Carbohydrates and fibres (sugar, starches)

Beyond malnutrition: Food security means food supply

21-Aug-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Food security is not just about hunger and poverty – it must move into the mainstream as the challenge of feeding nine billion people comes into sharper focus, according to the European Commission.

Will fructose follow trans fats’ fate?

17-Aug-2015 By Annie Harrison-Dunn

Mounting scientific evidence and a shift in public opinion could mean fructose is set to follow the same black-listed fate as trans fats, argues an analyst.

High fat diet in middle age could raise later malnutrition risk

17-Aug-2015 By Annie Harrison-Dunn

A high energy intake from total fat, saturated fat and monounsaturated fat in middle and older age increases the risk of malnutrition ten years later, say Swedish researchers.

Kids with poor diets score poorly on cognitive tests: Finnish researchers

14-Aug-2015 By Annie Harrison-Dunn

The worse the diet quality of children, the worse they score on cognitive tests - especially boys, research finds.

Special edition: Protein

Vegethletics: Are you running on plants?

06-Aug-2015 By Annie Harrison-Dunn

The ‘no meat athlete’ movement is showing that animal protein isn’t the only track available to sportspeople – and in turn this is smashing old perceptions about what it is to be vegan and vegetarian, says the Vegan Society.

Fast food fever: Modern diets impact immune health of you and your kids

05-Aug-2015 By Nathan Gray

Modern ‘Western diets’ can lead to poor immune functioning and increased risk of inflammatory conditions, allergy, and auto-immunity, researchers warn.

Which do you think is more filling – a Coke or a Mars bar?

04-Aug-2015 By Annie Harrison-Dunn

While past research has suggested solid foods are more filling than beverages – consumers don’t always make this distinction, warn researchers.

Food taxes and subsidies: A balanced approach needed, says review

04-Aug-2015 By Nathan Gray

Fiscal policies can form a valuable part of efforts to drive changes in dietary behaviours, but such policies must be balanced against each other, say researchers.

Let’s stop talking about ‘sin taxes’ as if they are the saviour of mankind

31-Jul-2015 By Nathan Gray

Stop talking about food taxes like they are some sort of panacea that will alter consumer behaviours overnight, and magically eliminate obesity and diabetes. They won’t.

EU grants protected status to UK Bramley apple pie filling

30-Jul-2015 By Nathan Gray

‘Traditional Bramley Apple Pie Filling’ has been added to the European register of Traditional Specialties Guaranteed (TSGs), says the European Commission.

Debating the sugar tax: BMJ ‘head to head’ argues the case

30-Jul-2015 By Nathan Gray

Experts from both sides of the sugar tax debate have set out their arguments in a ‘head to head’ article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Where do you stand on the sugar tax issue?

Why are companies hiding their sustainable credentials?

29-Jul-2015 By Niamh Michail

A sustainable logo is known to add value to a brand – so why are so many manufacturers not showing their Fairtrade, organic or sustainable credentials?

Sugary drinks linked to type 2 diabetes regardless of obesity: Meta analysis

22-Jul-2015 By Niamh Michail

Sugary drinks may cause type 2 diabetes regardless of obesity – and artificially-sweetened drinks or fruit juice are not necessarily healthier alternatives, according to new research.

Sweet taste perception may be (partly) genetic

21-Jul-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Some people may perceive sweet tastes as weaker than others – perhaps leading them to add more sugar or sweetener to gain the same level of sweetness, new research suggests.

SACN report

Twitterati: industry should lower sugar after SACN

17-Jul-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Manufacturers must do more to help consumers halve their overall energy intake from free-sugars to less than 5%, commentators on Twitter have urged after the release of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition's report on carbohydrates today.

Cargill targets tomato ‘pulpiness’ with corn starch ingredient

17-Jul-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Cargill has developed a modified corn starch to improve the pulpiness of tomato-based products.

UK government committee backs halving free sugars limit to 5%

17-Jul-2015 By Nathan Gray

The UK government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) has ditched a 10% upper limit on sugar intake instead recommending that less than 5% of daily energy should come from free sugars.

Souring on sweet: How sugar health concerns are spurring sour flavours

16-Jul-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Ongoing consumer concern about sugar consumption means some consumers are turning away from sweet tastes altogether, according to market research organisation Mintel.

One-third of Germans question stevia's healthiness

08-Jul-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Germany is a leading market for stevia-derived sweeteners in Europe – but more education is needed to further boost its usage, according to Mintel.

Sugar prices falling – even as consumption rises

07-Jul-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Global sugar prices have been on a downward trend – and there is no end in sight, according to Rabobank’s latest sugar quarterly.

Sugary drinks linked to high death tolls worldwide: Global prevention plans needed, say researchers

30-Jun-2015 By Nathan Gray

Consumption of sugary drinks may lead to an estimated 184,000 adult deaths each year worldwide, according to research, which warns of an urgent need for strong global prevention programs.

Fatty and sugary foods linked to lower cognitive functions: Mouse data

29-Jun-2015 By Nathan Gray

A diet rich in fat and sugar could cause changes in the make up of our gut bacteria, which in turn lead to losses of cognitive functions, suggest researchers.

Do consumers prefer low sugar or no sugar? It depends on the product…

29-Jun-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Almost two-thirds of global consumers are concerned about sugar intake – but the choice between low-sugar and sugar-free depends on the food or drink category, according to a new report from DSM.

