 "I firmly believe that we can be both efficient and human. . . . . Let us conduct our business as much with the heart as with the head.. " Antoine Riboud, the founder of world food giant, Danone
Food Bites . . . the secret to longevity?  “Though there aren't many scientists ready to suggest humans undertake caloric restriction, they recognize it is the only known intervention shown to prolong life in multiple species, including, most recently, primates. It works, scientists believe, because it triggers alterations in metabolic pathways involved in energy utilization. In animal studies, calorie restriction has also resulted in a reduction in age-related disabilities, including cataracts, arthritis, cognitive decline and kidney disease.
"While evidence is promising, it's too soon to jump from the Petri dish to the public. No human studies have proven that calorie-reduction works for people. Plus, getting people to comply is unlikely."
 Editor's Stuff - Brilliant SA packaging innovation hits the shelves
Isn't it wonderful when a brilliant idea becomes a reality! The good news that came across my desk yesterday is that a home-grown piece of packaging genius has moved out of development and prototyping, and is now in commercial format.
The item in question is Snap & Squeeze, handy single-serving sachets that, invented in Cape Town and perfected in Italy, will surely change the face of the sachet market. I first wrote about this award-winning concept (it won a big Italian packaging prize last year and was initially called Easysnap) and its inventor, Dr Hennie du Plessis over a year ago - and you can get all the background here.
 Now, first to market with the format is Willow Creek Olive Estate that has launched the sachets filled with 8ml of its premium Directors’ Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Cabernet Sauvignon Balsamic Style Vinegar respectively.
Conventional sachets tend to be awkward and frequently messy to open. With Snap & Squeeze, the process is completely simplified and there's no chance of a sachet tearing, leaking or splattering. The two ends are simply pushed together until the folding pressure breaks a variable cut in the rigid side of the pack, and the liquid contents are then discharged in a controlled manner. Release the pack, and there's no further spillage. The applications are endless. Unfortunately, Hennie du Plessis is out of town in the wilds of Botswana, so he wasn't available to comment on this milestone but I will get his input soonest. Read the story here.
 STOP PRESS! SA's massive hot cross bun gets the okay for the world record!
Guinness World Records yesterday verified that the record for the world's biggest hot cross bun rests safely in South Africa. Readers will remember news of the successful attempt, just before Easter, by Sasko, Safari Dried Fruit and Danisco to bake the record-busting bun, weighing in at a hefty 103kg, at Sasko's Kenilworth bread plant in Cape Town. The bun was later cut up and distributed to patients and their families at the Red Cross Children's Hospital. Read how it all happened here.
Enjoy this week's read! Email Brenda:
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PS My newsletter will not be published next week as I'm taking some time out to celebrate my mum's 80th in the Kruger Park.
See feedback from readers on the 100% juice controversy reported on last week at the end of the newsletter.
SA Food Industry News
World-first Fair Cape rooibos yoghurt gets CANSA recognition Fair Cape's new Free Range Rooibos Yoghurts are the first yoghurts to carry the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) Smart Choice emblem. Awarded to suppliers who comply with strict criteria, the emblem has been developed to educate the public on the importance of smart food choices and offer consumers purchasing peace of mind.
CANSA has recognised Fair Cape Free Range Rooibos Yoghurts as a Smart Choice, primarily on the grounds that a serving contains the rooibos equivalent of one cup of tea. Read more
 Kraft sells Beechies to Natela Importers
Beechies chewing gum has been bought by Natela Importers from Kraft Foods in a deal that will enable Kraft to focus on its core brands and give Natela entry to a new confectionery category.
Gerry Chandran, the MD of Kraft Foods South Africa, said last week the company did have a strong confectionery category in South Africa that included Toblerone and Côte d'Or chocolate, but chewing gum no longer fitted into the group's strategy. Read more
 Discovery Vitality's HealthyFood benefit proves a hit
Discovery Vitality's HealthyFood benefit, in partnership with Pick n Pay, has attracted over 100 000 people in its first three months. Discovery Vitality members that have registered for this benefit, launched in February, have already purchased healthy food items to the value of over R30-million at Pick n Pay.
