"A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others."
Ayn Rand

Food bites... The meat/no meat debate

"Every form of life deserves respect, not just charismatic megafauna made popular by Disney. Every species has a role. Every species is integral to the ecosystem. Every species is somebody's hunter, somebody's prey, somebody's partner. To claim that animals have greater rights than plants is an assertion not based on an understanding of the biological world. Death is part of all life. A plant is as highly adapted for its niche as a pig. People who are vegetarians because they think killing animals for food is murder do not understand the biological world. But if they make their diet decision based on their emotional response to charismatic megafauna, that's fine. But it unfairly elevates some species over others."

Dr ML Tortorello, a renowned US microbiologist

Editor's Stuff - Love the irony: technology makes natural food!

"MY MOTHER never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch," once said irrepressible actor, Jack Nicholson. Irony is a wonderfully intelligent concept, and would be a heap more amusing if it were not tempered by being "honesty with the volume cranked up," to quote the American writer, George Saunders.

Thus is was with some delight that I came across, and have published by exclusive arrangement, a recent editorial in the New Nutrition Business newsletter that highlights perhaps one of the quintessential ironies of today's food world: it is technology that makes natural food.

"Consumer research shows, over and again, in almost every country, that consumers want to get their health benefits from foods that are 'as natural as possible'. But the fact is that most successful natural foods are dependent on processing technologies to unleash their health benefits while keeping them palatable – and above all, convenient. Do read more here...

But TWO weeks to go! REGISTER FOR IUFoST 2010!

Thirty things to know, and 30 compelling reasons to be at the industry's own "World Cup" of food science, technology, trends, breakthroughs and challenges. Come for a day, or four, or just the expo - this is an event that every food industrialist needs to be at! Go to the IUFoST 2010 website for all the details: http://www.iufost2010.org.za/

Enjoy this week's read!

Email Brenda Neall, editor and publisher: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Time to have a little brag: FOODStuff SA enjoyed some brilliant traffic in July, compounding on its growth trend. Unique visitor numbers reached over 2 900, but the most important aspect is that these visitors viewed over 77 000 pages, making 6 883 visits, and each reading an average of 11,3 pages. I trust this shows the value of FOODStuff SA's content - and it's really encouraging that this website and newsletter are proving of worth to you and many others. Can a print magazine even begin to compete when it come to quantifying readership? 

FOOD INDUSTRY JOBS ADVERTISED THIS WEEK!
 See jobs here and here.

Afrikaans translation: To translate this page, go to http://interpret.co.za/, and simply paste the URL into the page translator module. The translation is by no means perfect, but is a help if you want to read in your home language.

Local Food Industry Stuff

Keeping the Unilever SA house in order: cutting costs, investing in brands

Unilever SA chair Gail Klintworth saw the recession coming. In January 2007, she took a knife to the Anglo-Dutch group’s local operations. The entire business, including its people, systems and processes, was made leaner — 40% of management was retrenched, 27 distribution centres were whittled down to two and general overheads were reduced by about 300 basis points.

It’s not surprising then that while Unilever was slashing costs , it continued to invest in brand advertising and innovation. “The theory is when you enter an economic recession, it’s important to keep costs extremely tight and price increases as low as possible, but invest heavily in building your brand to keep visibility,” says Klintworth. Financial Mail. Read more

Watch out Nando's, here comes Giramundo

Famous Brands will take on Nando's in the flame-grilled chicken market, starting small, following its acquisition of a township chicken business and plans to add at least 100 stores over the next five years. CEO Kevin Hedderwick announced this week that it has invested R1.2m in ‘Giramundo', which means "around the world" in Portuguese, giving it ownership of 51% in the business. The remaining 49% will be owned by its black founders Buti and Maki van der Merwe.

