Capico International Update

Some 27% of Americans claim chocolate is their favorite ice cream flavor

2009-07-15T05:58:00.001-04:00

Chocolate is the favorite flavor, followed by vanilla and cookie dough/cookies and cream

As summer heats up and Americans turn to ice cream as a way to cool off when the temperatures rise, over one-quarter (27%) say chocolate is their favorite flavor while 22% each say vanilla and cookie dough/cookies and cream. One in five (20%) say butter pecan/Swiss almond and 17% of Americans say their favorite flavor is mint chocolate chip. Lesser numbers say rocky road (14%), strawberry (13%), cherry vanilla (9%), coffee (9%), pistachio (8%) and peanut butter (8%), while 3% of Americans do not eat ice cream.

These are some of the results from The Harris Poll®, a new study of 2,177 U.S. adults surveyed online between June 8 and 15, 2009 by Harris Interactive®.

Different Tastes for Different Generations

When it comes to favorite flavors, there are generational differences. Two in five (41%) Echo Boomers (aged 18-32) say cookie dough/cookies and cream is their favorite flavor followed by 23% who say it is mint chocolate chip. Chocolate is the favorite for the other three generations, but for 24% of Baby Boomers (aged 45-63) and 28% of Matures (aged 64 and older) butter pecan/Swiss almond is the favorite, putting it as second for those two generations. After chocolate (29%), one-quarter (25%) of Generation Xers (aged 33-44) say cookie dough/cookies and cream is their favorite.

But How Do They Eat It?

When it comes to actually eating ice cream, under half (45%) say their favorite way to eat ice cream is in a cup while three in ten (29%) say it is in a cone. Two in five (18%) Americans who eat ice cream say their favorite way is as part of a sundae while just 2% prefer an ice cream sandwich. There is a slight gender difference here. Half of men (50%) say a cup is their favorite compared to 41% of women. But over one-third of women (34%) say they prefer a cone compared to 24% of men who say that.

What’s On Top?

When it comes to favorite toppings, 57% of those who eat ice cream say it is hot fudge while 43% say nuts and 40% say whipped cream. Over one-third of Americans who eat ice cream (35%) say their favorite is caramel, while 31% say it is fruit, such as strawberries or bananas. Just under one in five say sprinkles (18%) are their favorite, 13% say candy bits and 12% say marshmallow while 16% don’t use any toppings on their ice cream.

Again, some generational differences emerge as three in ten Echo Boomers (31%) say sprinkles compared to just 7% of Matures. Half of Matures (50%) say nuts are their favorites while just one-third (34%) of Gen Xers say the same.

Methodology

This Harris Poll® was conducted online within the United States June 8 and 15, 2009, among 2,177 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online. Full data tables and methodology are available at www.harrisinteractive.com.

Omega-3 fatty acid supplements did not slow memory declines in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's

2009-07-14T08:57:00.000-04:00

Omega-3 fatty acid supplements did nothing to slow memory declines in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, but a study in healthy people with slight memory complaints did show promise, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.

The findings from an 18-month, government-backed study suggest taking supplements of docosahexenoic acid, or DHA -- an omega-3 fatty acid -- does not arrest Alzheimer's in people who have already developed the mind-robbing disease.

"These trial results do not support the routine use of DHA for patients with Alzheimer's," Dr Joseph Quinn of Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland, who led the study, said in a statement.

But a six-month company study that looked at people whose memory was slipping just a bit found Martek Biosciences Corp's DHA supplements helped restore some of the mental acuity they had lost.

"The benefit is roughly equivalent to having the learning and memory skills of someone three years younger," Martek researcher Karin Yurko-Mauro said in a telephone interview.

Both studies, which are being presented at an international Alzheimer's Association meeting in Vienna, Austria, show the difficulty of treating Alzheimer's disease, which causes memory loss, confusion, the inability to care for oneself and eventually death. It affects 26 million people globally.

Taken together, the findings along with other studies suggest treating Alzheimer's must begin early in the disease process, before sticky amyloid plaques begin forming toxic clumps in the brain.

"It may be that ... by the time you have Alzheimer's disease, it is too late," Dr Ronald Petersen, director of Alzheimer's research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said in a telephone interview.

HIGH HOPES

Plenty of studies in both mice and people had suggested that a diet rich in DHA -- an omega-3 fatty acid found in fatty cold-water fish -- could dramatically slow Alzheimer's disease, and hopes were high for DHA as a possible new treatment.

DHA is naturally found in the body in small amounts, and is the most abundant omega-3 fatty acid in the brain.

In the Alzheimer's study supported by the National Institute on Aging, Quinn and colleagues compared Martek's DHA supplements to a placebo in 402 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's. Although blood levels of DHA increased, the team saw no change in two widely accepted Alzheimer's tests.

But the study did suggest some benefit in people with Alzheimer's who do not have the ApoE4 gene, which raises their Alzheimer's disease risk. Quinn called the finding "intriguing" because other trials have shown different response rates based on this gene, and said future studies should look at this.

In the six-month Martek study, researchers looked at the effects of a 900 mg daily dose of DHA on 485 healthy people with an average age of 70 who had a mild memory complaint. People in this study were tested using a computer memory test.

At the end of six months, those who took DHA made far fewer mistakes than those in the placebo group. The effect was "almost double," Yurko-Mauro said.

Petersen, a former vice chairman of the Alzheimer's Association, said the study was promising, but needs to be confirmed before healthy people start taking DHA supplements.

"The association is not recommending normal elderly people take DHA based on this study," he said.

Ovens increase efficiency

2009-07-13T08:10:00.001-04:00

From sanitation and environmental footprint to control and cost savings, bakers look for ovens that maximize efficiency.

Bakers have a wide range of options to choose from when buying a new oven. Across the board, efficiency is the key word in oven advancements, from sanitation to environmental impact to the level of control available
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As a result, ovens today are made of stainless steel, which provides increased sanitation and allows for easy wash down. Clean-in-place systems make pressure washing the oven interior easier than ever.

In addition, oven manufacturers are building ovens to be more energy efficient. Bakers increasingly are interested in reducing emissions, using recirculated air and reducing fuel usage to manage operating costs.

Control and automation continue to advance, allowing bakers to track everything from formulation adjustments to the reason behind a breakdown on a line. A sampling of ovens offering efficiency and advancements follows.

REDUCE OVEN FOOTPRINT

Auto-Bake offers the Serpentine® oven, a patented process that provides enormous advantages over preceding technologies. The Serpentine oven provides a consistent bake and a reduced footprint that is one-tenth that of an equivalent tunnel oven, due to the signature S-shaped transport path that traverses multiple levels. Other features include energy efficiency, radiant or thermal heat, flexibility, zone control and humidity control. The oven is modular for future expansion and can be custom built to meet specific product parameters and space requirements.

AIR IMPINGEMENT OVEN

C.H. Babb offers the air impingement oven, featuring full seam-welded, stainless-steel oven chambers with integrated drains, allowing all interior surfaces to be cleaned with pressure washers or fully-automated clean-in-place systems. Highly efficient, it uses a re-circulated air heating system that significantly reduces operating costs. It provides superior baking control and a quality bake with no flash heat regardless of loading pattern, independent top and bottom heat control, even bake across the full width and precise humidity control throughout the oven. The oven reduces bake times by 25 percent to 35 percent. It is built in pre-assembled modular sections for quick installation and oven expansion.
C.H. Babb Co. Inc.

508 977 0600
www.chbabb.com

RACK OVENS WITH VARYING CAPACITIES

Revent offers a complete line of rack and convection ovens for any size bakery. The Revent 724 double rack oven holds one double rack or two single racks. It features a mechanical rack lift, digital computer controls, unique airflow design and high-volume steam system. With optional computer controls for 500 bakery product formulas, Revent's rack ovens are available with single-, double- and four-rack capacities.

Revent
800 822 9642
www.revent.com

ACHIEVE AN EVEN BAKE

AMF Bakery Systems offers its new Vesta A-70 tray oven for bread and rolls. The Vesta A-70 is a direct-fired gas oven with triple zone burners, far side sensing and an automated DSI system. The Vesta A-70 features include stainless-steel paneling, VFD-controlled exhaust and dual-drive options. High density insulation and precise burner control increases energy efficiency. A new Parallel Link chain monitoring system ensures longer chain life and less downtime. The Product Trac system tracks product versus burner location to eliminate flash heat, resulting in extremely even baking.

AMF Bakery Systems
800 225 3771
www.amfbakery.com

GREEN DESIGN

The Henry Group's indirect gas-fired Turbo Therm tunnel oven is extremely versatile and energy efficient. The design of the air turbulence system in the bake chamber allows the oven to operate at lower temperatures and provide faster bake times. An integrated catalytic oxidizer uses the latent heat energy of the ethanol oxidation process to improve baking efficiency for a typical reduction of 13 percent to 20 percent of fuel consumption.

The Henry Group
800 356 7591
www.thehenrygroup.com

STONE HEARTH DECK OVENS

WernerPfliederer Matador Stone Hearth Deck ovens are constructed with stringent quality standards: strong, robust, even-heating system (no rotations necessary) with quick recovery for 24-hour per day production. NAVIGO controls ensure precise baking and steaming, allowing each baker to achieve the same quality. Multiple loading options are available. WP Matador offers energy saving technology-up to a 30 percent savings compared to similar oven types. More than 60,000 ovens have been installed worldwide. WP Matador is the most trusted name in deck ovens for the professional baker.

Kemper Baking Systems, North American Subsidiary for WP Bakery Group
203 929 6530
www.kemperusa.com

Oven trends

With so many oven options, bakers should test the many varieties before making a selection. Suppliers offer test facilities where bakers can compare and contrast the ovens to find the perfect fit for their bakeries.

Control has always been an important factor in choosing an oven. PLCs are doing more than just offering additional control of the oven. Technological advances allow PLCs to manage the entire system and track information, so operators can look back as far as a year and gather information on who changed a formula, or what caused a line to break down and who was responsible.

Management systems also are becoming PC-based, so bakers can dial in and check the oven from a home office, notes Charlie Foran, president, C.H. Babb Co., Raynham, Mass. Management systems can perform formula trending, downtime analysis, preventative maintenance prompting and show critical faults.