The HealthyFood benefit offers up to 25% of savings on a list of more than 6 000 HealthyFood items bought at Pick n Pay stores across South Africa. Read more
The great food price rip-off  The Sunday Times gave the food price furore major exposure this week, declaring that South Africans are paying up to 30% too much for some essential foods - because of greed, dominance and waste at major companies. And struggling consumers may have to fork out even more for food within months as producer associations warn of further hikes - particularly on dairy, vegetables and staple foods - following the 31% increase in electricity this month. Read more
 SABMiller to invest $125m in new Angola brewery
World number two brewer, SABMiller, will invest $125-million in a new brewery and sparkling soft-drinks plant in Angola this year to satisfy growing demand for beverages. The London-based brewer of Grolsch, Pilsner and Peroni said the new brewery and soft-drinks plant in Luanda would bolster its investment in the Southern African nation to $250-million in the last 18 months. Read more
  It’s Bud vs Castle in 2010 battle of the brands
Next year’s soccer World Cup will pit two iconic brands against each other — South Africa’s Castle Lager and Budweiser, the world’s biggest- selling beer.
SAB is positioning Castle Lager as the country’s “host beer” in the lead-up to the tournament, hoping to entrench the beer as shorthand for SAB and South African hospitality. Budweiser’s parent company Anheuser-Busch has sole rights to market in Fifa’s designated areas as it’s a World Cup sponsor of the event. Read more
Food Industry News EUROPE: Barry Callebaut promises a chocolate revolution Global chocolate market leader, Barry Callebaut, has developed the product that competitors have been hopelessly puzzling over for 60 years -- chocolate that doesn't melt and is low in calories.
The Swiss giant first unveiled the product dubbed "Vulcano" at an investors' presentation in March 2008 when it was still in the developmental stages. Since then, all patents have been registered. Moreover, the first taste tests have been successfully conducted, and the product is now ready to be presented to industry clients.
But many are not fully convinced about the chocolate's chances of success, with past experience showing that melt-proof chocolate cannot compete with traditional products when it comes to taste. Read more The calorie delusion: Why food labels are wrong  The common wisdom is that maintaining a healthy weight is largely a matter of balancing calories in and calories out. Yet according to a small band of researchers, using the information on food labels to estimate calorie intake could be a very bad idea. They argue that calorie estimates on food labels are based on flawed and outdated science, and provide misleading information on how much energy your body will actually get from a food. Some food labels may over or underestimate this figure by as much as 25%, enough to foil any diet. Read more
First 'climate friendly' labels appear on foods Sweden is to become the first country to slap "climate-friendly" labels on food products. The hope is that the labels will prompt consumers to buy greener products, but there are worries that some companies may use the scheme to "greenwash".
A small milk producer north of Stockholm is expected to be the first company to sport the "climate-certified" tag. One way it cut its use of energy and nutrients was by switching from chemical-based fertilisers to manure. Read more Swiss tax rules lure McDonald’s from UK McDonald’s is to leave London for Geneva, joining the growing ranks of US companies moving their European headquarters to take advantage of preferential intellectual property tax laws.
The fast-food group, which will open its head office in the Swiss city in the autumn, said the move had been almost a year in the planning. The Swiss tax regime, particularly for intellectual property, has become increasingly attractive for foreign companies, particularly the regional European headquarters of US multinationals. Read more
UK: Asda claims victory in aspartame ‘nasty’ case A High Court judge has found in favour of Asda in its court battle with Ajinomoto over food and beverage ‘no nasties’ labelling, which listed aspartame as an ingredient not used. Ajinomoto plans to appeal.
Ajinomoto launched a malicious falsehood action against the Walmart-owned supermarket in 2008 after the supermarket began labelling its 9000 ‘Good For You’ own label food and soft drink products as containing ‘no hidden nasties’. Packaging was introduced that pledged ‘no artifical colours or flavours, no aspartame, and no hydrogenated vegetable oils’. Read more
 US: Is P&G mulling a sale of Pringles?
It’s crunch time for Pringles. Procter & Gamble has unleashed the four-decade-old snack in a barrage of new flavours, shapes and sizes with new marketing even as speculation grows that Pringles could be among the next P&G brands to be sold or spun off ..... P&G has sold Folgers coffee, Jif peanut butter, Crisco shortening and Sunny Delight drinks, leaving Pringles potato crisp as the last major food brand the Cincinnati-based outfit has left. Read more
Another food factory death puts worker safety in the spotlight A man died at a New Jersey chocolate processing plant last week after falling into a vat of liquid chocolate. Temporary worker Vincent Smith was tipping solid chocolate into the melting vat when he slipped from a platform into the 2.5m deep unit. Smith apparently died instantly from a blow to his head from a paddle which was mixing the chocolate. Read more
 Bob's Beat: So what's the answer, just ban ALL advertising?We hear a lot of calls for the food and beverage industry to put the brakes on its advertising to children. But it isn't just the children. Manufacturers who create products targeted at adults are also under fire if their products are deemed unhealthy or contributors to the obesity epidemic. In fact, all across the world there are calls for marketers to just 'stop' the advertising!'
