At the Australian FoodLegal Symposium, which took place on February 23, manufacturers and health experts alike called for food firms to take greater responsibility for creating healthier offerings, especially with regards to salt. As manufacturers respond to these calls, the question then turns to how such efforts should be communicated. Unilever, for instance, has made significant strides in cutting out salt and trans fat from its products; however, its efforts have been accompanied by very little... ...Read more »
Nestlé announced on Monday the launch of its Jenny Craig weight management programme in France in response to rising levels of overweight and obesity. Jenny Craig, the personalised programme for weight loss and long-term weight maintenance, combines ready-made meals with individual consultation. With more than 5 million clients over the past ten years, Jenny Craig is a successful business model in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The programme is launched in France with 17 Jenny... ...Read more »
Health campaigners have slammed the decision by sports associations to sign up companies and brands related to junk food as sponsors. Mars Inc yesterday (9 March) announced it had signed a four-year sponsorship deal with the Scottish Football Association in a bid to encourage more adults to play football in Scotland. The move follows a deal with Mars and the English FA last year and will include media partnerships with The Sun in Scotland and its existing relationship with radio station Talksport. The... ...Read more »
The company that sells the popular ‘Lemon Detox’ product, which is widely advertised as a slimming food, has been issued with two penalty notices by the NSW Food Authority for making unsubstantiated nutritional claims, Minister for Primary Industries Steve Whan announced last week.”Pure Natural Health Pty Ltd has been fined $660 for making nutritional claims that were not quantified in the nutrition information panel and a further $660 for providing advice that was of a medical nature... ...Read more »
Kellogg has brushed off criticism for its Coco-Pops outdoor campaign in the UK that encourages children to eat the chocolate-flavoured cereal after school. A spokesperson for the cereal giant told just-food yesterday (3 March) that it had received a number of complaints about the UK advertising campaign but was sanguine about the criticism. “Some people supported it, some people didn’t like it. That’s the nature of the beast,” the spokesperson said. The firm declined to comment... ...Read more »
Nestle and Diamond Foods have insisted they are “co-operating” with the US Food and Drug Administration after the regulator publicly attacked them - and 13 other food makers - over their use of “misleading” health claims.The FDA revealed yesterday (3 March) that it had sent 16 warning letters to various food manufacturers, insisting they address concerns that labelling rules are being breached by unsubstantiated health claims. Violations ranged from claims that products could... ...Read more »
Restrictions on food television commercials aimed at children may have reduced the number of kids’ TV food ads, but children are still being targeted with cross-promotional tactics and product placement. According to a study from Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, cross-promotions on food packaging aimed at children nearly doubled between 2006 and 2008 in the US. The US, the UK and Australia have all taken steps to restrict food advertising targeting children, particularly... ...Read more »
Regulations governing food labelling and health claims in the US require more stringent controls, a consumer body insisted yesterday (2 March). According to a new report out from the Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), food labelling regulations in the US have three primary areas of weakness. The Nutrition Facts panel “needs to be improved”, ingredient labels “need to be modernised” and health related claims need “more stringent regulation”. The... ...Read more »
Unilever Australia Corporate Nutritionist and Dietitian Megan Cobcroft called for the food industry to take responsibility for reducing salt, sugar and saturated fat in their products at Tuesday’s FoodLegal Symposium in Sydney. Unilever, with the assistance of the Heart Foundation, began removing salt and trans fats from margarine products in the 1990’s, and created Australia’s first virtually-trans-fat-free spreads. Since 2002, Unilever reports that their systematic nutritional... ...Read more »
The latest in a long line of functional or ’super’ foods, coloured chickpeas have recently been found to be more beneficial than the more well known cream and beige chickpeas. Coloured chickpeas have significantly higher antioxidant qualities than the regular cream and beige color varieties, according to a new study in the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists in Chicago. Known to be high protein, chickpeas are the second most important pulses in the... ...Read more »