'What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility.' US President Barack Obama Food for thought . . . Where to from here?
 'Today's industrial livestock system, perfected in the US and spread through globalisation, depends on three things we can no longer afford to take for granted. First, cheap energy - to house and heat animals, transport them long distances, and produce fertiliser for intensive feed - requires profligate use of fossil fuels. Second, cheap drugs: you cannot keep animals in such close confinement without recurring outbreaks of disease. Antibiotic resistance and endless crises of animal disease are the price we already pay for these. Third, cheap feed: animals separated from the land need high-energy, high-protein food for maximum production.' Felicity Lawrence, columnist with The Guardian, UK
Editor's Stuff - Who knows what's next?
 South Africans are used to living on the edge; it's a sad and simple fact of life in a country chasmed by 'Haves' and 'Have Nots'. But if you've been keeping half an eye on the news of late, especially in the context of the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, you'll only be too aware that our world has become a heck of a lot scarier.
To paraphrase respected Business Report columnist, Anne Crotty, the world is a dark and dangerous place, and no one knows where it's headed, all of which underpins the sense of disempowerment and lack of control that has been created by the economic crisis. Not one of the alleged 2 500 leaders of global business and government came up with any answers in snowy Switzerland. And as fast as they profer solutions, the next day seems to throw up yet more unexpected challenges. We live in scary, dangerous times, but I guess on the bright side, we can be grateful we're not in Zimbabwe, Sudan or North Korea. Or London or New York. And we've just had another interest rate cut. But these are also immensely interesting times. Unfettered global capitalism has failed spectacularly, but amid the wreckage of corporate greed, the road ahead appears to be charged with possibility and potential for doing things differently and better, with the inspirational President Barack Obama a popular cheerleader. Trawling through the global food and business media as I do every week, it's fascinating to observe that winds of change are blowing through the agri-food worlds. There is an upswelling of recognition that our cheap food of the past and today is unsustainable; there are compelling views on what has gone wrong, on what is still wrong, and a host of divergent and inspired opinions on options for change, on new visions as to how the world will feed itself, on different models of production and supply. Today's times demand harsh examination of the status quo, and wherever our sentiments lie on the political spectrum that is food, like it or not, all old orthodoxy must, and is, being roundly challenged. Presenting readers with just such commentary, opinion and expertise is the very essence of my vision for FOODStuff SA, and there are several articles in this week's newsletter on this theme. Let's begin with Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food Movement:  "This is a historic and epic moment. We are now waiting for a new school of economic thought. But these new schools can only emerge, like plants, if you prepare the ground. There has to be a new humanism if this ground is really to be ploughed: a change in values and a change in the idea of what money means and what richness is. There hasn't been a true sense of reciprocity for a long time. It has been a life of egoism. You were seen as good because you were rich and had a good car. A new humanism has to push that out of the way. Rather than constant consumption it might be better to recycle and to give." Enjoy this week's read. I welcome all
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. Brenda PS I see we're in good company. Last week, I reported that Clover's Great Taste, No Fat! milk was the winner of our poll for 'New Product of 2008', as voted by FOODStuff SA readers. Not that anyone at Clover appears to have noticed!? Anyway, as reported below, the milk has also just been named as 'Product of 2009' in its category in the new Product of the Year initiative. Well done, Clover. PPS I had reason this week to call in a product complaint to Tiger Brands, and I must compliment them on the friendly, polite and efficient response from Vusi Mlangeni in their call centre.
Food Industry News
 SA: The 'Best Products of 2009'
A little early or a little late, depending on your perspective, FMCG products voted 'Product of the Year 2009' have been announced by the organisation of the same name, following a large consumer survey involving over 5 000 people from around the country. Product of the Year claims to be the world’s largest organisation dedicated to recognising and rewarding innovation. Read more SA: Returning brewery boss needs a thirst for challenge Beer in his blood: Norman Adami is back as MD and chairman of SAB Ltd at a trying time when even selling beer is not as easy as it sounds - beer and soft drink products are resilient in economic crises, but not immune, SAB Ltd’s new MD and chairman Norman Adami has said in his first interview since his return to the group in October. Read more
SA: Fruit & Veg City follows trend as it ties up with Caltex The battle for a share of consumer spending at fuel service station stores is heating up after Fruit & Veg City announced a tie up with Caltex in a trial to roll out its Freshstop brand countrywide.
