Asia-Pacific and other... ...Read more »

A tree-bark extract to cure bad breath is part of a wave of new ingredient innovations that have been unveiled in recent times. The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company has given visitors to the All Candy Expo in America a first look at Eclipse gum and mints, which the company announced will be the first in the U.S. to include magnolia bark extract (MBE) - a natural ingredient proven to help kill the germs that cause bad breath. MBE has origins in traditional Chinese medicine and the introduction of... ...Read more »

Growth in the Australian organics industry has been strong in recent years and Tasmanian Government is now looking toward the organic farming industry to improve food production sustainability. The Tasmanian Minister for Primary Industries and Water, David Llewellyn, opened the ‘Organic Conversion and Expansion ­- Steps to Sustainable Success’ conference in Launceston on Wednesday and pledged his support to organic farming. “Tasmania has a natural, clean, green image, and Tasmanian... ...Read more »

A new ingredient that can be added to food or beverage products may assist consumers with losing weight and provide food manufacturers with the ability to boost the health of their products. Glanbia Nutritionals has created an ingredient called Prolibra, which is reportedly all-natural, and has been proven to assist weight-loss via three clinical trials. The most recent trial found the ingredient considerably reduces postprandial glycemia in a dose dependant manner and results in a lower... ...Read more »

Grocery stores worldwide are beginning to move toward self-checkout technology with success. Tesco, the UK’s largest retailer, has now adopted an all self-service checkout model in their US Fresh & Easy stores, which has been met with support from consumers after initial skepticism. Tesco Fresh & Easy has also updated their systems to better suit the technology, as they now have all their fruit (except bananas) in packages with barcodes to ensure the consumer has fewer potential problems... ...Read more »

The South Australian Government’s program to help rid school canteens of junk food has come under fire from the Liberal Opposition due to concerns about food additives. The ‘Rite-Bite’ campaign initiated by the Labor Party is designed to reduce fat, sugar and salt content in school canteens across South Australia, but the lack of policing of preservatives and additives worries the opposition. Shadow Education Minister, David Pisoni, has now called for an investigation into... ...Read more »

The Australian supermarket industry, which some believe to be the most concentrated in the developed world, could soon have a third company emerge as a major player, according to Australian Discount Retail (Trading) Pty Ltd managing director, Peter Wilkinson. Mr Wilkinson, whose company manages the Go-Lo, Crazy Clark’s and The Warehouse franchises, believes the increased public criticism of Coles and Woolworths is inviting competition. “My gut sense is that the market does not like two... ...Read more »

Over the past 10 months, Australia’s national consumer protection agency, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has taken action for misleading labelling against food products produced by Arnott’s Biscuits, Tasti Products (Weight Watchers), Nudie Foods, Natur-all (Go Natural) and Harvey Fresh. One of Australia’s leading food industry lawyers, Joe Lederman of the law firm FoodLegal, who is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Deakin University, believes the ACCC’s crackdown... ...Read more »