An Australian study which addresses the benefits of education about nutritional information in fast food is being presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Liverpool on Monday 13th May. Professor Ian Caterson, of the Boden Institute of Obesity Nutrition, Exercise & Eating Disorders at the University of Sydney, is presenting the paper to the ECO delegates. The study concludes that information in fast food outlets helps improve awareness of and reduce energy intake amongst consumers. According... ...Read more »

Australian-made products rated highly among Australian consumers, according to new findings from market research organisation Roy Morgan Research. The research found that 87.4 per cent of Australians more likely to buy food produced in Australia, while 88.5 per cent of Australians aged 14 plus said they were more likely to buy Australian-made products across all categories over products manufactured in other countries. The US and the UK also rated highly, with 56.2 per cent of Australians saying... ...Read more »

Two separate research reports recently released in the US have pointed to a number of causes for the serious decline in bee numbers that is threatening US agriculture and food supplies globally. Some of the research was released by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the form of a comprehensive report on honey bee health on 2 May 2013. The report found that there are multiple factors playing a role in the decline of honey bee colonies, including... ...Read more »

The performance of the Australian manufacturing sector, including food and beverage manufacturing, worsened significantly in April 2013 amid weakening economic conditions, according to industry association the Australian Industry Group (AI Group). The latest AI Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (Australian PMI) recorded 36.7 in the month, down 7.7 points on March. Readings below 50 indicate a contraction in activity, with the distance from 50 indicative of the strength of the decrease. Significant... ...Read more »

Global market research organisation Nielsen has launched the first Australian ShopperLAB research facility, which has been installed in the Company’s Sydney head office. Nielsen said the lab, which will be announced this week at the Consumer 360 conference in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, will enable manufacturers and retailers to better understand shopping behaviour and test concepts through “observation, interviews, eye tracking and neuroscience”. Aimed primarily at marketers, category... ...Read more »

Drinking one 12 ounce (about 336ml) serving size of sugar-sweetened soft drink a day can be enough to increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 22 per cent, a new UK study has found. The risk increases by 22 per cent with each extra soft drink consumed. The research, published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes), found that the increased risk of diabetes among sugar-sweetened soft drink consumers in Europe is similar to that found in a recent... ...Read more »

Sales of bottled water will overtake carbonates as the leading global soft drinks category in the next two years, according to data from beverage market research company Canadean. Canadean said the global trend toward bottled water is being bolstered by its healthy image, as well as necessity in areas of the world that are lacking alternative safe water supplies. Asia The main driver behind the category re-positioning is coming from Asia, according to Canadean. Volume sales in Asia are predicted... ...Read more »

Eating leafy greens may be even more important than previously thought, with the discovery that an immune cell population essential for intestinal health could be controlled by the presence of leafy greens in the diet. Research undertaken by Australian scientists and published in March 2013 in the Nature Immunology journal found that leafy greens help the body produce digestive immune cells that play an important role in protecting the body from infection. The research team included Dr Gabrielle... ...Read more »

Sales of apples in US primary schools jumped by an average of 71 per cent when the fruit was sold in sliced form, according to research published in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. Researchers at the Cornell University Centre for Behavioural Economics in Child Nutrition Programs (BEN Centre) in New York first conducted a pilot study, asking schools to use a commercial fruit slicer whenever students requested apples. The machine cut the fruit into six pieces in three... ...Read more »

More than half of US consumers agree that labelling food or other products organic is just an excuse for companies to charge more, according to research from US market research organisation Harris Interactive. A March 2013 ‘Harris Poll’, conducted by the market research organisation, found that more Americans are concerned about the current state and future of the environment in 2013 than in 2012 (38 per cent in 2013, compared with 31 per cent in 2012). But this did not necessarily translate... ...Read more »