
Fermented grape is crushing reformulation’s toughest trade-offs
As pressure mounts to cut sugar and sodium, fermentation-derived ingredients are helping manufacturers cut trade-offs across flavour, texture and cost.

As pressure mounts to cut sugar and sodium, fermentation-derived ingredients are helping manufacturers cut trade-offs across flavour, texture and cost.

New health studies are reigniting a global battle over artificial sweeteners, leaving brands, regulators and consumers divided

Brands like Roots Farm Fresh, Blue Stripes and Salt and Straw are finding new value in food waste through upcycled snacks and frozen foods

Agency delays effective dates for color additives after GMO/Toxin Free USA and Obelisk Tech Systems challenge safety reviews and ‘no artificial colors’ labeling

With reformulation exposing bitterness and flattening flavour in industrial bread, enzymes are now being tested as a targeted way to rebalance taste at source – but how far they can go remains unclear

Dietitians’ latest data points to a more grounded approach to functionality, where gut health, cost and credibility matter as much as claims

Oobli’s CEO is betting on protein-based sweetness to cut sugar at scale, but the shift raises uncomfortable questions for regulators, manufacturers and the supply chain
From GLP-1 drugs and AI to fast-shifting shopper preferences, founders and experts urge snack brands to double down on focus, purpose and agility

A watchdog report detecting herbicide residues in bread, flour and infant cereal is reigniting the safety debate and putting pressure on regulators to act

Raisins sit quietly inside thousands of everyday foods, but the global trade behind them is far more concentrated than most manufacturers realise

Ingredients Compendium No 3: Resistant Starch
As manufacturers push fibre levels higher while cutting sugar and protecting texture, resistant starch is emerging as one of the most practical tools in modern food reformulation

In the US, the drive for ingredient transparency is beginning to feel less like steady progress and more like a stress test for the modern food system

Expo West lands in Anaheim this March, and protein isn’t just a trend – it’s the baseline. The real fight is over taste, texture and who can make functionality feel effortless

Research into sunflower oil byproducts suggests an overlooked ingredient could help bakers lift protein and fiber levels while supporting sustainability goals and easing pressure on wheat-based formulations

Ingredients Compendium No 2: Trehalose
As manufacturers grapple with sugar reduction, texture loss and longer shelf-life demands, trehalose is emerging as a functional ingredient to watch in 2026

What do French consumers want?

FDA eases ‘no artificial colors’ claims, but ambiguity over ‘petroleum-based dyes’ leaves manufacturers cautious

Functional foods are often ultra-processed – but can they be clean label?

From synthetic color bans to rising scrutiny of processing, clean label is becoming less about claims and more about hard formulation and policy choices

Candy in the crosshairs
Even without enforcement action, publicly released contaminant data could fuel lawsuits, consumer confusion and regulatory scrutiny, while also undermining federal oversight

New consumer research shows that most UK consumers eat bread every day without really knowing what’s in it

The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans avoid the term “ultra-processed foods,” prompting both praise and criticism

A quiet change to a burger bun in India says more about where fiber is heading than any claim ever could

Opinion: The snackdown
Ultra-processed foods have been debated endlessly. In 2026, they’re being regulated anyway and food makers are discovering that definitions matter far less once policy gets involved

National Advertising Division cases shine light on marketing missteps, making the case for food and beverage brands to rethink health-focused advertising

Indulgent treats aren’t being replaced – they’re being refined. This latest wave of NPD upgrades familiar formats with cleaner labels, global flavor cues and subtle functional gains

A bakery & snacks survival guide for 2026
From GLP-1-driven taste shifts to protein pressure and portion realism, 2026 won’t kill indulgence – it’ll demand that bakery and snacks work harder for every bite.

A lifesaving therapeutic food made of peanuts should be a wake-up call to every snack developer still chasing novelty over impact

A nearly $1 billion write-down and soft Q2 weigh on the stock, yet management reaffirms its focus on frozen, snacks and value-led innovation

From billion-dollar brinkmanship to red-dye revolts and zero-gravity corn chips, 2025 proved nothing in bakery and snacks is too big, too weird or too controversial to make headlines

Sweet snack trends are tilting toward simpler, fruit-forward formulations – and Solely’s approach is drawing fresh attention from retailers

The confectionery giant’s latest move – snapping up LesserEvil – pulls it deeper into the everyday snacking landscape it’s been circling for years

Cape Cod Chips now faces two lawsuits alleging the brand’s ‘no artificial’ claims don’t square with its use of synthetic citric acid

With cocoa costs spiraling, Briess is pitching malted barley flour as a reliable, clean label lifeline for bakers and snack makers

Discover the five trends that will define 2026, and why agility, authenticity, and technology will determine who succeeds and who fails

Synthetic dyes may still be legal but shifting consumer trends and rising US state-level pressures mean bakery and snack brands aren’t waiting for mandates to start cleaning up their color palettes

From colorless chips to collectible crisps and gooey skillet cookies, this season’s launches show how playful storytelling is reshaping what shoppers expect from a simple snack

When the food industry finds itself smeared as guilty by association – it’s not just the definition of ‘processing’ that’s under fire – it’s the entire business model

New ESA president Christopher Gosau says the region’s snack makers must turn bold sustainability promises into measurable progress or risk losing credibility

The tradeshow featured hundreds of innovative new products at the Cool New Snacks preview room

Protein’s still flexing hard, but it’s left the gym and hit the grocery aisle

From gene-edited wheat to a three-minute gluten test, scientists are rethinking gluten-free baking and the results could change everything

Cocoa’s up, eggs are unpredictable and consumers still want it all. Ardent Mills’ Matt Schueller reveals how data – not luck – is driving the next wave of bakery innovation

Microbes are moving from background biology to bakery’s next big advantage - driving cleaner labels, longer shelf life and smarter sustainability

Spins data reveals how younger consumers are reimagining nutrition around functional benefits, global flavors and ingredient transparency

The anti-UPF noise is getting louder, but behind it lies a quieter truth about what people actually buy, eat, and believe

They’ve been branded unnecessary by the clean label crowd, but their role in texture, stability and sustainability is hard to ignore

Opinion
Turns out, more than half of us didn’t know chips are made from potatoes – and now food brands are scrambling to remind us what we’re actually eating

Mondelēz’s latest State of Snacking report explores how memory and emotion have become the new currency of snacking
Prepared-food sales are climbing, and younger shoppers are leading the push for fresher, clean-label offerings