The couple sell roughly 8 000 chickens a month from one fast-food outlet in Bramley, JHB, and three container outlets in Alexandra, Tembisa and Soweto. Famous Brands, which has established a reputation for building winning food franchises, will re-engineer and enhance the existing intellectual property and cover operational costs for the first two years. Business Day. Read more 

SAB thrashes Amstel in latest battle of beer war 

It was a resounding 8-1 victory for SA Breweries in the latest "SAB versus Amstel" contest before the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). But just to prove that nothing relating to advertising is as it seems, both SAB and Brandhouse Beverages - on behalf of Amstel - have claimed victory. This came despite some damning comments by ASA relating to Amstel's attempts to disguise the fact that there is 90ml, or 12 percent, less beer in its new bottles. Business Report. Read more 

Bad weather will see potato prices soar in short-term

McCain Foods reports high rains locally and drought internationally has resulted in defective potato crops and global shortage of potatoes. Adverse climactic conditions in South Africa over the past year are set to affect the supply, quality and pricing of frozen potato products, reports leading frozen foods manufacturer McCain Foods (SA). This will impact both consumers and customers in the foodservice, retail and quick service restaurant industry. FOODStuff SA. Read more

Obituary: From coal to Cap Classique - GRAHAM BECK

Businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Graham Beck died recently in London at the age of 80, suffering from lung cancer. His name is now legend in SA's wine industry, and it was he who decided to take on the French at their own sparkling wine game and, if not exactly beat them, at least offer some fairly stiff competition.

In SA there was no evidence, when Beck started out in the early '80s, that sparkling wine would be an industry of any significance. But he had the remarkable prescience to see that there would be a market, domestically and internationally, for his sparkling wine. Not even he, though, could have imagined that a future president of the US would one day choose his bubbly to toast his inauguration - as Barack Obama did with a glass of Graham Beck Brut Non Vintage in late 2008. Sunday Times. Read more

IPSA 2010 Congress: the lowdown on packaging in SA today

IPSA, the Institute of Packaging (South Africa) is hosting its annual national packaging congress later this month in Jo'burg. This Congress is structured to promote knowledge, professionalism, education and networking for all those involved in the production and use of packaging. Many topical issues and developments in the industry will be addressed over the 1,5-day event. It takes place at The Forum, Bryanston, Sandton, on Wednesday 18th & Thursday 19th August 2010. Download the programme here

Food Industry News

Wheat prices soar 50% since June

International wheat prices have jumped by over 50% since June  with concerns this rapid increase could be a repeat of the food crisis of 2007/08. The impact of unfavourable weather events on crops in recent weeks has led FAO to cut its global wheat production forecast for 2010 to 651 million tonnes, from 676 million tonnes reported in June. But despite production problems in some leading exporting countries, the world wheat market remains far more balanced than at the time of the world food crisis in 2007/08 and fears of a new global food crisis are not justified at this point, FAO said. Foodingredientsfirst. Read more

Nestlé enters specialised clinical nutrition market

Nestlé has aquired of Vitaflo, a Liverpool-based global provider of clinical nutritional products which has enjoyed double-digit growth in the order of 30% over the last 3 years. This strategic transaction allows Nestlé to enter the fast-growing global market for clinical nutrition products tailor-made for people with inherited metabolic disorders. This sector is growing rapidly as improved diagnosis and screening enable increasing numbers of cases to be detected, and new advances in science demonstrate the benefits of specialised nutrition as an integral part of clinical management. Vitaflo has approximate annual sales of CHF 40 million. NutraIngredients. Read more

EFSA rejects soy protein-cholesterol health claim

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a negative opinion to a health claim submission linking soy protein and reduced LDL cholesterol. While EFSA’s Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) recognised reduced LDL cholesterol as a viable biomarker for reduced risk of heart disease, it said the 40-study strong dossier failed to demonstrate causality. Food Manufacture. Read more

Solae has called EFSA's soy-cholesterol opinion “disconcerting” and has criticised it for a selective approach in dismissing its dossier. FoodNavigator. Read more

EU: Danone backs probiotic juice with ProViva investment

Danone has paid an undisclosed sum to Swedish dairy Skånemejerier for a 51% stake in its probiotic juice brand, ProViva. Expanding the brand beyond its Swedish core is high on the agenda, as is confirmation of its digestive health claims that are approved in Sweden, but not as yet by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Fellow Swedish company, Probi, the supplier of the Lp299v strain used in the beverage launched in 1994, has also benefitted in the deal with 10-year supply contracts affirmed. DairyReporter. Read more

