A lack of sleep could alter the way our brains work, making us more likely to consume unhealthy snack products than healthier options, say researchers.
A Minnesota-based firm making waves with anthocyanin-packed purple-corn ingredients says it has had significant interest from the snack food market, but is also talking to microbrewers, confectioners, and firms manufacturing everything from sourdough...
Ready-to-eat cereals giant Post Holdings has moved into the active nutrition and supplements market with a $180m deal to acquire Premier Nutrition Corporation (PNC) - maker of Titan and Premier Protein bars and shakes, and Joint Juice (liquid supplements...
Europe is driving global bakery innovation ahead of the US, representing over half of all new product launches for 2012. But what are some of the ‘most innovative’ products?
Given the obesity epidemic and high rates of chronic disease in the US, consumers should replace convenience foods and snacks with cheaper options like fruit and vegetables, says the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
Hostess Brands may develop new cake lines with added fiber, wholegrain or even gluten-free variants and it's not afraid of competition, its president says.
Digestion may impact the antioxidant potential of wholegrain cereals and more human studies are needed to confirm their true activity, according to research.
Sports nutrition marketers have traditionally focused on young men, sports teams and hardcore athletes. In future, however, they will need to spend more time targeting women, weekend warriors and consumers pursuing individual sports and fitness activities...
A newly developed cereal high in protein and fiber but low in fat, salt and sugar has hit the market to tackle the global obesity epidemic, its developer ViSalus says.
Fibers from the blue lupin kernel may improve the function of the colon and potential reduce the risk of colon cancer, says a new study from Friedrich Schiller University of Jena in Germany.
PepsiCo UK needs marketing muscle behind its new reduced fat Mighty Lights potato chip line if the product is to have any public health impact among kids, a nutrition policy expert says.
Wholegrain consumption in Denmark has risen significantly thanks to industry efforts to incorporate the grain into breads and other food products, according to a new study.
There is a raft of options now available to food manufacturers looking to reduce salt - but how about mushrooms? Frozen mushroom giant Scelta Mushrooms has two ingredients for salt replacement, including one for (non-mushroom-flavoured) bread.
Fruit and vegetable residues typically discarded in the manufacture of isotonic sports drinks could be a rich nutrient source for other foodstuffs like bars and biscuits, Brazilian researchers have found.
Indian consumers have universally steered towards healthier breakfast options over the last decade and oat cereals have far outpaced other choices, Nielsen research shows.
Younger Mexican consumers have adopted healthier eating trends as US influence, obesity concerns and marketing efforts take hold, prompting a sharp rise in breakfast cereal consumption, according to Canadean.
Stratum Nutrition will be highlighting its ApuraGreen ingredient—a kiwi fruit paste functional food ingredient—at the upcoming IFT show. The company will present application studies showing the ingredient’s effectiveness in replacing fat as well as extending...
Wholegrain has its benefits but there is nothing negative about eating white bread and it can be a valuable part of a healthy, balanced diet, says the director of the Federation of Bakers.
Communicating sodium reduction efforts in bakery is a challenge given consumer knowledge is often limited, says the MD of UK-based firm The Low Sodium Sea Salt Company.
Industry has dedicated a lot of promotional efforts on wholemeal bread and this could have contributed to the slump in white bread, says the Federation of Bakers’ (FOB) director.
The EU energy market is set to grow by €1bn by 2017 and much of that could come from ‘natural energy’, a sub-sector that has been boosted by recent health claim approvals, says Euromonitor International analyst, Diana Cowland.
Unilever has applied to UK authorities for EU novel foods approval for its cholesterol-lowering phytosterol esters in liquid vegetable fats used in home cooking and baking.
Cereal majors Kellogg and Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW) are reviewing the UK Department of Health’s (DoH) front-of-pack voluntary labeling scheme, but one nutrition policy expert says they will never sign.
There is a strong stereotype that women want indulgence and health when snacking, but in the US and Europe health comes eleventh in snack motivations, according to new research from Canadean.
Claims like low sodium, low fat and low calorie on snacks are decreasing which seems counterintuitive given action is being taken by manufacturers, said the director of innovation and insights at Mintel.
Infrared radiation (IR) can be used in place of part of the traditional frying process to reduce fat in gluten-free donuts without impacting taste, research finds.
US consumers don’t have the habit of eating hot cereal, but they are very open to new concepts and the Special K Nourish launch should do very well, says an analyst.
People with mild depression or anxiety may have modified perceptions of how fat, sweet and bitter flavours which could result in higher consumption levels of unhealthy foods, researchers suggest.
Kellogg and General Mills have largely slashed sugar and sodium and upped fiber in their US ready-to-eat (RTE) breakfast cereals, but in a number of products the sugar and sodium levels have risen or not changed, new findings show.
Plant bakers need to defend their corner more robustly in order to increase consumer awareness of bread's nutritional benefits while also battling harvest, regulatory and publicity woes.
The European Union must embrace a mandatory folic acid flour fortification program given the prevalence of neural tube defects (NTDs) in newborns across the region, say researchers.
Food fortification with neural tube defect (NTD)-reducing folic acid is mandatory in 75 nations, but concerns over cancer and other health issues mean Europe lags far behind – a situation that needs to change and quickly, says DSM thinktank, sightandlife.
Bread bakers should be prepared to face further reductions in salt levels when new limits are set by the Department of Health (DH) later this year – despite hitting their 2012 targets and reducing levels by 40% over the past decade.
Big interview: Kevin Cleary, CEO Clif Bar & Company
Nutrition bars enter - and exit - the snacks aisle at the speed of light these days. So how has Clif Bar managed to sustain the kind of growth rivals can only dream of, year after year? Elaine Watson caught up with CEO Kevin Cleary to find out.
New research supports significant reductions in sodium from where most Americans are today, but does not justify population-wide reductions below 2,300 mg per day, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
Food industry encouragement of physical activity in obesity prevention should be welcomed, according to an obesity expert who spoke at the European Congress on Obesity in the UK on Monday.
While peanut flour has been around for years, recent interest in protein - particularly the plant-based variety - has sparked renewed interest, particularly in the nutritional bars market, according to one leading supplier.
A new analysis of sodium levels in 480 packaged and restaurant foods over the period 2005-2011 provides further evidence that voluntary approaches to sodium reduction have not delivered the across-the-board reductions required to meet government targets.