Much of this anti-advertising sentiment is being pushed along by the media, but who benefits more than the media from advertising? Without advertising, most media would be doomed! It irritates me that some manufacturers seem so willing to bend to the pressure of scrutiny from forces determined to redefine the meaning of 'marketing.' At some point, it will not be enough to just give consumers a free pass in the responsibility game and place all the blame on marketers. If parents don't want their kids to eat sugary cereals, then, jeez, don't let them eat sugary cereal, no matter how much advertising is out there. don't know what all the answers are, but it can't always be the industry that has to act responsibly. Somewhere along the line, the burden of deciding what foods consumers and their kids will or won't eat has to fall on their shoulders as well. Bob Messenger is a foremost analyst of the US food industry and publishes a daily ezine: The Morning Cup
Food Trends and NPD
UK: End of a tradition? The humbug seems doomed Once proffered by kindly aunts or sucked in the back of cars on long journeys, the humbug is in danger of being consigned to the sweet jar of history.
Sales of boiled mints, most strikingly represented in the stripey form of a peppermint humbug, have plummeted by 35% in the past two years, according to new market research. Health concerns and a dying fanbase have contributed to the fall of the sugary treats, according to Mintel (really), which said soft and chewy mints were also slumping. However strong mints have bucked the trend. Read more
UK: Herbal tea sales take buzz out of coffee Tea sales are rising after decades of decline as people abandon pricey cappuccinos and buy more green and herbal teas for their alleged health benefits.
“The decline has stopped,” said William Gorman, chairman of the UK Tea Council, adding that the tea market was expected to grow by 3% this year, with speciality teas likely to boost sales by as much as 25%. “[People] are waking up to the fact that tea is mostly water and antioxidants.” Renewed demand for tea, both within the UK and globally, is one of the factors behind a 15-20% rise in retail tea prices this year. Read more
US: ‘Energy Shots’ stimulate power drink sales This New York Times articles confirms the establishment of the power shots category, as reported a few weeks ago. The power drink of the moment costs 20 times as much per ounce as Coca-Cola, comes in a tiny bottle and tastes so bad that most people hold their noses and down it in a single gulp.
Despite all that, sales of “energy shots” are soaring in the middle of a recession. The two-ounce drinks, which give people a concentrated dose of caffeine, B vitamins and amino acids, were all but unheard-of four years ago. Today they are the hottest drink category in the country, with sales expected to almost double this year from last, to about $700 million. Read more
 Tate & Lyle’s ‘top 5 facts about fibre’
Recent research by Tate & Lyle has found that consumers want healthier fare and believe that fibre can help them reach their healthy living goals. However, many long-held misconceptions about fibre still exist. Here are five facts straight from consumers that Tate & Lyle found in its US market research. Read more  Baby food with rice ingredients at an all time high
Over the last year the number of baby food product launches containing rice ingredients has almost doubled as food manufacturers continue to respond to the consumer demand for natural, organic and hypoallergenic products, three of the major health trends of 2008/09, according to data from Innova Market Insights. Read more
 UK: Doughnut peaches – the new craze
Just when you think supermarket staples are pretty much established, in sweeps a sensation. Stand aside, large, regular peach, for the doughnut peach (which is also called the donut peach, by people who do not know how to spell). This small peach has a squished shape, hence its name. It is set to be more ubiquitous this UK summer with one wholesaler reporting that in 2006, he was supplying three to five cases a week; this year, it's more like 200. Read more SA: NPD busy-ness at I&J New I&J Light & Crispy variant with multigrain crumb: The I&J Light & Crispy range of fish fillet portions is the market leader in its category, and following the continued healthy eating trend, I&J has added a new Multigrain Crumb variant in a Lime & Coriander flavour. Read more
 Relaunch of the I&J Steam Fresh range: I&J has revamped its Steam Fresh hake range by adding two portions per pack, introducing a brand new trendy flavour and Weigh-Less endorsement; a trio of enhancements designed to boost this range's popularity. Read more
 US: Nestle launches healthy/indulgent snack
A favourite, better-for-you snack for more than 80 years, Nestle Raisinets chocolate covered raisins have been a sweet treat for generations. Nestle USA has now launched Cranberry Raisinets, chocolate covered cranberries. Read more
 Presenting ice cream innovation
While this is the low season for ice cream in our corner of the world, in the northern hemisphere a swathe of new products hit the shelves for summer. To view a fabulous gallery of new launches, click here.