AMF offers a Product Trac system to track product in relation to burner location to eliminate flash heat for a more even bake. Using high density insulation and precise burner control through independent flame adjustments increase operating efficiency in ovens, says Larry Gore, AMF Automation Technologies, Richmond, Va.

Environmental efficiency is another trend affecting ovens. “We're doing a lot of work with major corporations doing efficiency tests. We were able to reduce our emissions to 30 percent of the calculated California emissions standard for an oven without a scrubber,” Foran says.

When it comes to gas usage, the amount that can be saved depends on the oven in question. Installing gas meters on ovens allows bakers to monitor the energy used.
Exhaust is another area that can be managed. “With the exhaust systems we're using, we're cutting way down on energy usage by optimizing recirculation and controlling output on the oven exhaust and what goes out of the building,” Foran notes.

About 73% of supermarket bakery officials claim their in-store bakery sales increased this year

2009-07-11T08:07:00.000-04:00

After several consecutive years of flat sales and stale performance, in-store bakery department performance is on the rise, but there still remains ample room for continued improvement, according to the latest insights revealed in Progressive Grocer’s 2009 annual Bakery Operations Review.

Among the key highlights of the annual “state-of-the-in-store bakery” study, 73 percent of supermarket bakery officials polled said their in-store bakery sales have increased this year, which is up a full three points vs. last year. And though the overwhelming majority of retailers posted higher bakery sales during the 12-month measuring period vs. last year’s study, the gap similarly widened for 13 percent of retail bakery survey panelists whose category sales declined, along with the same amount of respondents whose sales remained the same.

And though turning a healthy profit in the bakery department has long required a delicate balancing act – all the more so during a profoundly trying economic cycle that found incremental spending reduced to a bare minimum -- 56.3 percent of survey executives said that the at-home eating movement was especially good for bakery dollar sales, with another 43.7 percent indicating no change. In terms of the effects of more meals being eaten at home vs. in restaurants, 47 percent reported increases in bakery unit volume, with 41.2 indicating no change and 11.8 reporting decreases.

Shrink remains a perennial bakery departmental foe, having increased slightly to 7.8 percent vs. last year’s 7.3 percent. Consistent with the aforementioned data, comparable bakery department profits during the 12-month period year were hard hit for 43.8 percent of survey participants vs. 32 percent last year, while a smaller number -- 37.5 percent vs. last year’s 48 percent -- said their comp profits were stronger, with 18.8 percent reporting static bakery revenues.

While bakery profits are under siege, a look at the category’s fastest-growing lines finds breads (artisan, rustic, etc.), whole grain-based products and cakes the pre-eminent bakery leaders during the past year, while the most bankable best-selling bakery stalwarts relied on to offset the profit shortfall include perpetually top-ranked cakes, breads, rolls cookies, muffins and pies.

As can be expected, a reshuffling of the bakery operations problem index -- a hierarchical ranking of the most problematic operational issues facing in-store bakery officials -- found labor costs switching places as the foremost category challenge with last year’s top-ranked culprit, product/ingredient costs. Traditionally viewed as the lone “controllable” operational expense, labor has been tagged as either the first or second foremost problem among our Bakery Operations Review panelists for the duration, paced closely this year by profits, which were not surprisingly deemed to be the second-leading problematic issue among retail panelists during the past year.

Local/national economic conditions, which moved up to the third rung from 9th place last year, made the biggest gain as a key operation headache this year, followed by product and/or ingredient costs; shrink/waste; recruiting effective employees; employee training; customer satisfaction and equipment costs. Other supermarket competition, food safety, attracting shoppers to bakery, product quality levels, sanitation and non-supermarket competition rounded out the list of top operational hot spots.

When asked to weigh in on product reformulations they’re seeking in response to changing consumer preferences and concerns, nearly 70 percent of bakery officials said they’re going with single-serve/smaller-portioned products, while 56.3 percent are on the prowl for more whole grain product formulations. Sugar-free baked goods are also in the crosshairs of 43.8 percent of retail bakery buyers, while gluten-free options were cited by 31.3 percent.

Environmentally friendly packaging options are also being sought by 25 percent of in-store bakery execs, followed by indulgent items they can add to the mix in response for reward-type splurges.

The number of in-store bakery panelists now employing category management is also on the rise among 44 percent of retailer respondents. Yet for the 56.3 percent of panelists who are still not using it to help guide decision-making, the practice is clearly becoming more popular in the fresh bakery domain.

Parting thought: Profits remain elusive, but the in-store bakery has been a major benefactor of the eat-at-home mealtime trend that’s pumped up both departmental dollars and volume. To keep the wheels spinning, aggressive bakery suppliers can gain an edge by heeding the direct constructive feedback offered up from this year’s Bakery Operations Review panelists, as revealed below:

“Better communication with warehouse/ordering.”

“More demo and sample incentives.”

“Spending at least some time at each store to communicate new ideas and new products.”

“Continue to offer new ideas to create smaller portion sizes for existing products.”

“New packaging, such as a 16-ounce ‘show-bowl’ offered to us in nine new, high-volume SKUs in 2008, which created a large percent of sales.”

“Drop surcharges.”

“Maintain a continued focus on health-and-wellness product lines.”

“Work to keep product costs consistent with cost increases of other categories.”

“Racks, signage, better packaging.”

“Better nutrition information.”

“Reduce out-of-stocks and provide better product descriptions for ads/promotions.”

Starbucks, Subway and McDonald's were ranked No. 1, 2 and 3 on Vitrue's Top 25 Most Social Restaurants list

2009-07-10T19:55:00.000-04:00

Whether they know the difference between Facebook and MySpace or tweets and texts, restaurants large and small are getting more involved with their guests on social networks, according to marketing firm Vitrue and its latest social-media index rankings.

Industry giants Starbucks, Subway and McDonald’s led the pack in getting the most attention online and were ranked No.1, 2 and 3, respectively, on Vitrue's nationwide Top 25 Most Social Restaurants list for the first half of the year. However, smaller chains and regional favorites also are getting in on the act, including Krystal, Chick-fil-A, Pinkberry and In-N-Out Burger.

Vitrue chief executive Reggie Bradford said the companies atop the firm’s rankings recognize the potential that various social-networking tools have for connecting restaurants with their guests.

“The encouraging thing that we’re seeing,” Bradford said, “is that all brands in the top 25 are seeing the benefits and value of social media, whether it’s an individual pizza store messaging to Twitter followers or the largest restaurants in the world creating a comprehensive Facebook experience. It’s not only cost-effective, but it also develops real long-term bonds between consumers and brands.”

Starbucks continues to be the “Kleenex” of the restaurant industry, Bradford said, meaning that its brand name has become synonymous with an entire category, like Kleenex, Frisbee or Dumpster. The word “Starbucks” is mentioned online more than the word “coffee,” he said.

For its part, Starbucks has more than 245,000 followers on Twitter, and the Seattle-based coffeehouse chain currently is running an ice cream giveaway promotion on its Facebook page through July 16. The company also recently inked a sponsorship deal with popular MSNBC morning show “Morning Joe,” which airs nationwide five days a week.

Bradford noted that 17 of the 25 ranked companies, including the top nine brands, are quick-service chains.

“All the bigger guys have been aggressive building out their social-media presence, from Starbucks to Burger King up and down the line,” Bradford said. “Social media really is about instant gratification, and quick service is the same thing. There’s a lot of impulse behavior in purchasing. They tie well together.”

Krystal, a Chattanooga, Tenn.-based hamburger chain, made instant gratification the centerpiece of its most ambitious social-media initiative, the Krystal Giveaway Show, a live broadcast online, where the restaurant’s fans could answer trivia questions in real time by posting responses on Twitter and Facebook.

A Krystal spokesman said the May 27 broadcast attracted more than 1,600 viewers who posted more than 500 comments on the brand’s Facebook page and wrote about 300 tweets on Twitter with a “#KrystalHD” tag. Vice president of marketing Brad Wahl called the social-media event “encouraging” and told Nation’s Restaurant News, “Customer retention and loyalty is a big deal, and anything we can do to develop our database of Krystal lovers will go a long way.”

Bradford of Vitrue said many companies initially turned to Facebook to start their social-media strategies. That network continues to grow rapidly, especially among older consumers, and it conveniently groups people in networks by region.

“Marketers are more focused on Facebook because of the growth and size of the audience and demographics of the audience,” Bradford said, “as well as the ability to order them nationally and geographically. Technology-wise, for a corporation to be able to roll something out systematically, Facebook is the best-developed method today.”

Twitter, the popular microblogging site, allows restaurants great online versatility, Bradford said, because each unit of a chain can have its own Twitter feed for promotions and branding while the corporate headquarters can manage the brand’s official messaging on the company profile.

“Certainly, with Twitter, you can have tons of activity with individual locations, as well as have Dunkin’ Dave doing the corporate stuff,” he said, referring to the man behind Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’ Donuts’ Twitter feed.

Bradford singled out Pinkberry as a notable entry on the Top 25 list, at No. 19, especially since the frozen-yogurt chain opened its first store in 2005. The brand’s rabid following in New York and Los Angeles have plenty of people talking about it online, however.

“With Pinkberry, what was interesting to us is that it’s a newer concept, so we were surprised to see it make the list,” Bradford said. “It’s generated a larger buzz than bite, I guess.”

The Vitrue chief executive wasn’t quite so surprised to see Chick-fil-A on the list, as the chicken chain’s fans, known to camp out in front of new units and wear cow costumes for free food, are likely to promote the brand online.

“Chick-fil-A has developed such a passionate audience,” Bradford said. “A lot of people are such big fans, and they camp out in front of new-store openings. Their corporate brand is consistently high quality, and from a social-media standpoint, that translates into people who are satisfied with that relationship and want to talk about it.”

About 63% of consumers are still confused by probiotics

2009-07-09T14:52:00.000-04:00

Well it certainly isn't Jamie Lee Curtis' fault, but the fact remains many consumers do not actually know what probiotics are. Curtis has served as a very visible spokesperson for Dannon Activia, a leading yogurt that contains probiotics-which are healthy bacteria said to help digestion.

