Despite the financial crisis, the food industry is continuing efforts to help consumers better manage their diets, an independent survey of over 1,500 food and drinks companies commissioned by the CIAA (Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU) in 5 major European markets has found. Over 20% of all surveyed companies reduced the amount of saturated fat, salt/sodium or sugars in their products last year, the survey discovered. A quarter of the companies stated that they increased the... ...Read more »

Portion control fails to consume shoppers, fine dining success is reliant on quality and ambiance and pasta thrives in challenging economic times, according to three new reports from market and consumer research firm Mintel. 100-calorie packs a tough sell: price and size deter hungry consumers 100-calorie packs were introduced earlier this century with great success in America and were designed to appeal to shoppers keen for a snack that wouldn’t pile on the pounds. Though weight and health... ...Read more »

UK Health Minister, Alan Johnson, has asked a number of prominent confectionery producers to reduce the sizes of some of their products to assist in the battle against obesity. Mr Johnson last week met with a group of confectionery and beverage manufacturers, including Mars, Coca Cola and Nestle, asking them to promote healthier products and introduce more individual snack/fun size products. “We were raised to waste not want not, so if we buy a big chocolate bar we’ll eat it all. If snack... ...Read more »

Kraft Foods has outlined plans to cut portion sizes to help deal with rising food costs. They announced, in the wake of a fall in quarterly profit, that they are to begin producing new products in smaller portions as they seek to maintain sales in difficult economic conditions. A 13% fall in profit by the company was reported last week and was blamed primarily on the high cost of food commodities like wheat. Their news followed profit guidelines from McDonald’s, which suggested that... ...Read more »