Dutch retailer Albert Heijn is adding a 'healthy choice' symbol to
more than 1000 of its own-brand products later this month to reach
consumers confused by healthy eating messages.
Developing healthier foods is not only key to stronger sales for
food makers but it also boosts a firm's financial value, as
investors increasingly consider it an important element of
corporate sustainability.
Leading vitamin and specialty chemicals maker DSM opened its first
research and development centre in China today, designed to help it
achieve strong sales growth from this market in the next three
years.
Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis is once again putting its
health food and sports nutrition products up for sale, according to
a report today in French business magazine Challenges.
The UK's Food Standards Agency said yesterday that people at risk
of osteoporosis should avoid taking supplements containing vitamin
A, including fish liver oils.
Opportunities await for Europe's beer industry to tap into growing
consumer health trends as Belgian brewing scientists offer newly
developed testing to assess the nutritional quality of beers.
Europe's food risk assessment body has issued its opinion on
nutrition claims for products containing omega-3 fatty acids, which
will be used in forthcoming laws on nutrition and health claims.
Opportunities in the mature enzyme market lie in developments,
driven by biotechnology, that provide food and beverage makers with
the right tools to meet consumer trends, claims a new report.
Fish oil did little to reduce the risk of heart rhythm problems,
cardiac arrest or arrhythmia in patients at increased risk, said
researchers yesterday, conflicting with previous results showing a
strong benefit.
Institut Rossel-Lallemand's Lalmin Se has become the standard
against which other organic selenium is measured following the
release of certified reference material (CRN) by Canada's National
Research Council, enabling the...
Cash, cash, cash. Castigated as simple asset-strippers out to make
a quick buck, the entrance of private equity onto the food industry
stage has participants chattering in the wings.
Mice given high doses of vitamin E lived on average 40 per cent
longer than a control group, report Spanish and Argentinian
researchers, who suggest the results are down to the vitamin's
antioxidant power.
Probiotic bacteria drops appear to reduce the symptoms of colic in
breast-feeding infants and could offer a natural, more effective
alternative to conventional treatment, say researchers.
The UK marketer of Shreddies breakfast cereal can continue to make
claims that the product helps boost children's concentration in
school but it must make their evidence clearer to viewers of their
ad, said authorities last week.
All vending machines are now banned from schools across France in
an attempt to tackle child obesity fears, but the move remains
controversial amid industry accusations of heavy-handedness.
Low doses of the active form of vitamin D and non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs act as a powerful combination to halt the
growth of prostate cancer cells, say US scientists.
Danish company Chr Hansen has shored up its lead in the dairy
cultures business after doubling capacity at its plant in France,
now said to be the world's largest.
Pomegranate fruit extracts have been shown to block enzymes that
contribute to cartilage degradation in osteoarthritis, a condition
that currently has little perspective for treatment.
Irish dairy group Glanbia will be wishing it made a bigger
investment in nutritional ingredients sooner than it did, as it
revealed a 13 per cent drop in half year operating profits
yesterday owing to difficult conditions in chilled...
Health-promoting cereal foods and ingredients aimed at fighting
metabolic syndrome are to be developed in a five-year project
involving 43 partners from 15 European countries.
Taking a high-dose vitamin C supplement everyday reduced the number
of colds experienced by people in a Japanese trial, although intake
of the vitamin appeared to have no impact on the severity or
duration.
Denmark's Ferrosan has announced its first acquisition since its
equity owners revealed their plans for growth earlier this year,
which will allow it to break into the booming omega-3 market.
Marine ingredients firm Primex says the entry of its chitosan
product into the functional foods market, combined with new
clinical trials, will mark a significant turning point for the
business in the coming year.
Dairy peptides marketed by Japan's Calpis effectively reduce blood
pressure after just three weeks of consumption, shows a new study
that is good news for Unilever, which has recently added the
ingredient to its range.
Eating fruit and soy fibre appears to protect adults exposed to
second-hand smoke as children from some of the long-lasting damage
to their respiratory systems, shows a new study.
Growing maturity in western European countries and intensifying
competition in the overall European protein ingredients markets is
forcing manufacturers to turn to functional foods and sports
products in order to maintain profit margins,...
Japanese firm Kyowa Hakko Kogyo will begin marketing a refined
version of Cargill's vegetarian glucosamine on its home market next
month, to meet steadily rising demand for quality forms of the
joint health ingredient.
A new CoQ10 product, said to be more bioavailable than the commonly
marketed crystal form, is set to open up a number of food and drink
applications for the ingredient, already booming in supplement
form.
All round gains in flavours, speciality, and dairy ingredients help
Irish ingredients group Kerry face "highly competitive trading
conditions" and contribute to the 12.8 per cent rise in first-half
profit.
Sales of Novogen's red clover supplements have been boosted by more
targeted advertising and increased distribution in three key
markets, said the firm yesterday.
Praise where praise is due. And it is certainly due for one
small-time drinks firm in southern Britain, which is spear-heading
answers to global water shortages that threaten to wreak havoc on
food producers everywhere.
Metabolic syndrome, a cluster of certain heart disease risk
factors, may not be a syndrome at all, say experts commissioned by
two leading diabetes organizations.
Food and drink makers developing functional, ready to drink and
instant formulas could gain from European Commission approval for
the slow-release carbohydrate isomaltulose supplied by German firm
Palatinit.
Taking supplements of L-Carnipure tartrate during pregnancy can
significantly reduce the increased level of plasma free fatty acids
that is considered the main cause of insulin resistance in pregnant
women, shows a new study.
A strain of probiotic bacteria developed by Swedish firm Probi
doubled the absorption of iron from food in women participating in
a recent study, it revealed yesterday.
Tocotrienols appear to be better than the more common vitamin E
form alpha-tocopherol at stopping an initial stage of
atherosclerosis, a condition responsible for more than half the
deaths in developed countries, reveals a study.
People following advice to cut calories and increase physical
activity to lose weight will see greater benefits if their diet is
rich in protein, reveals a new study.
Norwegian lipid research firm Natural says it has completed its
transformation to a biotechnology company after exiting all of its
supplement sales activities.
Soft drinks, particularly fruit juices, are set to make a greater
contribution to Britons' heart health, as both innovative small
businesses and major players roll out new, heart healthy drinks.
The shellfish fibre chitosan has been shown in some trials to help
weight loss but inconsistent product quality has led to conflicting
results, believes one supplier.
Tapping into lucrative opportunities for the growing organic
processed food market, Danish ingredients firm Chr Hansen rolls out
a package of flavours, colours and dairy cultures for organic
processors.