Still despite Dannon and competitors like LiveActive from Kraft Foods' efforts, 63 percent of consumers reported that they are still confused by probiotics. Only 13 percent of those claiming familiarity could accurately provide a definition. These were the findings from a Datamonitor study released today which was commissioned by Kraft.

Still, the results show an improvement, said Datamonitor's consumer markets analyst Mark Whalley. A survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for Ganeden Biotech in 2008 found that 85 percent of respondents were unfamiliar with probiotics. In 2007, 78 percent of respondents to an NPD Group had no knowledge the term probiotics at all.

"This emphasizes how there is still a need for brands to educate U.S. consumers about the benefits of probiotic consumption. The good news is that Americans appear to be responding to marketing messages," said Whalley.

Whalley said that Datamonitor predicts the US probiotic market will continue to grow as more consumers shift to healthier eating habits and increase their working knowledge of the associated health benefits of probiotics. Datamonitor forecasts that the industry could be worth up to $2 billion or more by 2013.

"What is clear is that during the economic crisis manufacturers need to continue to create probiotic products, which consumers find an integral part of their daily routine, otherwise much of the early good work will have to be repeated to get these consumers to resume consumption if they sacrifice it now to save money," Whalley said.

Dannon, has kept its foot on the gas, earlier this year launched Activia drinks and Activia Fiber.

Still, no matter who is producing the products containing probiotics, they need to be mindful of their claims. In April, is was reported that The Dannon Co. was working on a settlement of complaints filed by customers questioning the health claims made on behalf of its Activia as well as DanActive yogurts.

the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics released a clarified definition of the term "probiotic."

he International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) released a clarified definition of the term "probiotic" to assist consumers, manufacturers, researchers and regulators (see www.isapp.net). ISAPP promotes correct use of the term "probiotics" to enhance precision for basic and clinical research efforts on probiotics as well as facilitate the work of regulatory bodies concerned with issues of probiotic safety and consumer protection.

Davis, Calif. (PRWEB) June 24, 2009 -- The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) today released a clarified definition of the term "probiotic" to assist consumers, manufacturers, researchers and regulators (see www.isapp.net).

Probiotics were defined by the FAO/WHO in 2001 as live microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host. This definition is widely acknowledged by the scientific community, but the term "probiotic" remains undefined by most regulatory bodies worldwide. Over the years the FAO/WHO definition of probiotics remains applicable to scientific, industrial and regulatory communities, as long as it is interpreted correctly.

The term "probiotic" is commonly misused both commercially, when the term is featured on products with no substantiation of human health benefits, and scientifically, where the term has been used to describe bacterial components, dead bacteria or bacteria with uncharacterized health effects in humans.

ISAPP promotes correct use of the term "probiotics" to enhance precision for basic and clinical research efforts on probiotics as well as facilitate the work of regulatory bodies concerned with issues of probiotic safety and consumer protection.

FOOD USE

When combined with the specifications outlined by the FAO/WHO Working Group for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food (2002), the key aspects of this definition include:

 A probiotic must be alive when administered
 A probiotic must have undergone controlled evaluation to document health benefits in the target host
 A probiotic must be a taxonomically defined microbe or combination of microbes (genus, species and strain level)
 A probiotic must be safe for its intended use

Although regulations differ internationally, in general, foods and nutritional (dietary) supplements are targeted for the generally healthy population and can carry substantiated claims for both disease risk reduction (if proper approval is obtained) and claims which relate them to general health or the normal structure and function of the human body. Substantiation is required for all claims.

NON FOOD USE

The FAO/WHO effort was specifically focused on food uses of probiotics; however, the definition advanced by this group is sufficiently broad to encompass a range of probiotic preparations and intentions of use. In addition to being a food or a dietary supplement, a probiotic microorganism(s), including genetically modified strains, may be used in drug applications (referred in some instances as a live biotherapeutic), microbial feed (animal uses), and live vaccines if administered orally.

Requirements for establishing efficacy and safety for probiotics are different for these categories of probiotics. For example, a probiotic used as a drug must not only fulfill the general FAO conditions stipulated above, but also conform to existing national regulations (e.g., US Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and EU Directive 2004/27/EC on substances used for treating or preventing disease) and guidelines on good clinical practices.

IN SUMMARY

- Since its genesis in 2001, the FAO definition on probiotics has proven its scientific value as shown through acceptance worldwide by key players in the field of probiotics and health.

- The strength of this definition is that it encompasses the many different applications of probiotic science and does not restrict probiotics to specific mechanistic activities.

- This definition has its place in today's debates that revolve around the substantiation of health benefits for probiotics, and it offers a valuable reference for regulatory authorities.

- Adherence to this definition by those involved in the field will assure that the term "probiotic" is meaningful commercially, clinically and scientifically.
References:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2001. Health and Nutritional Properties of Probiotics in Food including Powder Milk with Live Lactic Acid Bacteria, http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/fs_management/en/probiotics.pdf

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2002. Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food. ftp://ftp.fao.org/es/esn/food/wgreport2.pdf
About ISAPP

The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (www.isapp.net) is a non-profit, scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of probiotics and prebiotics through convening scientific conferences which enhance networking in the field, publishing peer-reviewed reviews on current topics relevant to probiotic and prebiotic science, communicating to regulatory bodies and providing collaborative reaction to relevant current events. ISAPP functions as an objective, science-based voice to benefit end users of probiotics and prebiotics by helping them make informed choices. ISAPP is the only scientific organization dedicated specifically to both probiotics and prebiotics. As a scientific society, ISAPP strives to have all activities focused on science, not promotion of specific commercial products. Corporate participation through scientific and financial contributions is important to ISAPP, but no industry group or commercial entity dictates its activities or opinions.

Drinking five cups of coffee a day could reverse memory problems

2009-07-08T16:01:00.002-04:00

Drinking five cups of coffee a day could reverse memory problems seen in AlzAdd Imageheimer's disease, US scientists say.

The Florida research, carried out on mice, also suggested caffeine hampered the production of the protein plaques which are the hallmark of the disease.

Previous research has also suggested a protective effect from caffeine.
But British experts said the Journal of Alzheimer's disease study did not mean that dementia patients should start using caffeine supplements.

The 55 mice used in the University of South Florida study had been bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

First the researchers used behavioral tests to confirm the mice were exhibiting signs of memory impairment when they were aged 18 to 19 months, the equivalent to humans being about 70.

Then they gave half the mice caffeine in their drinking water. The rest were given plain water.

The mice were given the equivalent of five 8 oz (227 grams) cups of coffee a day - about 500 milligrams of caffeine.

The researchers say this is the same as is found in two cups of "specialty" coffees such as lattes or cappuccinos from coffee shops, 14 cups of tea, or 20 soft drinks.
When the mice were tested again after two months, those who were given the caffeine performed much better on tests measuring their memory and thinking skills and performed as well as mice of the same age without dementia.

Those drinking plain water continued to do poorly on the tests.
In addition, the brains of the mice given caffeine showed nearly a 50% reduction in levels of the beta amyloid protein, which forms destructive clumps in the brains of dementia patients.

Further tests suggested caffeine affects the production of both the enzymes needed to produce beta amyloid.

The researchers also suggest that caffeine suppresses inflammatory changes in the brain that lead to an overabundance of the protein.

Earlier research by the same team had shown younger mice, who had also been bred to develop Alzheimer's but who were given caffeine in their early adulthood, were protected against the onset of memory problems.

'Safe drug'

Dr Gary Arendash, who led the latest study, told the BBC: "The results are particularly exciting in that a reversal of pre-existing memory impairment is more difficult to achieve.

"They provide evidence that caffeine could be a viable 'treatment' for established Alzheimer's disease and not simply a protective strategy.

"That's important because caffeine is a safe drug for most people, it easily enters the brain, and it appears to directly affect the disease process."

The team now hope to begin human trials of caffeine to see if the mouse findings are replicated in people.

They do not know if a lower amount of caffeine would be as effective, but said most people could safely consume the 500 milligrams per day.

However they said people with high blood pressure, and pregnant women, should limit their daily caffeine intake.

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "In this study on mice with symptoms of Alzheimer's, researchers found that caffeine boosted their memory. We need to do more research to find out whether this effect will be seen in people.

"It is too early to say whether drinking coffee or taking caffeine supplements will help people with Alzheimer's.

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said previous research into caffeine had suggested it could delay Alzheimer's disease and even protect against vascular dementia.

"This research in mice suggests that coffee may actually reverse some element of memory impairment.

"However much more research is needed to determine whether drinking coffee has the same impact in people.
"It is too soon to say whether a cup of coffee is anything more than a pleasant pick me up."

Discounts offered by casual restaurant chains, should they continue, will impact their long-term prospects

2009-07-07T09:45:00.000-04:00

accustomed to fire sales on every kind of merchandise, from fancy dresses to gas-guzzling cars. Now, add another item to the list: the casual restaurant meal.

The informal, sit-down restaurant chains that blanket the nation are fighting their most intense price war in years. Applebee’s is offering dinner for two for $20. Ruby Tuesday is handing out coupons for two entrees for the price of one. Chili’s, not to be outdone, is promoting some entrees for $7 or less.

“It’s a tit-for-tat pricing war right now,” said Steve West, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, a brokerage firm in St. Louis. “Each one’s trying to outdo the other in a battle for consumers.”

The sit-down casual segment of the restaurant industry has traditionally competed more on advertising and location than price, but these days, the chains appear to have little choice. Consumers hurt by the recession are eating out less. So the restaurants are fighting one another for that shrinking pool of diners, using deep discounts, heavily advertised on television, to attract them.

The customers who do venture forth are delighted. “This is really an incentive for us to go out,” said Norma Rosado Blake, 38, an archivist, as she stood outside a T.G.I. Friday’s restaurant in Clifton, N.J., with her husband the other night, for an offer entitling her to $8 off.

But even as the chains compete to come up with the best deal, some of the analysts who follow them are worried. They fear that, as was the case with merchandise retailers that sold luxury goods for 80 percent off, the restaurants are hurting their long-term prospects by training customers to eat out only when they are offered a bargain.

“The problem with that is once you start dealing, you’ve got to deal forever,” said Harry Balzer, the chief food industry analyst for the NPD Group, a consumer marketing research company.

