Sugar reduction

Summer Fancy Food Show

U.S. tea sales climb as consumers seek healthy drinks & new flavors

Sales of tea in the U.S. are growing quickly as more Americans are drawn to the beverage for its health benefits, rich history and artisanal qualities, according to industry stakeholders....

Your guide to IFT 2015: From cultured meat, 3D printing, and novel proteins to feeding your hungry microbiome...

Study linking sugary drinks to high death tolls ‘cannot show cause and effect,’ say industry bodies

Industry bodies around the globe have slammed a US study which attributes 184,000 deaths a year to sugary drinks, saying its authors fail to show cause and effect or prove...

Mars backs WHO’s 10% sugar guidance: 'We are not trying to hide behind any science or research’

Mars Chocolate North America is going against the industry tide by backing the World Health Organization's guidance that added sugar should account for under 10% of a person's daily calories.

Snacks with dried fruit & veggies multiply as category revenues reach $4 billion

Sales of snacks with dried fruit and vegetables climbed 1.7% annually over the last five years and is predicted to reach revenues of $4 billion in 2015, thanks largely to...

Kanbo International bets big on sucralose with new factory in China and intl HQ near Chicago

While Tate & Lyle has just announced plans to close its sucralose plant in Singapore, blaming industry overcapacity; rival Kanbo International is building a second factory in Dongying that will...

Lawsuit over ‘100% natural’ claims on Nectresse monk fruit sweeteners to proceed

Johnson & Johnson’s Nectresse monk-fruit-based sweeteners were discontinued late last year owing to disappointing sales. However, a lawsuit challenging the products’ claims to be ‘100% natural’ is still very much...

Monk Fruit Corp doubles capacity as more US firms add monk fruit to sugar reduction toolkit

BioVittoria and Guilin GFS Bio-Tech Co have doubled their monk fruit supply and significantly boosted production capacity following a multi-million-dollar investment leading to the formation of a new company -...

Daily sugary drink habit linked to liver disease

Consumption of a sugar-sweetened drink on a daily basis may be associated with an increased risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), say researchers.

Smucker’s will launch more “clean” & “healthy” products in fiscal 2016, executives say

Peanut butter and jelly maker J.M. Smucker Company plans to introduce more than 100 new products in the coming year – most of which will be “clean” and “healthy,” according...

Americans believe ‘preservatives / chemicals’ are significantly more harmful than added sugar, saturated fat and sodium, says new poll

A poll* of more than 4,200 US consumers conducted in April 2015 by CivicScience shows Americans believe that ‘preservatives / chemicals’ are significantly more harmful to their heath than added...

Nutritionist says science backs importance of carbohydrates for sports formulations

Has the low carb craze finally been consigned to the dustbin of history? Nutritionist Susan Kleiner, PhD thinks so, and it’s high time, she said.

Mars appeals to health-conscious consumer with goodnessknows national launch

The inclusion of dried fruit in Mars Chocolate North America’s goodnessknows snack squares helps deliver the sweetness consumers seek from confections, while also helping the candy-giant deliver on its commitment...

Culinary trend spotting

Millennials are driving snack sales growth & reshaping how Americans eat, Euromonitor says

Sales of snacks account for a whopping 40% of the $370 billion U.S. packaged food market and are set to grow 2% annually through 2019, thanks in large part to...

Meet execs from Sparkling ICE, Chobani, Tio Gazpacho, NASA

Innovate or die: Introducing Food Vision USA... from 3D printing to personalized nutrition

Imagine a place where you can meet the entrepreneurs behind new food & beverage categories and retail channels; pioneers in the field of nutrigenomics, edible insects, and 3D printing; food...

Dispatches from Vitafoods, Geneva

Tree-mendous: NPD boom in plant waters, with 'natural' and 'no preservatives' leading health claims

Plant waters such as aloe, birch, artichoke, maple, cactus, and almond water are starting to challenge coconut water’s pedestal, with NPD in this emerging category booming, according to Innova Market...

Kids are eating junk food before they reach their second birthday, says USDA researcher

More than four out of 10 (43%) American infants aged 12-23 months eat cookies, cakes or pastries on any given day; almost a third (32%) eat chips, popcorn or pretzels;...

“Our entire line of soda will be clear in color.”

Zevia unveils 'clear' colas: 'This is an important step in changing the way Americans think about soda'

Zevia – a zero-calorie carbonated beverage line sweetened with stevia, monk-fruit and erythritol – has removed colors from its entire product range, including colas, and put every SKU through the...

Mars supports FDA proposal to list added sugars on Nutrition Facts panel; move is ‘refreshing’ says CSPI

Confectionery giant Mars says it is in favor of FDA proposals to list added sugar on the Nutrition Facts panel, a move described as ‘refreshing’ by the Center for Science...

News in brief

California soda warning bill dies in committee

A bill proposing warning labels on sugar-sweetened beverages that would alert shoppers in California to the risk of diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay, has died in the committee stage.

From 'How Matters' to 'Love this Life': Chobani unveils new media campaign

Greek yogurt maker Chobani has launched ‘Love This Life’, a new multi-media campaign with the strapline: "To love this life is to live it naturally."

VitaminFIZZ seeks to emulate meteoric success of Sparkling ICE in enhanced waters market

VitaminFIZZ – a new zero-calorie enhanced sparkling water backed by former Red Bull executives and other beverage industry veterans – is now available in 1,400+ stores in the US nine...

‘This is one step up the ladder of desperation to remain relevant’

Diet Pepsi reformulation: ‘Does making aspartame the bad guy solve diet soda’s problems? Probably not.’

While cynics might paraphrase PepsiCo’s move to axe aspartame from Diet Pepsi as ‘Pepsi replaces one very unpopular artificial sweetener with another slightly less unpopular artificial sweetener’, it highlights the...

'We’re confident that with this change, consumers will come back into the Diet Pepsi franchise'

Pepsi exec: Aspartame is the #1 reason why US consumers say they are drinking less diet cola

To those arguing that replacing one artificial sweetener (aspartame) with another (sucralose) won’t arrest flagging sales of Diet Pepsi, PepsiCo SVP Seth Kaufman told FoodNavigator-USA that consumer research had singled...

Aspartame has been deemed safe by all major scientific and regulatory bodies

PepsiCo ditches aspartame from Diet Pepsi in US: ‘While decades of studies show aspartame is safe, we recognize that consumer demand is evolving’

While aspartame is safe, many US consumers don’t want it in their cola, said PepsiCo this morning, announcing plans to ditch the much-maligned sweetener from Diet Pepsi, Caffeine Free Diet...