Growing demand, stable supply mean cocoa prices to stay high

Cocoa prices, which recently hit a 33-year high, won't be coming down anytime soon,according to the world's biggest chocolate maker. "Cocoa is a scarce material; demand has been rising, supply has been stable, so prices have gone up," said Jurgen Steinemann, chief executive of Barry Callebaut, the Swiss chocolatier that supplies many of the world's top food makers. Financial Times (tiered subscription model). Read more

EU: The end of the long battle for the name Budweiser

The European Court of Justice has ended a long-running brewing dispute, defeating an attempt by Anheuser-Busch to gain exclusive rights in the EU to the Budweiser trademark. In a drawn out legal case, the Court has ruled in favour of the little guy, Budejovicky Budvar, who has argued that it had previously used the Budweiser name, protected, in particular, in Germany and Austria. BeverageDaily. Read more 

Health and Nutrition Stuff

One high-fat diet, two different outcomes: the path to obesity becomes clearer

Why is it that two people can consume the same high fat, high-calorie Western diet and one becomes obese and prone to diabetes while the other maintains a slim frame? This question has long baffled scientists, but a study by Yale School of Medicine researchers provides a simple explanation: weight is set before birth in the developing brain. ScienceDaily. Read more

Why genes, not diet, may increase your chances of getting heart disease

Scientists have achieved an important breakthrough in understanding why some people are born with a strong predisposition to heart disease while others appear to be able to eat fatty food with very little or no increased risk.

The findings could lead to new ways of treating people with naturally high cholesterol – strongly linked to an increased risk of heart disease, the biggest killer in Western countries – with drugs that are tailor-made to suit a person's particular genetic makeup – so-called "personalised medicine". The Independent. Read more

Opinion: The invisible barriers to solving obesity

With two-thirds of American adults and one-third of our children either overweight or obese, it is clear that the regulations, strategies, and tactics deployed to reverse this albatross have been ineffective. What has dumbfounded me is that we rarely ask the following question: why has nothing worked? So far, too much emphasis has been given to "being right" rather than fixing the problem. A "my way or the highway" mentality prevails. Many blame the food marketers for pushing junk foods. Others hold consumers responsible for not eating well or exercising. While each of these arguments has merit, neither camp has served up any lasting solutions. The Atlantic. Read more

Understanding obesity: beyond teaching, tinkering & blaming

Understanding obesity provides a provocative, yet simple, explanation as to the root  problem of America's greatest public health issue and offers equally thought-provoking solutions. More great insights from The Hartman Group. Read more

Pancreatic cancer cells feed on fructose, study finds

Pancreatic tumour cells use fructose to divide and proliferate, US researchers say in a study that challenges the common wisdom that all sugars are the same. Tumour cells fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways, the team at the University of California Los Angeles found. They said their finding, published in the journal Cancer Research, may help explain other studies that have linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types. MSNBC. Read more

COMMENT: So does high-fructose corn syrup cause cancer?

A new study [see above] shows that malignant cells love fructose, but the war against the sweetener isn't really about science. Even Marion Nestle, chairwoman of the Food Studies department at New York University and one of the fiercest and smartest critics of our food system, writes on her blog that the science available now really shows it's just another form of sugar. And on the new study showing that cancer cells thrive on fructose, she says:

"This is fructose they are talking about, not HFCS specifically. HFCS is not particularly high in fructose compared to table sugar. Both are about 50% fructose and are about equal in their effects. So is honey. Agave has even more. Fructose-containing sugars are best consumed in small amounts but there's nothing new in that advice. If it is true that the average American consumes 25% of calories from added sugars or even 20%, that means that 10% or more of the calories come from fructose. Not a good idea."

So this study isn't a scientific silver bullet against HFCS, but the war against HFCS has never been about science, really. It's always been about the fact that it's a backbone of corn subsidies that makes Midwest agriculture a massive corporate monoculture -- making it a favorite target of food activists -- and the paranoia we have of an ingredient with a distinctly processed-sounding name that we also happen to find in everything that has an ingredient label. It's always been about perception, not science. Salon. Read more

Immunotherapy for food allergies

Traditional immunotherapy, via allergy shots, is a century-old technique most commonly used to treat inhaled allergens — such as cat dander and pollen — and it's also standard treatment for bee sting allergy. Using immunotherapy to treat food allergies is rare and well outside mainstream practice. A few physicians are already practicing it, though many allergists object because it's untested. Clinical trials are underway. LA Times. Read more