The heavy discounting is leading to tensions between the people who, as independent franchisees, operate many of the restaurants, and the corporate officers who control the brands, menus, advertising and strategy. The franchisees agree that discounts can get customers in the door, but wince at what they can do to profit margins.

A T.G.I. Friday’s promotion in April and May offering $5 sandwiches and salads led to a small-scale revolt among franchisees. Ross Farro, who has seven T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants in Ohio and Pennsylvania, said the promotion included salads that normally sell for as much as $10 and a steak sandwich priced at $11.89 on the regular menu. The ingredients alone for each steak sandwich cost about $4, he said.
The promotion brought in a flood of customers, but Mr. Farro said he could hardly afford to feed them. Within days of the promotion’s start in late April, many franchisees began complaining to the chain’s parent company, Carlson Restaurants Worldwide.

The promotion was supposed to run at lunch and dinner, but Mr. Farro said he and some other franchisees put away the $5 menu inserts at night to stop the bleeding
Franchise owners “were very upset that we’re getting hammered here, we’re giving the food away,” Mr. Farro said. In contrast, he said, another promotion offering two-for-one entrees had worked well.

Brad Honigfeld, chief executive of the Briad Group, which runs 69 T.G.I. Friday’s franchises in seven states, said he considered the $5 promotion a success because it greatly increased lunchtime traffic.

“My ultimate goal as an operator is I need to drive traffic, and if that traffic is going to Applebee’s or going to Chili’s, I need to take that traffic away,” Mr. Honigfeld said. “We are in a fierce competitive environment today.”

Unhappiness over the $5 deal has led some Friday’s franchisees to press Carlson for a rebate on royalties they pay the company. Carlson would not discuss the rebate issue.

“Like most promotions, the short-term economics were tough, but the long-term payoff comes from highly satisfied guests who become valuable loyal guests, which is critical for the health of our brand and franchisees,” Nick Shepherd, Carlson’s chief executive said in a statement.

The economic crisis has occurred at the worst possible time for the chains. For years they expanded rapidly. Technomic, a restaurant consulting firm, said that the number of chain restaurants devoted to casual dining (an industry term for midprice lunch and dinner restaurants that typically serve alcohol and have waiter service) rose to about 10,000 last year, from about 7,000 in 1995.

The economics worked in part because the chains steadily raised their prices. But some analysts said the quality of the food did not always keep pace — and as the economy soured, consumers began casting a skeptical eye on prices like $18 for grilled chicken breasts and $16 for herb-crusted tilapia.

“Restaurant prices were high, and in many cases the quality from a consumer perception just didn’t justify the pricing,” said Bob Goldin, an executive vice president of Technomic.

Now, forced by the recession into discounting, the chains are going beyond traditional advertising to get the word out. They are creating Internet clubs where people can sign up for coupons. T.G.I. Friday’s, which has nearly 600 stores in the United States, said it had signed up more than one million club members in less than a year.

One of those is Steve Mosior, 52, a Heineken sales supervisor. On a recent trip to T.G.I. Friday’s in Wayne, N.J., he took advantage of a two-for-one entree deal and used coupons for a free appetizer and a half-price drink.

“Coupons are found money,” Mr. Mosior said. But he added that once he is in a restaurant he will often buy items not covered by the discounts, such as dessert.
That is exactly what restaurateurs hope will happen. But Mr. West, the analyst, said it had not been happening enough. “These guys are coming in just for that deal, and they’re not buying the soda, they’re stiffing the waiter on the tip, they’re drinking water and they’re leaving,” he said.

Malcolm M. Knapp, a restaurant consultant who collects data from thousands of casual dining chain restaurants, said that preliminary figures for May showed that sales were down 6.7 percent from May 2008, when comparing restaurants that had been in business a minimum of 16 to 18 months. The number of customers was also down, but not as much.

“Dollar sales are decreasing at a faster rate than traffic because the promotions are bringing people in,” Mr. Knapp said. “But when you have deep discounts it takes much more traffic to have a positive sales situation.”

On a recent evening, an Applebee’s in Clifton, N.J., was nearly full. The manager, John Butcher, said that about 80 percent of his customers on a typical night were choosing the $20 promotion, which features two entrees and an appetizer (ordered a la carte, the items could total $31). Despite all the business, he said sales were down about 7 percent from a year ago.

Rick Hendrie, senior vice president for marketing at Uno Chicago Grill, which is offering a $9.99 meal of pizza, salad and dessert in some cities, said the deluge of competing discounts made it difficult to reach consumers. “In some ways it’s a real challenge because everybody is screaming the same thing: X number of items for $9.99 or less, or buy-one-get-one,” Mr. Hendrie said.

He also cautioned that some chains were discounting too deeply and risked hurting their brands.

“I believe, this is my own marketing philosophy, that you degrade your brand value if you’re saying, this is not worth but half,” he said. “At some point people go, ‘I guess it’s not really worth what they charge.’ ”

About 60% of consumers are concerned about the safety of food they purchase,

2009-07-03T08:40:00.002-04:00

A new IBM (NYSE: IBM) study reveals that less than 20 percent of consumers trust food companies to develop and sell food products that are safe and healthy for themselves and their families. The study also shows that 60 percent of consumers are concerned about the safety of food they purchase, and 63 percent are knowledgeable about the content of the food they buy.

The survey of 1,000 consumers in the 10 largest cities nationwide shows that consumers are increasingly wary of the safety of food purchased at grocery stores, and their confidence in -- and trust of -- food retailers, manufacturers and grocers is declining.

The Debilitating Impact of Recalls

83 percent of respondents were able to name a food product that was recalled in the past two years due to contamination or other safety concerns. Nearly half of survey respondents -- 46 percent -- named peanut butter, the staple of school lunches for children across the nation, as the most recognizable recall. Spinach came in a distant second, with 15 percent awareness nearly two years after the incident.

Consumers are proving to be extra cautious in purchasing food products after a recall. 49 percent of the respondents would be less likely to purchase a food product again if it was recalled due to contamination. 63 percent of respondents confirmed they would not buy the food until the source of contamination had been found and addressed. Meanwhile, eight percent of respondents said they would never purchase the food again, even after the source of contamination was found and addressed.

These findings underscore how the rise in recalls and contamination has significantly eroded consumer confidence in food and product safety, as well as with the companies that manufacture and distribute these products.
Changing Consumer Behaviors

63 percent of respondents report they have purposefully changed their grocery shopping behavior in the past two years because they wanted better value for their money. And almost half have changed shopping behavior to access fresher foods (45 percent) or better quality foods (43 percent).

"Especially in today's economy, if consumers are going to pay a little extra for a branded or organic product, they want to be assured that they're paying for something different and better quality," said Guy Blissett, Consumer Products Leader, IBM Institute for Business Value. "Across the board, consumers are demanding transparency and more information about the food they purchase to ensure their safety and that of their families. As the government, industry associations, retailers and manufacturers work through the operational issues associated with ensuring food safety, we can each become more aware and take greater responsibility for the food we purchase."

Where is my Food From?

The survey found that over the past two years, consumer appetite for information about food products increased. 77 percent of consumers want more information about the content of the food products they purchase, and 76 percent would like more information about its origin. 74 percent are willing to dig deeper and seek more data about how the food products are grown, processed and manufactured. Despite industry efforts to keep consumers informed with more detailed product information, there's still a significant gap between consumer expectations and what retailers/manufacturers are providing.

The survey also found that consumers are spending more time poring over food labels to know which ingredients were used, questioning supermarkets and product manufactures about product detail, paying closer attention to expiration dates, and doing more in depth background checks on specific food brands and their origin. This will have an even bigger impact as the younger, more Internet savvy generation of consumers evolve into being the primary purchasers of groceries.

An estimated 76 million people in the United States get sick every year with food borne illness and 5,000 die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Food safety is top of mind for governments, retailers, manufacturers and consumers alike, and in fact, President Obama's proposed budget includes $1 billion for the FDA to spend on improving food safety. More than 600 bills addressing food safety have been introduced in state legislatures since January 2009.

"The ability to trace a contaminated product all the way back to the source of production is key to modernizing our food industry. It would also allow producers to more precisely identify the source of a problem in order to improve production practices and could help narrow the scope of recalls by more quickly identifying the specific plant or country of origin," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety, Center for Science in the Public Interest.(1)

Are Food Retailers and Manufacturers Looking Out for Me?

55 percent of respondents trust food manufacturers when handling a recall in the event that a food product is contaminated, indicating a decrease in their level of trust over the past two years. Meanwhile, 72 percent said they trust the store where they buy groceries to properly handle food product contamination recalls.

57 percent of consumers report they've stopped purchasing certain foods, even for a short time, within the past two years due to safety considerations.

Take Responsibility: "Smart" Recommendations for Consumers:

• Seek out other concerned consumers: connect with those interested in food safety issues. Share information and insights with others.

• Make yourself known: Speak up and let your local grocery know you'd be interested in more information on the products they are selling and their origins. Grocers want to listen; they are in a very competitive marketplace. Research from IBM shows 75 percent of consumers are dissatisfied with their grocer.

• Ask your retailer: Assess who provides more information about the products they sell. This is being accomplished through in store kiosk and touch screen computers and brochures.

• Read the packaging closely: Some products are providing more information than ever, including specific details on the farm where ingredients were grown.

• Take responsibility: Leverage the Internet and visit consumer products company websites to learn more about the companies and processes behind the products you buy. Companies are providing a wealth of background information on their products to gain consumer credibility and shift consumer attitude.

Survey Methodology

IBM conducted a survey of adult grocery shoppers (once a month or more) in the 10 largest U.S. cities during June 2009. The study is intended to gather grocery shoppers' opinions about food safety issues. The survey was fielded by Survey Sampling International (SSI) using random samples from their managed online panels in: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Forth Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, and Washington, DC. Cities were identified using Nielsen Designated Market Areas (DMA). There are 1,000 responses in the final dataset - 100 in each city. IBM was not identified as the sponsor of the study. The results have a 3.1-point margin of error overall (95% confidence level).

