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"Action may not always bring happiness ... but there is no happiness without action."
Benjamin Disraeli
Food bites . . . Local is lekker?
"It [local] is the latest supermarket buzz word, which is vague at best and misleading at the very worst. And, let's be clear, supermarkets' "local" is a nonsense. These shops have spent 30 years trying to crush independent shops and standardise food across Britain. If they've suffered any change of heart it is driven by recognition of the profit to be made out of the word local, nothing else. And local food still has to travel - often to regional distribution hubs and processing facilities that are not local at all."Alex Renton, The Guardian
 Editor's Stuff
Pretoria attorney, Janusz Luterek, well known to many food industrialists as a specialist in matters legal as they affect the industry, recently addressed a SAAFoST meeting in Cape Town on the soon-to-become-real Consumer Protection Bill.
The reaction from a sizeable audience was one of rather stunned surprise as they took in what he had to say about this impending "tsunami" with far-reaching implications for every aspect of consumer relations. There is no room for complacency, he advises. While the Bill beefs up protection for consumers, which is welcomed, it is likely to have unforeseen consequences, including increased prices, as retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers will be forced to take steps to minimise potential losses and pay for lawsuits.
Consumers are becoming ever more assertive, and with this new legislative and regulatory environment, as well as the ever more litigious society we live in, the entire food supply chain needs to sit up and pay attention to product liability issues in the food industry, Janusz asserts.
 FOODStuff SA has just posted a great new reference resource on liability issues and the Consumer Protection Bill, published in conjunction with Janusz and Hahn & Hahn attorneys. We've presented it as a "Dummies Guide" - making it readable, accessible and understandable. This is something everyone in the food supply chain needs to know about! Read more  Catch up on Emerging Pathogens
Leading micro laboratory, Swift, recently held a symposium in Cape Town on Emerging Pathogens and their role in the food industry and food chain. This dynamic enterprise does a great deal to support, serve and educate the food industry and other target markets via such valuable events - go here to our report on the likes of E.coli 0157:H7, Campylobacter, Vibrio cholera and Legionella.
Enjoy this week's read! Email Brenda:
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PS: I am on leave next week, taking a break in the Kalagadi - so the next newsletter will be published May 8th.
SA Food Industry News  SA's Dairy Product of 2009!
Highlight of the year for the country's dairy sector, the 2009 SA Dairy Championships – now in its ninth year – drew 770 entries in five categories: cheese, butter, yoghurt, cultured milk and ice cream. Following close scrutiny by a formidable team of 35 judges from the ranks of top dairy technologists and scientists, 77 dairy products emerged as SA Dairy Champions.
A mere 14 products – less than 2% of the overall entries – received the coveted Qualité mark of excellence. One of them was voted Dairy Product of 2009. FOODStuff SA was at the Danisco Gala Awards Dinner on Wednesday. Read more about all the winners!  Homsek and Woolies deliver the dairy difference
The Free State's Homsek Dairies is a remarkable story - and even more so now that it has taken a ground-breaking step in South Africa, in partnership with Woolworths, Nampak and GEA, and introduced a striking point of packaging differentiation in the long-life milk market. An in-depth look at this development. Read more
 Woolworths opens in new shopping concourse at O.R. Tambo International Airport
With the opening of a store in the new shopping concourse at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International recently, Woolworths has become the first food and fashion retailer to open in a South African airport terminal.