The privately-owned, R3-billion turnover group will follow Pick n Pay's tracks -- it teamed up with BP in late 2008 with a new forecourt convenience format. Read more
SA: Heineken expects brewery in SA to be ready for 2010  Global brewer Heineken says it expects its South African brewery to be complete by the end of the year, and well in time for the 2010 Soccer World Cup next year. The new brewery is being constructed at Sedibeng, Gauteng, and will brew Amstel locally. Amstel is currently imported from the Netherlands and distributed locally by brandhouse, a joint venture of Heineken, Diageo and Namibia Breweries. Read more
SA: Simba CEO to head up PepsiSA  Lauren Siebrits, CEO of Simba, PepsiCo's snack business in South Africa, has also been appointed to take over the beverage business, Pepsi South Africa.
Siebrits joined the PepsiCo family in 2003 as marketing director of Snacks and later moved to commercial director in sub-Saharan Africa for both snack and beverages. "I am thrilled about my promotion to Group CEO and there are exciting times ahead for both Simba and Pepsi. I cannot wait to embark on the journey that will see PepsiCo South Africa grow from strength to strength,” she says.
 SA: Pick n Pay suppliers in food prices blame game
Pick n Pay’s suppliers — under pressure from the retailer to curb price increases for foodstuffs — have in turn blamed their own suppliers for high prices, suggesting that monopolistic practices were the real culprits behind stubbornly high food prices.
The pricing blame game by some of SA’s major food suppliers played itself out at a keenly awaited meeting this week, called by Pick n Pay last week to discuss high prices. Read more  SA: The South African wine industry is 350 years old
It was in 1652 that Jan van Riebeeck landed at the Cape, tasked with establishing a garden to provision VOC ships. The first vines arrived in 1655 imported from France, the Rhineland and Spain. These were planted in the Company's Gardens, six acres of which survive as a botanical garden in central Cape Town to this day. Jan van Riebeeck's diary entry of February 2, 1659 reads: "today, praise be to God, wine was pressed for the first time from Cape grapes, and the new must was tested fresh from the vat." Read more
ASIA: McDonald's announces largest-ever expansion programme in China McDonald's has announced plans to open 175 new restaurants in China over the next 12 months and create some 10 000 new jobs, the largest-ever single expansion by the US fast food giant. At the same time, it has also announced it has cut some prices by as much as a third in the country where once booming economic growth has slumped amid the global financial crisis. Read more
US: Peanut bummer The economic wallop from a salmonella outbreak in peanut products continues to spread with more than 800 recalls and more expected.The recall, one of the biggest ever, started with bulk peanut butter, spread to crackers and cookies and has engulfed products as diverse as kettle corn, pad Thai and trail mix. The FDA revealed last week that the company's Blakely, Georgia, facility knowingly shipped salmonella-tainted peanut products 12 times between 2007 and 2008 to locations in the US and abroad Read more here and here.
 US: Salmonella outbreak spurs criminal investigation
The US FDA has begun a criminal investigation into the recent Salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 550 people in 43 states and Canada and been linked to the deaths of at least eight people, according to a report by CNN. Read more  US: Beverage Association hits back at proposed soda tax
The American Beverage Association (ABA), a trade association representing the broad spectrum of companies that manufacture and distribute non-alcoholic beverages in the United States, has released the results of a recent survey showing that 70% of Americans oppose a national tax on all non-diet soft drinks, while only 18% supported the idea of an 'obesity tax' on regular soda like the one proposed by New York Govenor David Paterson. Read more  US: Will the recession put an end to Starbucks?
Starbucks’ iconic mermaid is on the rocks. With profits plunging and hundreds of branches facing closure around the world, it seems that the coffee-shop chain may finally have overestimated the aspirational appeal of the roasted bean. Until recently, it appeared that the destiny of every self-respecting high street was to boast a Starbucks. In time, though, we may conclude that the coffee chain’s near-ubiquity was surprisingly short-lived. Read more  UK: The future face of food and retail
A growth in internet retailing, greater retail globalisation and the need for retail suppliers to provide low-cost products that are also healthy, nutritious and friendly to the environment are the trends for the foreseeable future, according to Sir Terry Leahy, Chief Executive of Tesco plc, who spoke at the City Food Lecture in London recently. Read more
UK: Jamie Oliver pig expose boosts sales of pork joints Sales of pork belly joints have risen by 66%vshoulder joints by almost 270% since both the low-cost joints were championed by Jamie Oliver in his Channel 4 expose on pig farming.
The strong sales of belly and shoulder joints signify a switch back to cheaper cuts which - although popular in the 1960s and 1970s - had been abandoned in recent years. Retailer, Waitrose, also recorded an increase in popularity of its 'Forgotten Cuts' range - including cuts of brisket, topside, shin, cheeks and trotters. Read more
Food thoughts for the future
Food Futures: rethinking UK strategy Over the next few decades, the global food system will come under renewed pressure from the combined effects of seven fundamental factors: population growth, the nutrition transition, energy, land, water, labour and climate change. These will create constraints on food supply and if action is not taken, there is a real potential for demand growth to outstrip increases in global food production. Effects on developing countries would be devastating. Developed countries will be affected too. Expectations of abundant and ever cheaper food could come under strain. The UK can no longer afford to take its food supply for granted.