Parents magazine released its list of the top 10 fast-casual restaurants

2009-07-02T16:48:00.001-04:00

Parents magazine recently ranked the top 10 fast-casual restaurants in the foodservice industry in their July issue. The magazine based their list on nutritional value of the menu and in-store family-friendly conveniences, like having changing tables in the restrooms. Cosi took the top spot on the list, followed by Jason's Deli, Noodles & Company, Fazoli's, Panera Bread, ZPizza, Atlanta Bread Co., Corner Bakery Café, Taco Del Mar, and McAlister's Deli

A second-generation of hamburger chains is spreading across the U.S.

2009-07-01T08:58:00.000-04:00

Scott and Don Harris, brothers and business partners, have spent 25 years in the burger business as owners of Wendy’s franchises.

When they were looking a few years ago to become franchisees of a new concept, the Harris brothers were drawn again to burgers. Last year they opened a Roswell outlet for The Counter, a California-based burger chain, and they plan five more in metro Atlanta in the next five years.

You can always go back to the hamburger as this one basic element of American society,” Scott Harris said. “Give me a great hamburger and you’ll have a following.”
Decades after Ray Kroc started a fast-food empire with a franchising deal for McDonald’s, a second-generation of hamburger chains is spreading across the United States and metro Atlanta. They offer slightly pricier burgers, typically $5 to $10 for their mainstay items, and feature hand-made patties from fresh-ground beef.
In the past three years, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, based in Virginia, has put almost 30 restaurants in metro Atlanta. Cheeseburger Bobby’s, a Kennesaw-based chain started last year, has four outlets in the area. It expects to add two more this fall.

Canyons Burger Company, based in Atlanta, has opened two outlets since 2007. It expects to open six to 10 units in metro Atlanta in the next three years. California-based Fatburger and Florida-based Evos also have entered the Atlanta market.

Hamburger chains represent the largest and still one of the fastest-growing restaurant segments in the United States, according to Chicago market research firm Technomic.

Last year, sales at limited-service hamburger restaurants rose 4.1 percent to $64 billion, Technomic reported. Only the sandwich and bakery cafe categories grew faster.

Burger outlets are growing on two different fronts, said Darren Tristano, Technomic executive vice president.

The traditional chains — McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s — are broadening their menus with chicken sandwiches, beverages and breakfast fare, Tristano said. This has left an opening for a “better burger” category to emerge that focuses on a premium hamburger, he said.

The recession could slow down growth of the number of units for the new burger chains, Tristano said. Some customers might trade down temporarily to save money, he said.

But the long-term trends remain positive, Tristano said. “I don’t think it’s anywhere near a saturation point,” he said. “In fact, it’s probably five more years of good growth before you even begin to see it flatten.”

These new chains are not the first to take the burger up a notch. Fuddruckers, a Texas-based chain started in 1980, has eight metro Atlanta locations and still claims to have the “world’s greatest hamburger.”

Bob Stoll, co-founder of Cheeseburger Bobby’s with his brother Richard, said there is room in the market for new burger concepts as long as they’re well-run.

Cheeseburger Bobby’s tries to differentiate itself by using fresh ingredients and giving customers a topping bar that allows them to customize their own burger.

“I think people are willing to pay a little more for a quality burger,” Stoll said.
The Counter also allows for greater customization. Guests can choose from more than 50 different cheeses, toppings and sauces.

The traditional and new burger chains can both co-exist, said Scott and Don Harris, the Counter franchisees. They still own seven Wendy’s restaurants as well as six Panera Bread outlets.

The Counter offers a California-themed environment with bright beach colors and surfboards on the wall. Customers also can pair their burgers with beer and wine.

“I think it’s more about convenience when you go to Wendy’s,” Scott Harris said.

“This is more about experience.”

Soy in the Diet May Protect Lung Function Chronic lung disease rates lower in those who consume soy, researchers say

2009-06-30T08:20:00.000-04:00

Consuming lots of soy foods such as tofu and soy milk may improve lung function and lower the chances of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), new research suggests.

Researchers asked 300 COPD patients in Japan and 340 age-matched healthy people about their soy intake. The results, published online in the journal Respiratory Research, indicate that consumption of soy products is associated with better lung function and reduced risk of COPD.

Long-term smoking causes 90 percent of cases of COPD, which is characterized by a progressive decline in lung function and includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, according to background information provided in a news release from the journal's publisher.

Previous research has suggested that soy can reduce cholesterol and ease menopause symptoms. This new study is the first to link soy intake and reduced COPD risk.
"It has been suggested that flavonoids from soy foods act as an anti-inflammatory agent in the lung, and can protect against tobacco carcinogens for smokers. However, further research is needed to understand the underlying biological mechanism," study author Fumi Hirayama said in a news release.

Crop 'guesstimate' hints at higher apple, blueberry production

2009-06-29T10:05:00.001-04:00

Members of the U.S. fruit industry placed their bets with an early guesstimate of the 2009 crop.

The 54th annual Fruit Crop Guesstimate was June 17 in Grand Rapids, Mich. Industry members may not have been actually betting, but they were putting in their best guesses.

"The actual 2008 North American crop was within 1% of our estimate last year, with some regions doing more and some doing less than estimated," said Frank Bragg, chief executive officer of Grand Junction-based MBG Marketing and the presenter of the 2009 blueberry crop estimate.

Bragg said fresh U.S. blueberry production should be 234 million pounds, 14% more than 2008 production. The Great Lakes region, however, may be down 20% from the year before, mostly in processed volume, he said.

The apple crop was presented in total volume, fresh and processed.

• Washington estimates 138 million bushels;
• New York estimates 29.5 million bushels;
• Michigan estimates 23 million bushels;
• Pennsylvania estimates 10.3 million bushels
• California estimates 8 million bushels; and
• Virginia estimates 5.5 million bushels.

The total Guesstimate for the U.S. was 247.5 million bushels of fresh and processed apples.

"That's about 8% or 9% over 2008," said Denise Donohue, executive director of the DeWitt-based Michigan Apple Committee. Donohue prepared the Michigan estimate for the event.

The grape estimate was given for Michigan only. The state is predicted to produce 59,000 tons of concord grapes and 25,000 tons of Niagara.

Peach and cherry guesstimates were for processed production only. The event is sponsored by the Michigan Frozen Food Packers Association.

About 63% of consumers are still confused by probiotics

2009-06-27T10:34:00.001-04:00

Still despite Dannon and competitors like LiveActive from Kraft Foods' efforts, 63 percent of consumers reported that they are still confused by probiotics. Only 13 percent of those claiming familiarity could accurately provide a definition. These were the findings from a Datamonitor study released today which was commissioned by Kraft.

Still, the results show an improvement, said Datamonitor's consumer markets analyst Mark Whalley. A survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for Ganeden Biotech in 2008 found that 85 percent of respondents were unfamiliar with probiotics. In 2007, 78 percent of respondents to an NPD Group had no knowledge the term probiotics at all.

"This emphasizes how there is still a need for brands to educate U.S. consumers about the benefits of probiotic consumption. The good news is that Americans appear to be responding to marketing messages," said Whalley.

Whalley said that Datamonitor predicts the US probiotic market will continue to grow as more consumers shift to healthier eating habits and increase their working knowledge of the associated health benefits of probiotics. Datamonitor forecasts that the industry could be worth up to $2 billion or more by 2013.

"What is clear is that during the economic crisis manufacturers need to continue to create probiotic products, which consumers find an integral part of their daily routine, otherwise much of the early good work will have to be repeated to get these consumers to resume consumption if they sacrifice it now to save money," Whalley said.

Dannon, has kept its foot on the gas, earlier this year launched Activia drinks and Activia Fiber.

Still, no matter who is producing the products containing probiotics, they need to be mindful of their claims. In April, is was reported that The Dannon Co. was working on a settlement of complaints filed by customers questioning the health claims made on behalf of its Activia as well as DanActive yogurts.

The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics released a clarified definition of the term "probiotic."

he International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) released a clarified definition of the term "probiotic" to assist consumers, manufacturers, researchers and regulators (see www.isapp.net). ISAPP promotes correct use of the term "probiotics" to enhance precision for basic and clinical research efforts on probiotics as well as facilitate the work of regulatory bodies concerned with issues of probiotic safety and consumer protection.

Davis, Calif. (PRWEB) June 24, 2009 -- The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) today released a clarified definition of the term "probiotic" to assist consumers, manufacturers, researchers and regulators (see www.isapp.net).

Probiotics were defined by the FAO/WHO in 2001 as live microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host. This definition is widely acknowledged by the scientific community, but the term "probiotic" remains undefined by most regulatory bodies worldwide. Over the years the FAO/WHO definition of probiotics remains applicable to scientific, industrial and regulatory communities, as long as it is interpreted correctly.

The term "probiotic" is commonly misused both commercially, when the term is featured on products with no substantiation of human health benefits, and scientifically, where the term has been used to describe bacterial components, dead bacteria or bacteria with uncharacterized health effects in humans.

ISAPP promotes correct use of the term "probiotics" to enhance precision for basic and clinical research efforts on probiotics as well as facilitate the work of regulatory bodies concerned with issues of probiotic safety and consumer protection.

FOOD USE

When combined with the specifications outlined by the FAO/WHO Working Group for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food (2002), the key aspects of this definition include:

§ A probiotic must be alive when administered

§ A probiotic must have undergone controlled evaluation to document health benefits in the target host

§ A probiotic must be a taxonomically defined microbe or combination of microbes (genus, species and strain level)

§ A probiotic must be safe for its intended use

Although regulations differ internationally, in general, foods and nutritional (dietary) supplements are targeted for the generally healthy population and can carry substantiated claims for both disease risk reduction (if proper approval is obtained) and claims which relate them to general health or the normal structure and function of the human body. Substantiation is required for all claims.

NON FOOD USE

The FAO/WHO effort was specifically focused on food uses of probiotics; however, the definition advanced by this group is sufficiently broad to encompass a range of probiotic preparations and intentions of use. In addition to being a food or a dietary supplement, a probiotic microorganism(s), including genetically modified strains, may be used in drug applications (referred in some instances as a live biotherapeutic), microbial feed (animal uses), and live vaccines if administered orally.

Requirements for establishing efficacy and safety for probiotics are different for these categories of probiotics. For example, a probiotic used as a drug must not only fulfill the general FAO conditions stipulated above, but also conform to existing national regulations (e.g., US Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and EU Directive 2004/27/EC on substances used for treating or preventing disease) and guidelines on good clinical practices.