Read more
Food Industry News
UK: Tesco's £3bn profit to fund new stores and create 26,000 jobs Tesco announced yesterday that it would create 26,000 jobs this year, including 11,000 in Britain, after its annual profits passed £3 billion for the first time. The supermarket giant is now the world’s second-biggest retailer, in profit terms, after the US giant Wal-Mart, having overtaken Carrefour, its French rival. Read more
 EU: Unilever sets worldwide goals for salt reduction
In the next few years, Unilever is going to undertake a worldwide effort to reduce the salt content of almost its entire food portfolio, covering 22 000 products. Unilever’s aim is to reduce the salt content of its products by the end of 2010 to help people reach the daily recommended dietary intake of 6 grams salt per person. Read more
 EU: Nestlé shrugs off downturn to confirm outlook
The Swiss food and beverages giant hopes says measures including price cuts have helped it to weather the recession; shrugged off the downturn today and confirmed its full-year outlook despite a drop in sales. Read more
US: Pepsi move could shake up US drinks industry PepsiCo Inc's proposed acquisition of its two largest bottlers announced this week could give the U.S. beverage industry the face-lift it needs to better serve consolidating retailers and consumers who now have a lot more choices than a Pepsi or a Coke. Specifically, Pepsi's $6 billion bid to acquire the shares of Pepsi Bottling Group Inc and PepsiAmericas Inc it does not already own could pressure rival Coca-Cola Co to consolidate its own system, analysts said. Read more
UK: Mayor Boris Johnson sends vegetables to the Tower The rooftops and open areas around some of the capital’s most famous attractions could soon be sprouting crops of vegetables under plans drawn up by Boris Johnson, the mayor of London. His advisers hope to convert unused plots of land around the Tower of London, Marble Arch and on the roof of the Hayward gallery into public vegetable patches as a model of sustainable living.
 US: Coca-Cola CEO: "We will not waste this crisis"
CEO Muhtar Kent says Coca-Cola can increase its market share during the economic downturn, as it did during the Great Depression. At the company's annual meeting, he said the company might miss some growth targets this year but will meet or exceed them over time. Read more
WORLD: Nielsen - Global consumer confidence falls to record low The new Global Consumer Confidence Index from Nielsen finds consumer confidence at an all-time low and job loss the top concern in 31 out of 50 surveyed countries. Consumer spending habits have changed long term, with respondents saying they will remain more frugal even after an economic recovery.
56% percent of global online consumers think their country is currently in recession and consumer confidence worldwide has fallen to its lowest level in several years, according to the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index, which measures the confidence, major concerns and spending habits of online consumers in 511 countries.
South Africa saw a big fall in its Consumer Confidence Index in the last six months with a 14% drop. Local concerns about a recession are higher than the global average at 65%, although not as high as the USA, where 85% of respondents believe they are currently in a recession. Read more
 FRANCE: Danone celebrates its 90th birthday
Since the launch of its natural yoghurt in 1919, Danone has revolutionised the fresh product world and always with the same motivation: to bring healthy food to the largest number of people possible. There are big plans for this its 90th year of innovation, starting with a website dedicated to this major event in the company history. Read more
Food Science & Ingredient Stuff
New ingredient replaces added salt in new Heinz ketchup A salt substitute patented by Michigan State University is being used in an improved version of Heinz no-salt-added ketchup that's hitting store shelves just in time for the first barbeques of the American spring.
Created by Kris Berglund, MSU University Distinguished Professor of forestry and chemical engineering and materials science, and Hasan Alizadeh, former MSU research associate, the product – sold commercially as AlsoSalt – was patented in 1999 and is produced by Diversified Natural Products in Scottville, Mich.
"There's no sodium in AlsoSalt," Berglund explaines. "It's made from lysine, which is fermented from corn starch. It's an example of the other bioproducts that can be made from some of the same processes that produce ethanol." Read more
Tate & Lyle enters high-dose green tea extract market  Tate & Lyle has continued its push into the health and wellness area by linking with a Canadian coffee and tea specialist to distribute a green tea extract in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The UK-based ingredients giant has built its business in carbohydrate forms such as sugars and starches but has for two years been expanding its portfolio to include healthier offerings and has partnered with specialty players like Lipid Nutrition to work on offerings with weight management, heart health and other benefits.