Climate change risk is a ‘medical emergency’, experts warn

26-Jun-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

The health risk from climate change is so great that it could reverse 50 years of advances in health and nutrition, according to a major Lancet Commission report.

Fructose could lead to lower brain reward than glucose

25-Jun-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Fructose may lead to overeating by creating fewer reward signals in the brain, suggests a small pilot study published in PLOS ONE.

Just one-third of consumers claim to have a healthy diet

24-Jun-2015 By Tracy West

More than half of consumers (56%) have not changed their eating habits despite media coverage of high sugar content in many foods and drinks, according to a market research report.

Lobbyists: Popcorn’s ‘health’ claims ‘misleading’

19-Jun-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Popcorn manufacturers are pumping too much salt into their products, while leading consumers to believe they are a healthy snack, campaigners have claimed.

DuPont and Gelita apply for bowel and joint health claims

17-Jun-2015 By Annie Harrison-Dunn

DuPont Nutrition and Gelita have filed health claim applications for bowel and joint health.

EU Parliament vote rejects calls to scrap nutrient profiles

16-Jun-2015 By Annie Harrison-Dunn

The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs committee has voted to reject amendments to the EU Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation, which would have seen nutrient profiles abandoned.

Brain hormone could help distinguish sugar and zero calorie sweeteners

15-Jun-2015 By Nathan Gray

Fruit flies have a set of neurones that fire only when they encounter real sugar – triggering the release of a hormone that is not released when they eat a non-calorific sweetener. And researchers suggest that humans possess the same ‘molecular machinery’.

UK has 'moral responsibility' to limit EU sugar reform damage

12-Jun-2015 By Niamh Michail

The end of EU sugar beet quotas could worsen the obesity crisis and damage the livelihoods of sugar cane growers and producers – and as an ex-colonial power Britain has a moral responsibility to act, says a report by the Food Research Collaboration.

Organic growth: What drove Wessanen to cut 90% of its revenue?

11-Jun-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Wessanen has undergone a huge transformation over the past 15 years in its goal to become Europe’s largest healthy and sustainable food company – and has cut its revenue by 90% in the process.

Low-income families need to spend one third of income to eat healthily

10-Jun-2015 By Niamh Michail

Low-income families need to spend at least one third of their weekly income on food if they want to eat healthily, a Food Standards Agency survey has found.

Researchers urge government to ‘seriously consider’ food taxes

09-Jun-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

The UK government should seriously consider taxing unhealthy foods and drinks to reduce their consumption, a paper from the Food Research Collaboration (FRC) has urged.

Daily sugary drink habit linked to liver disease

08-Jun-2015 By Nathan Gray

Consumption of a sugar-sweetened drink on a daily basis may be associated with an increased risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), say researchers.

Sustainability will become precompetitive ‘within 15 years’, says Nutreco sustainability chief

05-Jun-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

The word ‘sustainability’ has been abused – and we need to see beyond the buzzword to create truly sustainable development, says corporate sustainability director at Nutreco, José Villalon.

Ukraine basing nutrition plan on EU platform

04-Jun-2015 By Shane STARLING

The Ukraine government is assessing a draft resolution to improve the country’s nutrition based on EU actions.

Sugar reformulation failure like slow poisoning of nation, says UK health chief

04-Jun-2015 By Annie Harrison-Dunn

The UK's National Health Service (NHS) CEO says failing to reformulate products to reduce added sugars would be like slow food poisoning of the nation.

Campden BRI: Reduced-sugar oat bars possible thanks to beta-glucan

03-Jun-2015 By Kacey Culliney

Sugar binders in oat bars can be removed completely if certain process adjustments are made to leverage beta-glucan as the binding agent, says the bakery science manager at Campden BRI.

Special edition: Innovations in better-for-you confectionery

'Big guys' could explore low-glycemic sweetener for chocolate, says Beneo

02-Jun-2015 By Oliver Nieburg

Ingredients supplier Beneo says obesity concerns may convince mainstream chocolate makers to swap sucrose for low-glycemic and tooth friendly sugar isomaltulose.

Fructose in the firing line: Study warns of weight gain and increased body fat compared to glucose

02-Jun-2015 By Nathan Gray

When compared to the same amount of glucose, consuming fructose could cause ‘significant’ weight gain, physical inactivity, and body fat deposition, say researchers.

World hunger continues to fall

02-Jun-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

The number of hungry people in the world has fallen again this year to 795 million – 10m fewer than last year and 216m fewer than in 1990-92 – according to FAO figures.

Major companies are driving soy sustainability, says RTRS

02-Jun-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Sustainability in the soy sector is being driven by food companies aiming to mitigate brand risk, according to Europe Outreach Manager for the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) Lieven Callewaert.

Young adults may need targeting to increase whole grain intake

29-May-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Teenagers and younger adults in the UK are falling far short of international targets for whole grain consumption – with 15% of teenagers consuming no whole grain foods at all, according to a study in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Kids’ fruit snacks criticised for high sugar content

29-May-2015 By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Many fruit snacks aimed at children contain more sugar than confectionery – but could be misconstrued as ‘healthy’ because of their association with real fruit, according to pressure group Action on Sugar.

Friend or foe: What is the evidence on zero-calorie sweeteners and obesity?

28-May-2015 By Nathan Gray

While swapping out calorific sugars for a zero-calorie sweetener may seem like a common sense public health policy, some recent reports have suggested that the reverse may be true. We take a look at the evidence and arguments for both sides of the story.

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