Health and Nutrition
If red wine's good, are resveratrol pills even better? For several years now, the life-extending powers of trans-3,4,'5-trihydroxystilbene -- also known as resveratrol -- in its earthly form has had all the allure of an apple in the garden of Eden.
Ruby red, delicately fragrant, shapely in a rounded nest of glass, red wine can deliver as much as 1.5 milligrams of the plant compound resveratrol per four-ounce serving. At concentrations present in a person's blood after two glasses of red wine, resveratrol has been found to suppress the formation of blood clots and boost the efficiency of immune system cells.
So leave it to American entrepreneurs to gin up a thriving market for a resveratrol supplement rather than urge consumers to enjoy the food -- or in this case, savour the drink -- linked to better health and longer life. But the business of selling the supplement touted as an "anti-aging miracle" rests on a foundation of science that is as unstable and incomplete as it is promising. In fact, the marketing frenzy surrounding resveratrol is a prime example of how science can be distorted when it is mingled with hope, amplified for buzz and spun for profit. Read more
Red meat and dairy may be good for us One minute we are being urged to avoid it and told that very low-fat diets are the way to go; the next we are encouraged to gorge on it, Atkins-style. Throughout fat’s fluctuating popularity, there has been one constant: that saturated animal fats are bad, bad, bad for the heart and we consume too much of them at our peril. But is even this accepted wisdom a big fat lie?
That is the case argued in a controversial new book by a leading Canadian chef and foodie, Jennifer McLagan, who suggests that saturated fat’s killer reputation is wholly undeserved. In Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, not only questions the scientific basis for a low-fat diet, but argues that many of our health woes have arisen from our attempts in recent years to cut down on butter, lard, suet and other saturated animal fats. She argues we should be eating more, not less, of them. Read more
Calorie restriction leads to longer life: Study Restricting the amount of calories we consume, while avoiding malnutrition, may extend lives and reduce the risk of chronic disease, suggest results from a monkey study.
Findings published in Science indicate that 80% of rhesus monkeys who consumed a calorie restricted diet without being malnourished were still alive after 20 years, compared to only 50% of control animals who ate freely. Read more
Living a longer life: whose advice helps? Live a life without frailty and disease, and enjoy lasting youth, both physical and mental. Gurus of longevity have been cashing in on that promise for centuries -- never mind that not one of the people prescribing a life-extension plan has ever delivered one that worked.
"Longevity gurus share one characteristic," says Jay Olshansky, author of "The Quest for Immortality: Science at the Frontiers of Aging" and a professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. "Most are dead. And they all died at about the same age and of the same causes as the rest of the population." Read more
Packaging Stuff
 Health Canada confirms no health risk from BPA in baby food
As part of its research commitment on bisphenol A (BPA), Health Canada has released the results of studies investigating BPA exposure levels in baby food in glass jars with metal lids, powdered infant formula and bottled water.
Health Canada says it has found bisphenol A in baby foods sold in glass jars with metal lids but the level is "extremely low and poses no health or safety concerns". It found that among the products it tested where bisphenol A could be quantified, about 70% had levels of less than one part per billion. That's well below the limit of 600 parts per billion set by a directive for bisphenol A (BPA) in food. Read more
New Inkjet technology could allow simple paper-based biosensors to detect toxins Fujifilm Dimatix has announced that a research team at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, working with Canada’s SENTINEL Bioactive Paper Network, has used its DMP-2800 Dimatix Materials Printer to develop a new inkjet method for printing bioactive inks (bioinks) on paper strips.
Applications for bioactive paper range from food packaging and hospital masks to paper strips for detecting and purifying unsafe drinking water or checking for banned pesticides in crop produce. Read more
Food Science & Technology Stuff
Soy sauce may help with salt reduction in foods: Study Adding soy sauce to certain foods may enhance perception of saltiness and enable food manufacturers to cut salt content without affecting taste, according to new research from Japan.
