PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi believes a ‘maniacal focus’ on cola's woes is unhelpful within the US beverage market, and despite the firm’s heavy investment in Rebaudioside D-based sweetener innovation, claims Stevia ‘does not work well in colas’.
“The price of apparently cheap food is costing nothing less than the Earth.”
The Prince of Wales has called on Europe to ‘recalibrate and re-gear’ its food systems towards a local model of food production and distribution - while issuing a wide-ranging attack on current practices within the food industry.
BUT ABA OBSERVES THAT ASSOCIATION NOT THE SAME AS CAUSATION
Consumption of sugar-sweetened soda and punch is associated with a higher risk of kidney stone formation, whereas consumption of coffee, tea, beer, wine and orange juice are associated with a lower risk.
Recent data from Symphony Consulting (click here), shows that while US retail sales of products making ‘natural’ claims still grew in 2012, the pace of that growth slowed noticeably compared with the 2009-11 period.
BEVERAGEDAILY.COM SPECIAL EDITION: SWEETENER INNOVATION
The number of stevia-sweetened products launched around the world in 2012 'nearly doubled' compared to 2011 – a figure that leading stevia manufacturer, PureCircle, attributes to a recent steady stream of naturally-sweetened beverage launches.
BEVERAGEDAILY.COM SPECIAL EDITION: SWEETENER INNOVATION
Stevia and sucralose are the best natural and non-natural sweeteners on the US market, according to one beverage developer, with savvy formulators able to iron out the former’s aftertaste issues.
Mid-calorie carbonated soft drink manufacturers must deal with the aftertaste issues associated with stevia, as the natural sweetener becomes more widely accepted by consumers, according to Datamonitor consumer analyst, Melanie Felgate.
BEVERAGEDAILY.COM SPECIAL EDITION: SWEETENER INNOVATION
Mintel analyst Laura Jones tells BeverageDaily.com that use of monk fruit as an all-natural, zero calorie sweetener has tripled in the past five years, but says she believes it still has taste issues to overcome.
BEVERAGEDAILY.COM SPECIAL EDITION: SWEETENER INNOVATION
Ajinomoto’s industrial aspartame business lost billions of yen in 2012, but the company’s Senior VP for North America tells BeverageDaily.com it is working hard to ‘stabilize profitability’.
DISPATCHES FROM THE 2013 ZENITH INTERNATIONAL UK SOFT DRINKS CONFERENCE
Innocent co-founder Richard Reed tells BeverageDaily.com that he anticipates the brand will probably attempt to crack Latin America using Coke’s marketing muscle, before launching in the US.
US martial artist and actor Chuck Norris says he calls bananas 'nature's natural energy' drinks, in the course of an attack on the drinks category written for the website WND.com.
Canadean has pointed to ‘alarming’ data showing that low calorie sodas are losing market share in Mexico, despite its dubious distinction of having the highest rate of childhood obesity worldwide.
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has slapped a ban on the broadcast of a Yakult TV advert, ruling that the ad implied there was a health advantage to drinking the product, without using a relevant, authorised health claim.
Zenith International's UK Soft Drinks Industry Conference takes place tomorrow, Wednesday May 8, at the Congress Center in Central London, and will feature speaking slots for the likes of Innocent founder Richard Reed, Refresco, Vimto and Coca-Cola.
Danone has signed an agreement to buy a 50.1% controlling stake in Turkish bottled water player Sirma, and said that Turkey was a 'strategic country' for its waters division.
The director general of spiritsEUROPE, Paul Skehan, tells BeverageDaily.com that he expects the row over minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol to reach the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
An Indiana State University researcher says she found five types of fungus in Capri Sun, as the brand's US licensee Kraft Foods admits mold does happen ‘from time to time’ due to non-use of preservatives.
San Francisco city attorney Dennis Herrera says he will aggressively litigate Monster’s lawsuit asking a federal judge to halt his investigation into posssible violations of California involved in Monster’s marketing of energy drinks to children.