IN SUMMARY

- Since its genesis in 2001, the FAO definition on probiotics has proven its scientific value as shown through acceptance worldwide by key players in the field of probiotics and health.

- The strength of this definition is that it encompasses the many different applications of probiotic science and does not restrict probiotics to specific mechanistic activities.
- This definition has its place in today's debates that revolve around the substantiation of health benefits for probiotics, and it offers a valuable reference for regulatory authorities.
- Adherence to this definition by those involved in the field will assure that the term "probiotic" is meaningful commercially, clinically and scientifically.

References:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2001. Health and Nutritional Properties of Probiotics in Food including Powder Milk with Live Lactic Acid Bacteria, http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/fs_management/en/probiotics.pdf

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2002. Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food. ftp://ftp.fao.org/es/esn/food/wgreport2.pdf

Vanilla Cashew Ice Cream

2009-06-26T09:22:00.004-04:00

New York's healthiest ice creams: fruity, dairy free and totally refreshing

The scoop on this summer's hottest ice creams? They contain nutritious ingredients like whole grains, blueberries and nut milk, and while not exactly low in calories, they're light, refreshing and guilt-free.

Some 40 percent of American eat ice cream on a regular basis, and 30 percent of ice cream eaters name vanilla as their favorite flavor, according to the International Dairy Food Association. But the concept of ice cream as health food is making consumers rethink what they want in their ice cream, experts say.

"People want their ice cream, but they don't want to subtract anything from it," says Harry Balzer, vice president of the NPD Group, a consumer marketing research company that tracks how Americans eat. "The issue is no longer avoidance, but adding stuff to ice cream. Itâ€™s addition, not subtraction."

Adding green tea and tofu to ice cream is a successful formula at the new restaurant Golosi, where you'll taste flavors like grano (made with 17 whole grains), black sesame seed and green tea.

"People in New York like healthy food," says Franceso Barros, an owner of Golosi. "And this extends to ice cream."

The grano is among his most popular flavors, with a pleasingly sweet, wheaty taste that will remind you of red bean ice cream. Aloe vera is also in high demand.

Among the restaurants making nutrient-rich sorbets and ice creams this summer is Harbour, where Joe Isidori is chef. His cantaloupe sorbet, which offers a good dose of beta carotene, is a winner, as is the vanilla cashew ice cream, sweetened with agave syrup and prepared with either cashew or almond milk.

Adding fruit to ice cream may not be a new idea, but the quality of the frosty, fruity confections this summer is particularly high. At Stogo, where ice cream has either a soy milk, coconut milk or hemp milk base, fruit flavors range from coconut-banana-mango to vanilla goji berry crunch to pomegranate chocolate chip.

Ice cream consultant Malcolm Stogo helped create the flavors for this six-month-old East Village shop, which is owned by actor Rob Sedgwick and restaurateur Steven Horn. The gelato-style ice cream is dairy-free, sweetened with agave, and noteworthy for its freshness.

"It has really caught on and there is a huge demand for it," Horn says. "A huge part of the population can't do dairy anymore. Also, people want their ice cream but they don't want to feel guilty about it."

Another Stogo will open next year on the Upper West Side, and there are plans to expand into other states, Horn says. He says despite its reputation as a guilty pleasure, people are still screaming for ice cream. "But they want a guiltless ice cream."

Instructions

Blend all ingredients , except coconut oil, in blender. While running, slowly pour coconut oil into mixture.

Process in an ice cream machine for 30 to 45 minutes. Freeze until firm.
Ingredients
Makes 1 ½ quarts
1 quart cashew or almond milk (such as Mimic Crème)
3/4 cup agave syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
Pinch of sea salt
6 tablespoons coconut oil, liquefied in blender

About 44% of manufacturers plan to begin hiring workers again as soon as next year

2009-06-25T09:37:00.000-04:00

A new report based on a survey of small- to mid-sized U.S. manufacturers has found that 44 percent of the companies plan to begin hiring workers again as soon as next year if the economy rebounds as they expect.

But first, according to the report from RSM McGladrey, the manufacturing sector, which has lost 1.6 million jobs since the recession began, needs to put 2009 behind it.

The report, which was based on a survey of 923 manufacturers and will be released later on Monday, found that 40 percent of manufacturers said their businesses were still declining, 18 months after the current recession began, up from just 12 percent last year.

Only 9 percent characterized their current business as "thriving and growing," down from 38 percent last year when the recession took hold, and nearly 50 percent back in 2007.

Sixty-two percent of the companies responding said they were girding for sales declines domestically. As a result, 52 percent said they planned to cut jobs in 2009, up from 26 percent last year.

The downturn is not affecting all manufacturers the same way, RSM McGladrey found.
Executives at companies that make medical devices and food and beverages were far more upbeat than those in the transportation equipment, building materials and metal fabrication sectors. Companies with international footprints and sales are doing better, on average, than those confined to the domestic market.

"Not all of manufacturing is in terrible shape," said Tom Murphy, the lead author of the RSM McGladrey report.

"There are segments that are doing well."

Forty-four percent of the manufacturers surveyed said they expect the economy to rebound next year.

"That's significant," said Murphy. "The light at the end of the tunnel is actually good news. It's not the train rolling down the track any more."

Retailers need to respond to the recession by changing with consumers

2009-06-24T09:21:00.000-04:00

Retailers are grappling with the toughest trading conditions of their lives and while consumer confidence is improving there are risks to a recovery, the head of Britain's biggest retailer said on Thursday.

"The situation in the high street is very fluid at the moment," Tesco's (TSCO.L) chief executive, Terry Leahy, said in a speech to the British Retail Consortium on Thursday.

"Confidence is slowly seeping back, helped by lower interest rates, energy and fuel deflation, and of course falling food prices. But clouds remain -- the darkest being unemployment."

Leahy said retailers needed to respond to the recession by changing with consumers, who are focusing more on value than other recent shopping trends such as convenience.
"It may demand short term pain -- such as investing in lower prices -- but it delivers medium and long term gain," he said, pointing to the market share gains that Tesco made after the recession of the early 1990s when it developed its "Value" range.

In the current downturn Tesco has introduced a new range of discount brands and invested more money in its Clubcard customer loyalty scheme.

Leahy said consumers had remained concerned about the environment in the recession and that trend towards "green" shopping would become stronger in a recovery.
"When the recovery comes long term challenges and trends will come back into focus," he said, highlighting climate change, a rising population, the pressure on natural resources and an ageing population.

"Technologies that once were unfashionable and politically unacceptable -- be they nuclear power or GM (genetically-modified) crops -- may come back into vogue," he forecast. (Reporting by Mark Potter; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

A chemical found in green tea appears to slow the progression of prostate cancer

2009-06-23T09:32:00.000-04:00

A chemical found in green tea appears to slow the progression of prostate cancer, a study has suggested.

Green tea has been linked to a positive effect on a wide range of conditions, including heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

The research, in the US journal Cancer Prevention Research, found a significant fall in certain markers which indicate cancer development.

A UK charity said the tea might help men manage low-risk tumours.

Although previous studies have shown benefits from drinking green tea - including some positive findings in relation to prostate cancer, there have been mixed results.

In this study, Philadelphia-based researchers tested a compound called Polyphenon E.

They were looking for a number of biomarkers - molecules - including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) which are indicators of developing cancer.

They also looked for prostate specific antigen (PSA) - a protein only found in the prostate. Levels can rise if cancer is present.

'12 cups'

The study included 26 men, aged 41 to 72 years, who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and who were scheduled for radical prostate surgery.

Patients took four capsules containing Polyphenon E for an average of 34 days, up until the day before surgery - the equivalent of around 12 cups of normally brewed concentrated green tea.

The study found a significant reduction in levels of HGF, VEGF and PSA, with some patients demonstrating reductions of more than 30%.

Dr James Cardelli, from the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center, who led the study, said the compound, which was provided by the company Polyphenon Pharma, "may have the potential to lower the incidence and slow the progression of prostate cancer."

There were only a few reported side effects associated with this study, and liver function remained normal.

Dr Cardelli said: "We think that the use of tea polyphenols alone or in combination with other compounds currently used for cancer therapy should be explored as an approach to prevent cancer progression and recurrence."

"There is reasonably good evidence that many cancers are preventable, and our studies using plant-derived substances support the idea that plant compounds found in a healthy diet can play a role in preventing cancer development and progression."

'Keep progression at bay'

John Neate, chief executive of the Prostate Cancer Charity, said: "There have been several studies into green tea and its potential benefits, but there is, as yet, no conclusive evidence.

"The results of this study do suggest that there is merit in further research into the effects of extracts of green tea, both in relation to its impact on the prevention of prostate cancer and in controlling progression in men already diagnosed with the disease, as was investigated in this instance."

"These initial positive findings could indicate that green tea could have a place in 'active surveillance', where a slow-growing, low risk tumour is monitored for changes and men want to take something which could help keep progression at bay.

"Potentially, this could mean completely avoiding, in some cases, any of the more usual medical interventions and their associated side effects."

Continuous improvement "seems to be the recipe for success in 2009" for foodservice establishments

2009-06-22T07:47:00.001-04:00

During a recession, making macaroni and cheese for dinner instead of heading to the Macaroni Grill is a no-brainer. And so the vast casual-dining sector, which grew fat during the late free-spending consumer boom, has been hammered. Restaurants are the top category in which U.S. consumers said they are most likely to cut back, according to a recent Boston Consulting Group (BCG) survey. "Casual dining is getting hit hard," says BCG partner Catherine Roche. The higher up on the food chain you are, the worse it is. Sales at the upscale Morton's steakhouse fell 24 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

But at least one comparatively pricey restaurant chain is turning in the equivalent of a Michelin-starred performance. P.F. Chang's China Bistro, whose two restaurant chains—P.F. Chang's and Pei Wei Asian Diner—are staples of upscale malls and mixed-use developments, said that same-store sales fell a bit, but profits produced by its 350 outlets rose 38 percent from the first quarter of 2008. Operating margins—the holy grail of any business—at P.F. Chang's 190 stores rose from 12.8 percent to 14 percent, largely due to "incremental operational improvement opportunities." The stock has doubled since November.