This is the final report of a Chatham House project on UK Food Supply in the 21st Century: the New Dynamic. Download paper here
 Cheap pork is only part of a wholly rotten food policy
The plight of the pig, and the British pig farmer, has been taken up by celebrity TV, building on decades of work by welfare groups such as Compassion in World Farming . . . Watch any of the programmes and it's hard not to be moved by their conclusion: that surely a few extra pence for a rasher of bacon is worth it to end the brutal conditions endured by the average foreign pig... Read more [This is a cogent and provocative piece of journalism on the dilemmas and inherent unsustainability of the contemporary food supply chain. Ed]
Let's farm London's/Washington's/Jo'burg's fields The campaign to turn five acres of the White House lawn into a farm promises to introduce a generation of urban Americans to something they're not at all familiar with – real food.
The original idea came from New York Times writer Michael Pollan, and has been taken up enthusiastically by a group called Eat The View. Their plan is to introduce "edible landscapes" into backyards and green spaces in towns and cities across the US, all producing what they call "good, clean food". And there's no reason why it shouldn't apply to every town and city across the world. Read more
Scientists celebrates the end of the antedeluvian Bush years At Davos some of America and Britain's leading scientists came together to share their delight in the downfall of George Bush's antedeluvian administration. An American stem cell researcher, who has been dragged before Congress 160 times to defend his right to work, spoke of the sudden freedom he felt under President Obama. A British astronomer, Martin Rees, the president of the Royal Society, shared the excitement at the new American leader's promise to restore science to its proper place, made in his inaugural address.
Is science overcoming unreason? Speakers at the meeting predicted that the next decade could see an explosion of new technologies and knowledge . . . Read more
Health & Nutrition
Telling food allergies from false alarms
 More than 11 million Americans, including three million children, are estimated to have food allergies, most commonly to milk, eggs, peanuts and soy. The prevalence among children has risen 18% in the past decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the increase appears to be real, so does the increase in misdiagnosis.
The culprit appears to be the widespread use of simple blood tests for antibodies that could signal a reaction to food. The tests have emerged as a quick, convenient alternative to uncomfortable skin testing and time-consuming “food challenge” tests. While they can help doctors identify potentially risky foods, they aren’t always reliable. Read more
 Chemists shed light on health benefits of garlic
Researchers have widely believed that the organic compound, allicin – which gives garlic its aroma and flavour – acts as the world's most powerful antioxidant. But until now it hasn't been clear how allicin works, or how it stacks up compared to more common antioxidants such as Vitamin E and coenzyme Q10, which stop the damaging effects of radicals. Read more  Jamie Oliver does know best!
New research suggests the celebrity chef’s healthy school dinners have helped to improve exam results and classroom attendance. An independent study shows the performance of 11-year-old pupils eating Oliver’s meals improved by up to 8% in science and as much as 6% in English, while absenteeism due to ill-health fell by 15%. The findings, from a report by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Essex University, vindicate the chef’s decision to banish fat-laden Turkey Twizzlers - since replaced with nutrient-rich foods such as coconut fish, and broccoli. Read more Is crystalline fructose a better choice of sweetener? Crystalline fructose is an increasingly common ingredient in health and energy drinks in the US. To some, the ingredient is a reassuring sign that the product hasn't been sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, a sweetener that's been falling out of consumer favour over concerns of a disputed link to obesity and diabetes. Others, however, may have found themselves wondering what, exactly, is crystalline fructose? And is it really any different from high fructose corn syrup? Read more
 Plums poised to be a new super fruit?
There’s an emerging star in the super-food world. Plums are rolling down the food fashion runway sporting newly discovered high levels of healthy nutrients, say scientists at Texas AgriLife Research. Far from fruit snobbery, the plum is being ushered in after more than 100 varieties of plums, peaches and nectarines were found to match or exceed blueberries in antioxidants and phytonutrients associated with disease prevention. Read more  Study finds one-third of American kids take vitamins, unnecessarily
About one third of US children and teenagers take vitamins, even though most of those taking the pills are healthy, active kids who probably don't need them, a new study suggests. Read more
Food Safety  What's a little mould? Why consumers have different freshness standards at home
Wondering whether to eat that expired yoghurt at the back of the fridge? What about that hunk of cheese with the bit of mould on top? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research explores the reasons consumers are more likely to consume products that are past their expiration dates if they are in their refrigerators than if they are in a store. Read more
 Spinach and peanuts, with a dash of radiation
The technology to irradiate food has been around for the better part of a century. The US federal government says that it is safe, and many experts believe that it could reduce or even eliminate the food scares that periodically sweep through American society. Why does it remain marginally embraced? Read more
US: Old appetites die hard There has been a steady drumbeat of high-profile food safety scares in the past several years: spinach, ground beef, tomatoes (later exonerated), jalapeño peppers and now peanut products. Despite these incidents, research shows that many Americans are not rushing to change the way they eat.
