The Australian Government Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, Catherine King, today chaired the sixth meeting of the Food and Health Dialogue. The Dialogue brings together government, industry and public health groups with the aim of addressing poor dietary habits and making healthier food choices easier and more accessible for all Australians. The Dialogue is undertaking, as its primary activity, action on food innovation. This includes a voluntary reformulation program to reduce risk-associated... ...Read more »

Wal-Mart Stores has announced plans to reformulate thousands of its packaged food products including slashing sodium by 25% and cutting sugars by 10% by 2015. The world’s largest retailer unveiled the plans at an event in Washington yesterday (20 January), attended by Michelle Obama.  Wal-Mart said the initiative aims to build on the success of the First Lady’s ‘Let’s Move’ campaign to “make healthy choices more convenient and affordable for families”. Mrs... ...Read more »

Advertisements for high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) foods aimed at children now only make up a very small portion of all food and beverage advertisements on children’s television in Australia, according to new research released by the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) today. The study found just 2.4 per cent of all HFSS food and beverage adverts on children’s TV between March to May 2010 targeted children aged under the age of 12, according to data sourced from Commercial Monitors,... ...Read more »

The UK’s coalition government has outlined its desire for a “responsibility deal” with the food industry in a bid to tackle obesity and make the nation healthier. In a policy document unveiled yesterday afternoon (30 November) by UK Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition set out its plan to ask all of society to help to improve public health. The Healthy Lives, Healthy People White Paper outlined plans to work “collaboratively” with... ...Read more »

A report by Sydney based The George Institute for Global Health, released yesterday, says that despite the government’s Food and Health Dialogue, salt levels in Australian bread products have not changed since 2007. Bread has recently become a target for sodium reduction, with one fifth of daily salt intake for Australians coming through bread, and daily salt intake between five and 10 times that required for good health. The report comes just two days after the Australian Food and Grocery... ...Read more »

Consumer group CHOICE says Australians are consuming far more salt than they are aware of, with sodium levels in food clocking in at alarming levels, and often difficult to detect by taste alone – with a McDonald’s large chocolate thickshake containing the same level of salt as a large fries, and a single roll of Wonka Fruit Tingles containing nearly a quarter of sodium recommended daily intake. The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) suggest no more than 1600mg of sodium... ...Read more »

A team of scientists at the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics has successfully used genetic modification (GM) to improve the salt tolerance of rice, offering hope for improved rice production around the world. The research team has used a new GM technique to trap salt in the root of the rice plant, reducing the amount of toxic salt building up in the plant and increasing its tolerance to salinity. This new research into rice builds on previous work into the salt tolerance of plants... ...Read more »

Givaudan has developed a unique sensory language called Sense ItTM Salt which enables a more accurate description of the complex taste effects of salt in foods. Sense ItTM Salt will enhance Givaudan’s ability to create flavours that restore the taste aspects of salt and drive consumer preference in low sodium applications.”It is now well understood in the food industry that salt is a very efficient and complex taste enhancer that goes beyond just making food taste salty. Salt has a range... ...Read more »

New Zesty Addition Cuts the Salt, Keeps the KickCampbell Soup Company is bringing on the heat to low-sodium foods with the introduction of V8Spicy Hot Low Sodium100% vegetable juice. With 140 milligrams of sodium in each 8-ounce glass, this deliciously-zesty juice delivers bold taste with less salt while still serving up two full servings of vegetables (1 cup) and 50 calories. In fact, V8Spicy Hot Low Sodiumjuice displays the American Heart Association heart-check mark and meets the U.S. government... ...Read more »

Australia’s food manufacturing sector and Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) retailers have already made strong inroads in addressing obesity through making foods healthier, reducing advertising to children and front-of-pack labelling, according to the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC). NSW Greens MP John Kaye today accused the NSW Coalition of “pandering to their friends in the [food] industry” for not supporting mandatory reductions in salt, fat and sugar in fast foods and... ...Read more »