Soy sauce was capable of reducing the salt content of salad dressings, soup, and stir-fried pork by 50, 17, and 29% respectively, without affecting the overall taste intensity or product pleasantness, according to results published in the Journal of Food Science. Read more
'Rosetta Stone' of bacterial communication discovered  The 'Rosetta Stone' of bacterial communication may have been found. Although they have no sensory organs, bacteria can get a good idea about what's going on in their neighborhood and communicate with each other, mainly by secreting and taking in chemicals from their surrounding environment. Even though there are millions of different kinds of bacteria with their own ways of sensing the world around them, bioengineers believe they have found a principle common to all of them. Read more
Rebalancing flavour in reduced-kilojoule beverages  There's probably not a beverage manufacturer in the world who is not examining its product lines for kilojoule-reduction opportunities. But, as any beverage developer knows, draining a drink’s excess kilojoules is only the first step in the reformulation process — one that throws just about everything else we crave about a beverage out of whack. But, with the right flavours, alternative sweeteners and functional tricks, you can give even weight-conscious consumers a reason to raise a glass to your formulation. Read more
Miscellany
 What to eat, what to avoid on a date
Anything that makes you look healthy, doesn’t stick in your teeth, and doesn’t give you bad breath are menu favourites for date food, says a new survey from Cornell University. The new data, published online ahead of print in the journal Appetite, provide food marketers with vital information about the eating habits and preferences of university students hungry for love. Read more
 Human fondness for fish dates back 40 000 years?
Freshwater fish are an important part of the diet of many peoples around the world, but it has been unclear when fish became an important part of the year-round diet for early humans. A new study shows it may have happened in China as far back as 40 000 years ago. Read more
FEEDBACK FROM READERS - controversy over 100% juice
Read the article here on this contentious issue
I read your article regarding ‘sweetened 100%’ fruit juices and was inspired to build on this ‘scam’ if I may criticise it harshly. I would love an investigation to be done on the flavours that are added to so called ‘100% juices’. I would place a bet that ‘nature identical’ flavours are being used which are much cheaper than natural and this therefore begs the question of whether it is still 100% juice? Obviously the regulatory bodies would need to be consulted to see if it is permitted. In the first world countries and EU, it is not permitted. However, this is merely a speculation on my part but would be something for you to investigate. I also believe the reason that nobody has ever challenged this is that it would be difficult in SA to test this, but it could be done.
Darrell Gray, MD, Frutarom
Yet another excellent newsletter! Thank you. And by the way, what about the subject of flavours allegedly being added to juices that are not being declared?
Michael Gristwood, executive director, SA Association of the Flavour & Fragrance Industry
Darrell and Michael are opening the proverbial “can of worms” here!
Essentially the whole use of “flavour” in 100% fruit juices arose in the form of “aroma recovery" and "aroma addback”. The aroma is captured, stabilised and stored during the concentrating of the fruit juice. This “aroma” is then added back to the juice after the concentrate is reconstituted to single strength prior to packing, and the word “flavour” is then not necessary on the ingredient statement.
Hence today, certain large fruit juice manufacturers still refer to “aroma” and not “flavour” when communicating with suppliers. This is in the ideal world. The use of FTNF natural flavours (From The Named Fruit) was then permitted in the EU in 100% fruit juices, from there natural was used and as Darrell rightly says, nature identical has been used in some cases.
A few years back, I had a long call from a food scientist (ex South African) working for Coca-Cola in Brussels, complaining about non-FTNF natural flavours being used in SA 100% fruit juices – giving SA-produced products the commercial edge over those produced locally and following strict EU guidelines.
The two big issues here are really:
1) What is 100% (do we use the Oxford Dictionary definition or the government regulations)?
2) What is natural? There are various international interpretations here, too, and another grey area!
The bottom line is that all food and beverage manufacturers should be very clear and honest in what they are using, allowing the consumer to decide what they want to buy and consume – instead of ingredients names/definitions being changed to enhance “consumer appeal”.
There has been too much leeway permitted and too little policing up to now; this needs to change to level the playing fields and let honesty prevail.
Obviously with the new draft legislation removing the need to “define” what type of flavour is being used, a flavour becomes a flavour from 2010, be it artificial, nature identical or natural. Hope I have not managed to confuse you further!
Grant Momple, GM of Afriplex Flavours
That's it for this week, folks!
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