"People might make the connection for the short term," says Harry Balzer, vice president of NPD Group, a market research firm. "But your taste buds are very, very difficult to change." Read more
New Product Stuff
 UK: John West launches ‘no drain’ tuna can
Canned fish supplier John West has launched a can of tuna that does not need draining, backed by a £3m marketing campaign. The 'No Drain, Less Mess' tuna will hit shelves this month and is designed using "patented technology" to can the tuna without excess liquid.
John West marketing director Jeremy Coles says: "This new launch is set to add significant incremental growth to the canned fish category by offering consumers the opportunity to trade up for added convenience and better taste.
EU: Unilever launches Lätta probiotic spread Unilever has introduced a new probiotic spread that contains the LGG probiotic strain from Valio. Said to be the first time Valio has licensed its LGG for a low-fat spreads application, Unilever’s Lätta spread with LGG is being launched first in Germany and Sweden, followed by other countries where the Lätta brand is marketed.
LGG is currently marketed in more than 40 countries around the world, usually in dairy products, but also in food supplements and infant foods. It's supported by more than 400 published scientific studies. Read more
 US: Stevia-sweetened drink from PepsiCo
PepsiCo has rolled out calorie-free SoBe Lifewater variants, featuring the natural stevia sweetener PureVia. This is another of the new, zero-calorie sweeteners made from the stevia plant, which received FDA approval in December. Three novel flavours are available: Fuji Apple Pear, Black and Blue Berry and Yumberry Pomegranate. Read more  US: Cherry-flavoured 7UP with antioxidants
Cherry 7UP Antioxidant is available in both regular and diet versions and is 100% naturally flavoured and caffeine free. The new pink-hued beverage combines the lemonade-flavour of 7UP with a hint of cherry and the bonus of antioxidant vitamin E. Read more
Food Science Stuff  Genetic blueprint of sorghum completed
Scientists have completed the sequence and analysis of the complete genome of sorghum, a major food and fodder plant with high potential as a bioenergy crop. The genome data will aid scientists in optimizing sorghum and other crops not only for food and fodder use, but also for biofuels production. Read more
Food Ingredients  Two soy peptide ingredients show commercial promise
US company, Soy Labs, has launched LunaSoy and Lunasin XP, two new ingredients that are expected to re-energise consumer demand for soyfoods and spur growth opportunities for manufacturers of functional foods and nutraceuticals. The foundation for both ingredients is lunasin which scientific evidence indicates is a key component in soy protein responsible for its cholesterol-lowering properties. Read more
Purac builds science for salt replacer in meats A potassium lactate and sodium diacetate mix may reduce the sodium chloride content by 40% and significantly increase shelf-life, says a new study from Purac. Using the company’s Purasal Opti.Form PD 4 formulation, containing potassium lactate and sodium diacetate, researchers from Purac Biochem, collaborating with scientists at Ghent University, report that shelf-life could be prolonged by about 40 days, according to results published in the International Journal of Food Science and Technology. Read more
 Where does blue food dye come from?
We all know that natural red dye comes from bugs, but what's the story behind blue food? Read more
Miscellany  20 things you didn't know about... fat
Body fat can kill you, keep you warm, or trash your sex life. Read more Cupcakes: the coolest food on the planet? It appears the world is succumbing to the sickly charms of a cupcake, being dubbed the most fashionable treat of our times, and Google reports that “cupcakes” is the fastest-rising recipe search in the UK.
“A cupcake is an affordable treat that you don’t have to share,” says Martha Swift, of London’s smartest cupcake emporium, Primrose Bakery. “Cupcakes are irresistible to all ages,” agrees the Michelin-starred chef Tom Aikens. “Kids love them because they are bite-sized, and adults love them for the nostalgia fix of childhood. They are a nice way of having something naughty and sugary — comforting, in fact — and because they are small, you don’t need to feel guilty about enjoying them.” Read more
 Root beer: The revival of an all-American icon
Thanks to old favourites, the wider availability of regional brands and a raft of novel brews, the fizzy brown soda is making a comeback. Read more  Bacon Explosion recipe is most popular on the web
The Bacon Explosion - a recipe for a 5 000 calorie barbeque dish - has become one of the most popular meal ideas in the world after being posted in a blog. Read more here and here. That's it for this week, folks! |
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