Its new deal with A. Holliday gives Tate & Lyle exclusive distribution rights outside of North America for the ingredient, called Teawell 95, that has a 95% concentration of the most bioactive green tea component, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Read more
New Product News & Development  SA: Nestlé launches international cereal brands
Nestlé has introduced two of its international cereal brands to the South African market. One of the new launches is Cheerios, a product that originated in the US about 70 years ago and globally, is one of the most well-known breakfast cereal brands. The “O” shapes provide the goodness of four whole grains: corn, rice, wheat and oats. Milo has been a firm favourite in South African homes for many years and now can be eaten in the form of a breakfast cereal. Read more
US: Pepsi-Lipton Tea partnership launches first-ever sparkling iced tea With green tea the fastest-growing segment of the RTD tea category in the US, with average annual growth rate of 16.5%, Pepsi-Lipton has introduced Lipton Sparkling Green Tea, the country's first sparkling variant. Read more
US: Taste test - pitting KFC's fried goodness against its new healthy grilled chicken  ... Although I (and the other female tasters) preferred the grilled for its distinct (but not distracting) herbal profile and the flavor spikes you get from crispy bits of caramelized fatty meat and skin, the men voted for the fried. The guys liked the grilled, but they loved the fried for its familiarity, the rush of nostalgia it induced and the extra saltiness. As one said, "When you go to KFC, this is the taste you're looking for." ... KFC President Roger Eaton reportedly has said he's betting on the Kentucky Grilled Chicken as the secret to reclaiming chicken lovers who haven't visited their stores in a long time—or ever. Read more
US: Fanta has new formula and look Fanta gets on the natural bandwagon ... Fanta Orange is the latest beverage to be reformulated with 100% natural flavors in the US, catching the wave of consumers who have become increasingly skeptical of artificial ingredients. ‘Natural’ is the leading claim on new product labels according to the Mintel Global New Products Database, which shows that the claim was included on 23 percent of foods and beverages launched last year .....
Santiago Blanco, vice president of Sprite and flavors at Coca-Cola North America, said: “The introduction of this new formulation and the new look of the Fanta line are part of our ongoing efforts to reinvigorate the sparkling beverage category in the US.” The company’s Coca-Cola and Sprite are already made using 100 percent natural flavors, the company said, and it has also pledged to switch from artificial flavors in Fanta Apple and Fanta Grapefruit by the end of this summer. [No link]
Food Safety
 Uncovering secrets of Salmonella's stealth attack
A single crafty protein allows the deadly bacterium Salmonella enterica to both invade cells lining the intestine and hijack cellular functions to avoid destruction, Yale researchers report in the Yale researchers report in the latest issue of the journal Cell. This evolutionary slight-of-hand sheds new insights into the lethal tricks of Salmonella, which kills more than two million people a year. Read more
 Aspartame levels still safe, says EFSA
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said there is no indication that aspartame causes cancer following its assessment of a study that linked regular intake of the sweetener with increased risk of certain cancers. Read more
 EFSA publishes rurther opinion on smoke flavourings
EFSA has been asked to provide scientific opinions on the safety of smoke flavouring Primary Products used or intended for use in or on foods. This opinion concerns a smoke flavouring Primary Product, named Scansmoke PB 1110. Read more
Health & Nutrition
US: Nutritionists urge new, not-as-sweet drinks Soft drink makers should invent and market a new category of semi-sweet beverages that will help wean Americans off their reliance on sugary drinks, nutrition experts have said. They propose a new class of reduced-calorie beverages with no more than 1 gram of sugar per ounce, which with about 50 calories is about 70% less sugar than a typical soft drink contains. They said such drinks should also be free of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharine. Read more
Antioxidant levels in cooked vegetables: is it best to griddle-cook or microwave?  Some vegetable cooking methods may be better than others when it comes to maintaining beneficial antioxidant levels, according to a new study in the Journal of Food Science. Results showed that, depending on the vegetable, cooking on a flat metal surface with no oil (griddling) and microwave cooking maintained the highest antioxidant levels. Read more
 US: Health-claims rules established
The FDA has set rules on 17 health claims that food companies can make. For example, an average food serving must have less than a half-gram of trans fat and fewer than 6.5 grams of total fat to qualify for claims related to reduced risk of heart disease.
For further information on claims that can be made about foods and dietary supplements, consult this FDA web page.
 Benefit of grapes may be more than skin deep
New animal studies show a grape-enriched diet can help lower blood pressure and reduce damage by boosting defenders against damaging oxidative stress. Read more
US: Does brain development Juicy Juice really work? Nestlé recently introduced a new juice intended to boost brain power. Brain Development Juicy Juice contains DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), a nutrient that is often touted as a brain tonic for young and old alike ... DHA may be an important nutrient, but it's no magic brain booster, says Sheila Innis, director of the nutrition research program at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Read more
Cheese sandwich and a HEART ATTACK anyone? What do you eat for lunch? Have you shunned a fatty pie or a packet or crisps and feel virtuous tucking into a lean and healthy sandwich. Looks can be deceptive, however. Some pre-packaged sandwiches are laced with the same levels of salt as in 11 bags of crisps, according to a new UK study - and a cheese sandwich sold by Asda was found to have more saturated fat than a Big Mac.
