Coca-Cola North America has announced plans to place calories-per-serving and servings-per-container information on the front of all packages for its entire US beverage portfolio. Coca-Cola report that research shows calorie information is an important tool to help people make informed decisions about the calorie contribution of foods and beverages to their total dietary intake, and thus is important information in helping them achieve and/or maintain their healthy weight. In 2003, the... ...Read more »

Mars, Incorporated reported on Friday that they are to become the first confectionery company to voluntarily implement Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) nutrition labeling on all of its chocolate, non-chocolate confectionery and other food products. “All packages will be redesigned to feature new graphics on the front and back of packages, which contain consumer-friendly, clear and easy to understand nutrition information that will help consumers make informed choices at the point of purchase.... ...Read more »

Retailers Woolworths, Coles, and Franklins have today joined the Australian Food and Grocery Council in a push toward the Daily Intake Guide, with a plan to adopt the labelling system on private label products. The Daily Intake Guide is a front-of-pack food labelling system developed in consultation with dietitians and health experts to assist consumers in understanding what’s in a serve of a particular product and how it contributes to their daily diet. Australian National Retailers Association... ...Read more »

To tap into the growing number of consumers seeking more information about what is in their food, Campbell Soup Company is to launch a new range of soups with ingredients that are instantly recognisable and labels designed to outline cleanly and simply what is and isn’t in each product. According to recent research by the Hartman Group more than half of consumers are now more likely to read label information because they’re curious about what’s in their food. Further, a Nielsen... ...Read more »

The US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service has discovered that the use of nutritional labels by American consumers has fallen since the mid nineties. The only increase in interest by consumers came with regard to fibre. Packaged and processed foods sold in the United States began carrying standardized nutrition labels in 1994. A standardized ‘Nutrition Facts’ panel, standardized serving sizes and limits on the content and format of health and nutrition claims on the... ...Read more »

Nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) of American consumers say they notice nutritional information on food packaging more often now compared to two years ago, according to a new global online survey by The Nielsen Company. Nielsen also discovered that, while two-thirds (67 per cent) of US consumers claim to “mostly” understand the nutritional information on food packaging, less than half (44 per cent) of global consumers suggest they do. “As obesity rates continue to rise globally... ...Read more »

According to Laurent Michoud, of National Starch Food Innovation Europe, the future of food labelling will involve the reduction of confusion for consumers by providing clearer labels for them to peruse. Speaking at this week’s 41st Annual Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST) Convention in Sydney, Michoud outlined the current market trends in the European food industry focusing on the move towards use of straight-forward terms in labelling, ‘clean’ labels and... ...Read more »

Waitrose is investing £6M in a fresh design concept for its food shops, to strengthen the retailer’s foodie credentials and respond to customer demand for more authoritative information about food.Waitrose, a leading UK retailer, has undertaken extensive research to ascertain what consumers are looking for and found that, as people are cooking at home more often, many are looking for inspiration while more information about products is also desired. High profile communication in store will... ...Read more »

More than 50 Western Australian food companies have now signed up to the State Government’s labelling program, which promotes local food products to West Australian consumers. A logo is now seen on a range of produce in supermarket shelves to highlight to consumers that it is from WA. Agriculture and Food Minister, Kim Chance, has outlined his excitement about the strong support for ‘Buy West, Eat Best’ exhibited by WA companies and consumers alike. “Since the launch to consumers... ...Read more »

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has revised its guidance on the use of marketing terms, such as ‘fresh’, ‘pure’ and ‘natural’ for food labelling. Such claims are widely used in advertising and on packaging to promote the benefits of products but concerns have been raised as to what the labels really mean. The Agency consulted more than 1200 stakeholder organisations about the labelling guidance that it issued in 2002 and their revised guidance includes advice on... ...Read more »