Sports drinks geared more toward intense activity

You're headed to the gym or for a bike ride after work. Should you sip a sports drink before, guzzle it afterward or stick with water? Everyday exercise doesn't really call for that huge orange bottle. Going for a three-mile run? Don't need it. A 100-mile bike ride? The answer, according to sports nutrition experts, is … it depends. LA Times. Read more

Resveratrol shown to suppress inflammation, free radicals in humans

Resveratrol, the phytoalexin produced naturally by several plants when under attack by pathogens such as bacteria or fungi, and popular as a supplement due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, appears also to suppress inflammation in humans, based on results from the first prospective human trial of the extract conducted by University at Buffalo endocrinologists. ScienceDaily. Read more

Food Marketing, Trends & NPD

EXCLUSIVE!! Re-thinking chocolate milk

Once demonised by dietitians, chocolate milk drinks are fighting back. In the US dairies are returning to marketing messages about the natural nutrient richness of milk, reformulating their chocolate milk drinks to be lower in fat and sugar and making the most of new scientific research that suggests chocolate milk is an ideal sports recovery drink – better even than isotonic drinks like Gatorade. Read more

Another item of great trend reporting from the eminent New Nutrition Business and published on FOODStuff SA by exclusive arrangement. First published in New Nutrition Business, May 2010 Newsletter. For more NNB brilliance, click here

UK: Heinz baked beans in a jar

Heinz has been selling baked beans in a metal can for the last 124 years in Britain, but it will start selling them in a plastic jar. Heinz stresses that it is not ditching metal cans, but merely trying to encourage families to waste fewer beans with this new design, a 1kg jar has been designed to help families fed up of opening a tin, using half of it and then letting it slowly go off in the fridge. The Telegraph. Read more

UK: Kellogg promises to cut sugar

Kellogg has pledged to reduce high levels of sugar in its best-selling children's cereal following a sustained campaign by health groups. The company announced nutritional improvements to its existing Coco Pops chocolate cereal range, involving a reduction in sugar, the addition of vitamin D and the launch of a new Coco Pops Choc 'N' Roll cereal which will pass the Food Standards Agency's tougher nutrient profile. The Guardian. Read more

UK: New! Tiny lettuce for lonely singles

As if coming home to a cold, lonely London flat in wasn't enough to make a single Brit despondent, UK retail giant Marks & Spencer has come up with yet another way to take advantage of the romantically unentangled. Meet the tiny lettuce, an iceberg lettuce about a quarter of the size of a regular head of lettuce, so designed to meet the needs of a single-person household. M & S says it decided to sell this baby after receiving complaints from scores of singletons tired of throwing away leftovers, ridiculously marketing it as a way to "cut down food wastage and save money." Salon. Read more

EU: Almonds on the up in new products

Almonds were the most popular nut used in new products launched in the EU last year, Mintel data indicate, with over 50% of almond-containing foods in the confectionery and bakery categories. Data from Mintel’s Global New Products Database and shared by the Almond Board of California suggest an 18% increase in almond-containing products launched in the EU-27 in 2009. Nuts (all varieties) saw a 12% increase in launches, and total food launches were up 15%. ConfectioneryNews. Read more

The new Nescafe Barista a hit in Japan

Nescafé Barista, Nestlé’s innovative breakthrough solution which provides a complete coffee system, continues to excel in the Japanese market. As the only at-home coffee by the cup system of its kind using soluble coffee, it offers a full café menu at the push of a button.

Exclusively available in Japan, consumers can enjoy five delicious, full-bodied types of coffee including cappuccino, café latte, espresso-type, black coffee and mug-sized black coffee. Used with the patented Nescafé Eco & System refill pack, the machine can make real crema to produce frothy foam – which was impossible to achieve before when preparing a cup of instant coffee in the traditional way. Nestlé. Read more

Food Science & Microbiology Stuff

Listening to bacteria

Dr Bonnie Bassler of Princeton has done fascinating research on the ability of microbes to communicate and work together. She is at the forefront of the fast-growing field of 'quorum sensing,' the study of how microbes communicate with each other as they go about building the vast interlocking infrastructure of life on which we macrobes depend.