Customers are being warned by Which?, the consumer organisation, to be more vigilant in their choice and to be wary of higher prices, which are no guarantee of quality. Read more
Packaging News
Champagne cork to be replaced by metal top  It is a sound associated with celebration around the world, but the pop of a traditional champagne cork could soon be replaced by the click of a metal cap if one leading producer's experiment takes off.
Duval-Leroy, one of the larger Champagne houses which produced more than six million of the 320 million bottles of Champagne made last year, will start selling bottles with aluminium tops later this year. This will be the first time cork has not been used to secure bottles of the famous sparkling wine in its 350-year history. Read more The 2009 Seven Sins of Greenwashing' revealed Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, but the labels might be. There are more products claiming to be green on the shelves of stores these days, however, those “all-natural” and “organic” products are most likely committing at least one of The Seven Sins of Greenwashing — as compiled by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing in the US.
Between 2007 and 2009, the in-store availability of so-called “green” products has increased between 40% and 176%, with 98% of products surveyed still committing at least one "sin of greenwashing", according to TerraChoice’s newly released report, “The 2009 Seven Sins of Greenwashing.” Greenwashing, as defined by TerraChoice, is the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service. Read more
 PepsiCo to introduce compostable crisp bag for SunChips
Further signs that snack makers are delving deeper into green packaging initiatives with US behemoth PepsiCo attesting that by 2010 its SunChips brand will boast a 100% compostable bag made from plant-based materials. Read more
Sustainability Stuff
Strange fruit: Could genetically modified foods offer a solution to the world's food crisis? How much do you spend each week on food? It depends on how much you earn, of course. But roughly speaking, the average Briton devotes around 7 to 10 per cent of their income to titillating their taste buds. Yet it's different if you're poor – and very different if you're very poor. If you'd been unlucky enough to be born in parts of Africa, Asia or Latin America you could be spending 50 or even 70 per cent of what you earn each week just on trying to fill your belly.
It's a decade since GM products were hurriedly swept from UK shops after a panic about their safety. In the meantime, GM crops have been widely – and successfully – cultivated elsewhere. So is it time we embraced the new food? Read more
[This is an outstanding, sane, measured, interesting look at this contentious topic - a highly recommended read. Ed]
US: The next generation of biofuels Americans burn through 140 billion gallons of gasoline a year. And even if drivers switch to more fuel-efficient cars and trucks, the nation’s fuel needs are expected to increase by a fifth over the next 20 years, thanks to dramatic increases in car and airplane use. Which is why, in addition to developing solar, wind and geothermal energy, policy makers, including President Barack Obama, are advocating biofuels to transform the transportation culture.
They’re not talking about ethanol from corn, however, which has already proved wasteful and environmentally damaging. Instead eyes are on a handful of high-tech labs around the U.S. that are perfecting ways to make the equivalent of gasoline and diesel from the lowest life-forms on the totem pole: yeast, algae and bacteria. The challenge is to make enough of these fuels economically and in a form compatible with today’s vehicles. Read more
Miscellany
 UK: Gordon Ramsay restaurants found to be using pre-prepared meals
Just last week, Gordon Ramsay was asked by a newspaper what his idea of food hell was, he replied: "Ready
meals." A few days later, the Sun newspaper was reporting that a string of his restaurants are supplied with - guess what? - "ready meals delivered by Transit".
It is not hard to guess what the celebrity cheft had to say when he fell victim to this sting by the Sun newspaper, which not only caught out his London gastro-pubs using pre-prepared meals including boil-in-a-bag coq au vin, but that they are sold at mark-ups of 500%. Whatever he said, it probably had an F in it. Read more
That's it for this week, folks!
 24-27 April: CHEESE FEST!
If you're in the Cape over the next long weekend, don't forget The SA Cheese Festival. Synonymous with superb culinary experiences, it will again provide foodies with cheese inspiration, and so much more besides, at Bien Donné Farm, between Paarl and Franschhoek.
See www.cheesefestival.co.za for details.
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