What accounts for the sizzle in P.F. Chang's wok? Probably not the food. Just as saxophonist Kenny G provides jazz for people who don't really like authentic jazz, P.F. Chang's peddles Chinese food to diners who might not cotton to authentic Sichuan fare. Waiters don't wheel around carts laden with steamed chicken feet, as they do at dim sum parlors in New York and San Francisco. In the comfy confines of Boston's Prudential Center, I was presented with a raft of desserts as American as, well, apple pie, including the Great Wall of Chocolate. "It's like The Cheesecake Factory, only ethnic," says Jennifer 8. Lee, author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food. "It's very consciously designed to cultivate an appeal to mainstream America." The "P.F." stands for company founder Paul Fleming, and the kitchen features ingredients that wouldn't be found in Chinese restaurants, like chocolate, cheese and melon balls (try picking up fruity spheroids with chopsticks).

P.F. Chang's rode the trading-up boom of this past decade, opening stores in tony malls and economic hot zones and becoming the first Chinese-food chain to reach $1 billion in revenue. But the days when you could simply open the doors and welcome consumers armed with credit cards and cash from mortgage refinancings are over.

In this downturn, the company has avoided wholesale restructuring and panicked discounting. For many restaurants, Chinese and otherwise, 2009 is the Year of the Closing. But no P.F. Chang's bistros have shuttered. Rather, it simply has worked hard at doing a better job running things. Co-CEO Rick Federico says that in early 2008, when traffic first softened, management went through "all elements of our business that don't touch our guests or our product" in a search for efficiencies. P.F. Chang's cross-trained prep cooks and line cooks, so the folks who dice chicken and vegetables can fry them up in woks, too. It also hired an expert to develop a new scheduling tool to better manage staffing. In a period when growth is muted, this unglamorous focus on operations and seemingly minor efficiencies will allow all types of businesses—not just restaurants—to distinguish themselves from their competition.

While loath to discount aggressively, P.F Chang's introduced $7.95 lunch specials for the first time in mid-2008. As the recession deepened, the company noticed more people cutting back on the discretionary parts of dinner, like appetizers and desserts. So in December, it rolled out a three-course fixed-price menu for two for $39.95, which was plenty for me and a less ravenous colleague at a recent lunch.

P.F. Chang's has dialed back the number of new restaurants it is opening this year, from about 20 to eight, in part because so many ambitious real-estate developments have been scrubbed. But it turns out there are plenty of solvent communities starved for unthreatening, satisfying portions of beef with broccoli. At the new restaurant in Westfarms Mall, outside Hartford, Conn., 45-minute waits on the weekend are common. Other openings are planned in 2009 in Rust Belt cities regarded by coastal food snobs as culinary wastelands: Akron, Ohio; Pittsburgh; Buffalo, N.Y.

Federico, who started a previous restaurant company amid the downturn of the late 1970s, believes restaurants must adjust to a slower pace of growth. "I think what we've been through will leave behind a fundamental shift in how consumers purchase," he says.

P.F. Chang's made it to $1 billion in sales by taking cues from successful Asian businesses. Now, by focusing on process improvement rather than helter-skelter growth, it seems to be doing so again. Continuous improvement, the philosophy pioneered by Japanese companies like Toyota in which managers and workers relentlessly seek out small modifications that add up to big profits, seems to be the recipe for success in 2009.

Speculators jack up price of coffee beans

2009-06-21T07:37:00.001-04:00

Get ready to spend more for your morning pick-me-up.

Coffee prices are on the march, and the costs of the milk, sugar and even paper cups are climbing. But whereas other commodities like copper or oil have been pushed up by demand from developing countries, coffee is a different case. Demand has only edged up, and much of the recent surge can be attributed to speculators hopping into the commodity.

Oren's Daily Roast, a boutique coffee store in New York City, has charged $2.95 for a medium latte for the past two years. Now, owner Oren Bloostein is considering a price increase of perhaps 3 percent for a cup of coffee and up to 10 percent for coffee beans.

"It is very disconcerting," Bloostein said. But after an 11 percent increase in ingredients since the beginning of this year, he said, "I need to raise my prices so that I can remain in business."

The price pressures on a cup of joe began building in 2007. The price of the coffee itself rose 7.7 percent last year, while milk climbed 24 percent.

Now, spurred by tight supplies of coffee beans and investors looking for the next commodity run-up, prices are boiling over. The price of green coffee beans has risen 22 percent since the beginning of the year.

Faced with higher costs for acquiring coffee beans, major U.S roasters Procter & Gamble Co. and Kraft Foods Inc. last month increased prices on ground and instant brands, including Maxwell House and Folgers. It was the second price increase in four months.

Seven in 10 men prefer plain ice cream flavors

2009-06-20T07:27:00.000-04:00

Just in time for summer, Mintel releases new findings about three of the hottest food and drink markets: ice cream, coffeehouses and alcoholic beverages. For a media copy of any of these just-published Mintel Oxygen reports, contact press@mintel.com.

Flavor wars: Men and women want different things from (ice cream) relationship

It’s a battle of the sexes in the ice cream aisle as Mintel finds seven in 10 men prefer plain ice cream flavors, like chocolate or vanilla, while 74% of women seek out those containing chocolate or candy bits. Still, each gender seems to enjoy the other’s taste preferences: 66% of women say they also look for plain ice cream, and 63% of men go for jazzed up flavors too.

Fruit flavors don’t bode well for either male or female ice cream-eaters. Less than one in three respondents told Mintel they look for fruit-flavored ice cream.

Coffee dilemma: Americans’ torn between Starbucks and independents, plain and fancy drinks

The 21^st century question — Starbucks or independent? — remains unanswered. Mintel’s latest survey shows people firmly split between the coffee conglomerate and the shop next door. One in five respondents say Starbucks is their favorite, but another one in five choose an independent.

America remains equally undecided on its preferred coffeehouse drink. Coffee with milk or cream leads in popularity—30% of respondents say they drink it most often—but black coffee, lattes, cappuccino and iced coffees all enjoy near identical favor among respondents.

Toasting basics: Beer the favored alcoholic beverage at restaurants, bars, home

An ice-cold brew beats out swanky cocktails and sophisticated wine in all domains, according to Mintel’s latest survey. More adults report drinking beer at home (46%), in bars (26%) and even in restaurants (27%) than any other alcoholic beverage. Wine is a close second at home and restaurants, while cocktails are the second most common choice at bars.

Mintel found people are loyal to one or just a few different alcoholic beverage brands, and 70% agreed, “when it comes to alcoholic beverages, I like to stick with what I know.”

About Mintel

Mintel is a leading global supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence. For more than 35 years, Mintel has provided insight into key worldwide trends, offering unique data that directly impacts client success. With offices in Chicago, London, Belfast, Sydney, Shanghai and Tokyo, Mintel has forged a unique reputation as a world-renowned business brand. For more information on Mintel, please visit www.mintel.com.

The anti-cancer properties of carrots are more potent if the vegetable is not cut up

2009-06-19T07:35:00.002-04:00

The anti-cancer properties of carrots are more potent if the vegetable is not cut up before cooking, research shows.
Scientists found "boiled before cut" carrots contained 25% more of the anti-cancer compound falcarinol than those chopped up first.
Experiments on rats fed falcarinol have shown they develop fewer tumours.

The Newcastle University study will be presented at NutrEvent, a conference on nutrition and health, to be held in France.

Lead researcher Dr Kirsten Brandt, from Newcastle University's School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, said: "Chopping up your carrots increases the surface area so more of the nutrients leach out into the water while they are cooked.

"By keeping them whole and chopping them up afterwards you are locking in nutrients and the taste, so the carrot is better for you all round."

The Newcastle scientist, along with colleagues at the University of Denmark, discovered the health benefits of falcarinol in carrots four years ago.

Heat effect

Rats fed on a diet containing carrots or falcarinol were found to be one-third less likely to develop full-scale tumours than those in the control group.

Since then the scientists in Newcastle have been studying what happens when carrots are chopped and cooked.

The latest findings show that when carrots are heated, the heat kills the cells, so they lose the ability to hold on to the water inside them, increasing the concentration of falcarinol as the carrots lose water.

However, the heat also softens the cell walls, allowing water-soluble compounds such as sugar and vitamin C to be lost via the surface of the tissue, leading to the leaching out of other compounds such as falcarinol.

If the carrot is cut before being boiled, the surface area becomes much greater - and so the loss of nutrients is increased.

More tasty

Dr Brandt added that in blind taste studies the whole carrots also tasted much better.
Eight of ten people favoured the whole vegetables over those that were pre-chopped.
This is because the naturally occurring sugars which are responsible for giving the carrot its distinctively sweet flavour were also found in higher concentrations in the carrot that had been cooked whole.

Dr Brandt said: "The great thing about this is it's a simple way for people to increase their uptake of a compound we know is good for you.

"All you need is a bigger saucepan."

Dr Kat Arney, of the charity Cancer Research UK, remained unconvinced that keeping carrots whole would have any impact on cancer risk.

She said: "When it comes to eating, we know that a healthy balanced diet - rich in a range of fruit and vegetables - plays an important part in reducing the risk of many types of cancer, rather than any one specific food."

Multinational beverage companies are working to address environmental concerns over their water usage

2009-06-18T08:25:00.000-04:00

At New York's Del Posto, diners can share a $130 entree of wild branzino fish with roasted fennel and peperonata concentrato and a $3,600 bottle of Dom Perignon. They cannot share a bottle of Perrier or San Pellegrino water.

The Italian restaurant backed by celebrities Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich is one of several shunning bottled water, along with the city of San Francisco and New York state.

"The argument for local water is compelling and obvious," said Bastianich, who is phasing out bottled water across his restaurant empire, which stretches to Los Angeles.

"It's about transportation, packaging, the absurdity of moving water all over the world," he said.

As environmental worries cut into sales from traditionally lucrative bottled water, beverage companies such as Coca-Cola (KO - News), PepsiCo (PEP - News), Nestle (VTX:NESN.VX - News) and SABMiller (LSE:SAB.L - News) are becoming more attuned to the risks of negative consumer environmental perceptions.

Water is becoming scarcer, raising a fear that so-far manageable price increases could spike and leading drink companies to take action to maintain access to water and fight their image as water hogs.