In recent years she and other microbiologists have discovered that bacteria are not the dull solipsists of long-standing reputation, content to merely suck in food, double in size, divide down the middle and repeat ad infinitum, attending to nothing but their obtuse, unicellular selves. Instead, bacteria turn out to be the original newshounds, glued to their cellphones and Internet chat lines. They converse in a complex chemical language, using molecules to alert one another to who's out there, in what numbers and how best to behave given the present company. Bacteria survey their ranks, they count heads, and if the throng is sufficiently large and like-minded - if there is a quorum - they act. Through chemical signaling, tiny bacterial cells can band together and perform the work of giants. Smithsonian Magazine. Read more

Getting creative with hydrocolloids

The growing trend of integrating science into the culinary kitchen is pushing the boundaries of food ideation in both the restaurant and retail food spaces. Focusing on the role of hyrocolloids, this fascinating article looks at the point of overlap between the two worlds of the kitchen and the food factory laboratory, seeing it as a fertile space in which culinary-inspired technical innovation can flourish and where future food innovation can and will occur in both. IFT Magazine. Read more

Hot Stuff

How did 2-methylnaphthalene end up in America’s Froot Loops?

The US Congress will be investigating the massive recall by Kellogg of 28 million cereal boxes initiated in June, when 2-methylnaphthalene from the packaging percolated into the cereal - a good reminders that for any food you consume, a small part of the wrapping inevitably ends up in your body, too. Ditto for pharmaceutical drugs.

Sarah Everts, a bloggist at C&ENtral Science weblog, speculates on how the 2-methylnaphthalene had ended up in America’s Froot Loops. CentralScience. Read more

US regulators lack data on health risks of most chemicals

"It is really troubling that you've got this form of naphthalene that's produced in millions of pounds a year and we don't have some of the basic information about how toxic it is" . . . This article contends that federal regulators, who are charged with ensuring the safety of food and consumer products, are in the dark about the suspected chemical, 2-methylnaphthalene, that has contaminated Kellogg cereals. The FDA, it says, has no scientific data on its impact on human health. The EPA also lacks basic health and safety data for 2-methylnaphthalene - even though the EPA has been seeking that information from the chemical industry for 16 years. Washington Post. Read more  

Tuna meltdown: is there an alternative?

Numbers of bluefin tuna are so low that the species is heading for extinction. But there is hope for this magnificent red-fleshed, warm-blooded fish. Salvation may come in the form of Kona Kampachi, which is abundant and has the sushi bite of bluefin. Isn't it time we changed the menu and got tuna off the hook? The Observer. [Brilliant, beautifully-crafted essay if this topic interests you. Ed]. Read more

Scientists plumb the depths to ask how many fish in the sea

It has been the biggest and most comprehensive attempt ever to answer that age-old question – how many fish are there in the sea? The first global census of marine life logs 230 000 species – but 10-year study by 360 scientists warns of mass extinctions. The Guardian. Read more

The eating meat debate

Eat meat or not? No other food topic is more divisive, and perhaps, none is more important. Our food choices are based on many influences and influence much of our world from our health to the environment to national economies to personal finances. For many, this is a religious issue and there is a strong desire to evangelize. Animals seem to be godlike to both sides.

The Huffington Post Food Section would like to compile the best arguments on the subject or meat, pro, con, or in between, and perhaps help some people decide. There are books on either side of the issue, but we would like to see point and counterpoint side by side. We would also like to debunk some myths. Huffington Post. Read more

Miscellany

Nothing sweet about NYC's anti-soda ads

A year after it produced the “Pouring on the Pounds” campaign, which included a stomach-turning video of a man drinking a concoction meant to look like liquid blubber, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is targeting parents in its latest salvo. The city launched round two in its war against sugary drinks this week, unveiling a subway poster ad depicting 26 packets of sugar being poured into a cup of soda. Read more

Asparagus urine and other strange food reactions

What strange taste things happen when people eat certain foods? And why do they happen, to the extent that scientists know? Two very obvious ‘strange things” — ones that would be hard to miss — are changes in the urine when a person has eaten asparagus or red beets. A nasty odour, in the first case. And a very alarming hue, in the second. LA Times.Read more