Men who take a daily vitamin E supplement – a regimen once thought to reduce cancer risk – face an increased risk of prostate cancer, according to findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association today. Foods said to be rich in vitamin E include wheat germ oil, sunflower oil, nuts and nut oils, green leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach, turnip, tomato products, mangoes, broccoli, and avocadoes. The findings refer to the latest results of the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer... ...Read more »

American multi-national beverage corporation Pepsi Co has reported a rise in earnings of 4.1% for the third quarter of 2011. Releasing its third quarter results today, Pepsi Co said the rise in profit was driven by “top-line gains across its worldwide snacks and beverage businesses and from the acquisition of Wimm-Bill-Dann (WBD), the leading dairy and juice company in Russia”. PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi said that its worldwide snacks volume had increased by eight percent, reflecting... ...Read more »

According to a report from Australian food law specialists FoodLegal, Australian beverage and food companies will need to watch closely what emerges from a recent American lawsuit. Foodlegal has reported that parents of a 13-year-old girl from Maryland, USA, have filed a lawsuit against Nestle USA, manufacturer of ‘Deer Park’ and ‘Poland Spring’ bottled waters with added fluoride, and also against Gerber Products Company, which manufactures baby food and infant formula products containing... ...Read more »

Potatoes and other foods reportedly high on the Glycemic Index (GI) might not be the dietary villains that many dieticians claim them to be, according to a new study by the University of Otago, in New Zealand. The findings, published today in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, were from Dr Bernard Venn and colleagues from Otago’s Department of Human Nutrition, who studied 30 healthy adults aged between 18 and 50. They found that despite potato being a high-GI value food, a meal containing... ...Read more »

Davies Bakery Ltd is conducting a recall of its Bakers Life Multigrain Sandwich Sliced Bread. The bakery has said that some of the bread may be contaminated with fragments of plastic. The product in question, sold exclusively in Aldi’s Victorian-based stores, comes in brown and white plastic packaging and weighs 650g. Davies Bakery Ltd is recalling all loaves with a Best Before date of 12 October 2011 (today). Davies Bakery Ltd said, “Food products containing plastic may cause injury if consumed.... ...Read more »

The percentage of Australian consumers who recognise the ethical label Fairtrade has risen from 37 per cent to 44 per cent in the last year, according to a survey commissioned by Fairtrade. Fairtrade International commissioned international market researchers GlobeScan to survey 17,000 consumers in 24 countries. The total number of interviews per country ranged from 500 to 1,500. According to Fairtrade International, 55 per cent of the Australian consumers surveyed said they feel empowered to make... ...Read more »

A study published this week in The Archives of Internal Medicine has found that high levels of mineral intake in dietary supplements may not be a good thing. Researchers from the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Minnesota, in the US, assessed the use of vitamin and mineral supplements 38,772 women in the longitudinal Iowa Women’s Health Study. The women had an average age of 62. Supplement use was self-reported in 1986, 1997, and 2004. The researchers found that those women... ...Read more »

Despite some 10 years in the making, Australia and New Zealand still cannot expect the official food standard for permitted health claims in relation to food until at least 2012. Speaking at the FoodLegal Symposium “Healthy Bodies of Law” in Sydney yesterday, Dean Stockwell the General Manager of Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and Chair of its Standards Development Advisory Committee, admitted the existing prohibitions on health claims were “confusing” and “ambiguous” especially... ...Read more »

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has warned Australia’s two major supermarket groups, Coles and Woolworths, that their wielding of purchasing power is being watched closely by the ACCC. Addressing the Melbourne Press Club this week, the ACCC’s new Chairman Rod Sims said, “The two major supermarkets have significant market power, with many smaller suppliers feeling they lack a real ability to negotiate supply arrangements. The ACCC can and will watch closely to ensure... ...Read more »

Coca-Cola Amatil Australasia (CCAA) has invested A$35 Million in new “blowfill” technology at its Thebarton production facility in Adelaide, enabling the company to design and manufacture its own bottles using less raw materials. CCAA’s Managing Director, Warwick White, described the new technology as the single largest capital investment in the company’s history, adding that it will fundamentally change the nature of manufacturing in the business. He said, “The introduction of this technology... ...Read more »