"Water is the new oil," said Steve Dixon, who manages the Global Beverage Fund at Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder, repeating what has become a mantra as climate change and population growth tax water supplies.

"As an investor, I'm not concerned about the reality," Dixon said, guessing there will always be enough water overall. "But I'm aware of the perceptions ... and you can't totally shrug it off because perceptions are important."

About a third of the world's people now live in areas of water stress, said Brooke Barton, manager of corporate accountability for Ceres, a network of environmental groups and investors seeking to address sustainability challenges. By 2025, she said it will be more like two-thirds.

COST

Water is still cheap, but that is changing.

"(Water) is currently not a very big cost. The issue is where it will it go in the future," said Andy Wales, head of sustainable development for brewer SABMiller, which used 94.5 billion liters of water in its latest fiscal year. That works out to 4.5 liters for every liter of beer it made.

Water and energy combined only made up 5 percent of its costs, overshadowed by brewing ingredients, bottling materials and labor. Still the brewer said water costs at a Bogota, Colombia plant are rising some 12 percent a year from increased soil being washed into the river as cattle grazing upstream causes deforestation.

New water pricing schemes are emerging, such as the European Union's Water Framework Directive that will tax water from 2010 to encourage more sustainable use.

Some 70 percent of the water the world uses is for agriculture, while industry uses 20 percent. But any industry reliant on agriculture -- from meat to jeans -- has more to wade through than its own use.

SABMiller is one of a few companies, including Coke and Pepsi, calculating "water footprints." It found that water used throughout its supply chain, such as to grow barley and hops, can be 34 times more than its use alone.

With 139 breweries on six continents, the brewer's total water use can range from about 40 liters for a liter of beer in Central Europe to 155 liters in South Africa. Using the smaller ratio as a proxy, SABMiller's entire "water footprint" was roughly 8.4 trillion liters of water last year, more than double what the small nation of Iceland used in 2004.

"In the long term we do see it as a risk," Wales said.

REPUTATION

As they face criticism, multinational drink companies are setting water conservation targets, building community wells and more efficient factories, working with locals on sustainable farming, water harvesting and reforestation and looking for new technologies to reduce their water consumption even as they make more drinks.
"For our type of business, or any that have a very direct link to water ... We've got to play that role," said Greg Koch, Coke's managing director of global water stewardship.

Within their own walls, nonalcoholic drink makers use one out of every 3,300 gallons, or 0.03 percent, of the groundwater used in the United States, according to the American Beverage Association. But its symbolism as a visible user puts the sector at the forefront of the fight over water resources, said Kim Jeffery, chief executive of Nestle Waters North America.

"Picking on our industry is like a gnat on the elephant," said Jeffery, whose 2003 contract to build a bottling plant in McCloud, California has been derailed by opposition from residents and groups concerned about the environmental impact and the threat of water privatization.

Higher ingredient and energy costs in 2010 will force restaurants to pull back on promotions

2009-06-17T07:37:00.000-04:00

Restaurants could see their margins squeezed as inflationary pressures return to the commodity markets, especially as the chains find it harder to wean customers off a steady diet of meal deals.

Analysts expect higher ingredient and energy costs for restaurants in 2010, with inflation returning to normal levels after a year when costs increases moderated and, for some items, fell from year-ago levels. That could make it harder for chains to continue with the aggressive stream of coupons, buy-one- get-one-free offers and other promotions to bring customers into their doors.

"There's no sign of a pullback yet on discounting," Barclays Capital analyst Jeffrey Bernstein said in an interview. But, "if you see a return to inflation in 2010, it'll prove more challenging to offer these deals."

Consumers are responding to those deals, said Morgan Keegan & Co. restaurant analyst Robert Derrington, who believes that Brinker International Inc.'s (EAT) Chili's Grill & Bar deal offering 10 items for $7 or less is putting more customers in its seats.

But as ingredient costs rise, restaurants may find it harder to raise menu prices to protect their profit margins, especially since consumers have grown accustomed to deals. Derrington termed the casual-dining environment as a competitive "flea-market" for consumers, who are going out to eat when they get coupons or see a good deal advertised on television.

"Consumers are being extremely frugal," Derrington said.

With aggressive menu price increases no longer in their arsenal, restaurants may face margin pressures in 2010, when most chains will see their current purchasing contracts expire and they encounter a pricier market for their basket of goods.
The challenge could damp the rally that casual-dining stocks have had so far this year, with some chains bouncing off multiyear lows to post big gains.

Ruby Tuesday Inc. (RT) shares have increased more than seven-fold to $6.26 in recent trading since hitting a 52-week low of 85 cents in early March. Other chains with dramatic gains include Applebee's and IHOP owner DineEquity Inc. ( DIN), whose shares were recently at $29.86, up roughly six times from their low in February, and O'Charley's Inc. (CHUX), whose shares traded recently at $8.19, up more than 300% this year.

Casual dining giants Brinker and Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI), owner of Olive Garden and Red Lobster, are also up 53% and 19% so far in 2009.

Higher costs should hit casual dining chains that operate most of their locations themselves rather than those that sell franchises, since they bear all the costs. Bernstein cited Cheesecake Factory Inc. (CAKE) and P.F. Chang's China Bistro Inc. (PFCB) as two facing such exposure.

Some think that those restaurants that have offered big time discounts have shot themselves in the foot, as their customers will come to expect lower-priced food.
"When the economy turns, those that were in the promotional business will suffer more than most," Larry H. Lattig, senior managing director at Mesirow Financial Consulting LLC, said at last week's Nasdaq OMX conference on the food and restaurant industry.

Recipes prepared in food company test kitchens and printed on labels might be on the verge of a comeback

2009-06-16T07:46:00.001-04:00

The staple of church potlucks, parties and even the dinner table, back of the box recipes prepared in major food company test kitchens and printed on product jars, cartons and boxes just might be on the verge of a comeback.

"In some respect, they've never gone away because they've always been there on the back of the box, but in the '80s and '90s, people stopped cooking at home as much," says Eleanor Hanson, who spent 17 years creating recipes in Kraft's test kitchens in Chicago and Glenview.

But whether it's the economy, nostalgia or a little bit of both, people seem interested in re-creating dishes from their childhood.

One new resource for home cooks is Back of the Box Cooking (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, $19.95), a collection of author Barbara Greenman's favorite recipes.

Hanson is currently at work on a book with Roosevelt University professor emeritus and culinary historian Bruce Kraig that will trace the evolution of recipes from their humble beginnings before the turn of the 20th century through their heyday in the '50s and '60s to their current re-emergence.

"Some of the most coveted family recipes came from the back of packages and boxes," Kraig says. "Flip through a couple of community and church cookbooks and you'll see that many of the recipes are from the back of the box."

Kraig says one of the earliest companies to use this marketing technique did so out of necessity.

"When Quaker Oats first came on the market, people didn't know how to use oats," he says. "Most people thought oats were just for horses and the earliest recipes printing on their oatmeal boxes were designed to show consumers how to use the product."

A 1908 recipe for oat cakes -- 3 eggs, ½ pound of butter and 3 cups of oats -- was an early precursor to that company's more famous creation, the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie.

Even that recipe has been tinkered with since it was first introduced in 1955. Quaker's official recipe now calls for butter or margarine in place of shortening. The original recipe has a cult following on the Web, though.

Hanson says the oatmeal cookie recipe is one of the few iconic recipes that test kitchen veterans refer to as "holy grail recipes" that cannot be improved upon.

Kellogg's Rice Krispie Treats, Chex Party Mix and Ritz Cracker's Mock Apple Pie, now celebrating its 75th year, are among those considered holy grail recipes.

Recipes such as Libby Pumpkin's Pumpkin Pie and Campbell Soup's Green Bean Casserole have become staples of the holiday table.

"I'm not even certain they'd still be making the French's fried onions if not for that recipe," Hanson says.

"Libby's pumpkin pie recipe has become the standard recipe that everyone uses," Kraig adds. "You don't get much more iconic than that."

Hanson notes that companies hardly ever alter such timeless entries.

"Test kitchens will rarely tinker with iconic recipes like these and when they do, they usually hear back from consumers negatively," she says. "You just don't mess with them, let alone take them off the box."

The recipe for Borden's Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk's Magic Cookie Bars has remained unchanged since its introduction in the '60s, but the name has been updated. The dessert was originally called Hello, Dolly Bars in reference to the Broadway musical that was popular at the time.

"I talked with a gal who had been in the Borden test kitchens for years and she told me the seven-layer bar was just one of several 'magic line' of recipes her team had to come up with that used the sweetened, condensed milk," Hanson says.

When your job is to continually come up with new recipes, you don't have much time to look back on the successes and failures. Hanson she can recall only a few misfires.

"The worst thing we could hear from a brand manager was that they had partnered with some other product and we had to figure out a recipe that used both," she says. "I once had to come up with a recipe using Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and Spam. Sometimes we knew going in we were just trying to avoid a train wreck."

The trouble with both those products? Neither photographs very well.

"Recipes have to look attractive," Hanson says. "One of my proudest moments was the one year we came up with a recipe for a bed of Macaroni and Cheese with vegetables and skewers of Spam and vegetables. We did the best we could with the cards we were dealt."

Another flop was Kraft's answer to Betty Crocker's Hamburger Helper.

"Ours was called 'Chef's Surprise,' but it didn't last too long," she says.

Many still consider the Edsel of food products to be Jell-O's decision in the early 1960s to produce unusual flavors of gelatin including Italian salad, celery and tomato. At the time, savory aspic recipes were popular in French cuisine.

Hanson says despite the Kraft test kitchen's best efforts, the flavors never really caught on with American consumers.

"When the average U.S. consumer was thinking Jell-O, they were thinking of something sweet, she says. "A homemaker is no fool. No recipe is going to get someone to buy something they don't want."

Kitchen mistakes often yield magical results, though. In the early '30s, a Massachusetts inn owner named Ruth Graves Wakefield substituted a chopped up bar of Nestle semisweet chocolate for baking chocolate when making cookies. The chocolate bar never fully melted as baking chocolate would have.

"We wouldn't have the Toll House chocolate chip cookie without that mistake," Hanson says.