Change Cola CEO and founder Jim Phillips predicts that his brand’s healthy Omega-3 fortified cola will shake-up the segment for good in the US following its soft launch in Q4 2013.
Wisconsin firm LiveGreat Foods is launching a rebranded version of its Clarinol CLA-fortified milk Acclaim at the forthcoming Healthy Beverage Expo in Las Vegas (June 7-9).
LEARN MORE ABOUT SIDEL'S VIEWS ON ASEPTIC TECHNOLOGY IN OUR MAY 30 ONLINE EVENT: ASEPTIC TECHNOLOGY 2013
Sidel tells BeverageDaily.com that its new low output aseptic blow-fill-cap machine lends opportunities for beverage producers to test the market with PET on a smaller scale, and naturally suits ‘more niche brands’.
Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) CEO Larry Young insists US retailers are working hard with his firm to develop a ‘better-for-you’ carbonates platform, and said Royal Crown Cola Ten’s initial success was a ‘pleasant surprise’.
The French soft drinks industry has been hit hard by the government’s introduction of a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks, according to market research firm Canadean, with consumers trading down to cheaper, lower-sugar beverages.
DISPATCHES FROM THE 2013 INNOBEV GLOBAL BEVERAGES CONGRESS, WARSAW, POLAND
New UNESDA president Dominique Reiniche, also president of Coca-Cola Europe, warns that opponents ‘trying to put chains on our freedom to innovate’ risk stifling the development of the European soft drinks industry.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) insists consumers should avoid gingko biloba, a tree-derived extract commonly used in teas, some energy drinks and supplements, after a US government report linked it to cancers in mice.
Unilever has filed an international patent for a process that creates tea juices with improved taste and color, to cater for the upsurge in demand for tea powders and RTD drinks with minimal processing and higher levels of bioactive compounds.
Unilever has described tea as the ‘hottest beverage’ in the global drinks landscape, and one with unlimited opportunities as a natural product with scientifically proven health and wellness benefits.
GSK brand Lucozade is more likely to attract a possible private equity buyer than a multinational food and beverage trade player that prefers brands with greater global potential, according to a top M&A expert.
A patent application filed by PepsiCo reveals some of the more “surprising” properties of Rebaudioside D (Reb-D) - the steviol glycoside claimed to have one of the best sweetness profiles of them all.
FIRMS SEE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL IN CLEAR, FUNCTIONAL BEVERAGES
Virun and Stepan Lipid Nutrition have signed a letter of intent to exploit what both companies agree is untapped potential in the clear, functional beverage space.
PepsiCo tells BeverageDaily.com that it seeks partnerships with ‘relevant and attainable designers’ who keep the focus on the Diet Pepsi brand rather than overshadow it.
North America is the world’s largest juice market, but firms active there are losing share within soft drinks due to high price perceptions and mixed health and wellness messages.
‘New ideas and new thinking’ is the theme of Zenith International’s UK Soft Drinks Industry Conference, scheduled to take place on May 8 2013 at London’s Congress Center.
An international patent application filed by PepsiCo last September - and published yesterday - reveals the firm is seeking to patent high-protein nutrition beverages in 4floz ‘hydration units’ containing alpha-lactalbumin, whey protein hydrolysates,...
MINTEL PREDICTS STRONG US GROWTH FOR HEALTHY KIDS YOGURT DRINKS
Dairy giant Dannon (Danone) says it spent two years reformulating its Danimals Smoothies for kids in the US to achieve a 25% sugar reduction, as Mintel predicts strong growth for kid-friendly yogurt drinks with health and wellness benefits in the country...
Coca-Cola has responded to a controversial Belgian ‘datavisualisation’ claiming that it ‘wastes’ 176bn liters of water per year, and that Coke may increase one’s obesity risk by 60%.
The Christian Post has explored the basis for claims made in an edgy French infographic that 94% of people globally recognize the name Coca-Cola but only 56% the cross representing Christianity.
A UK brand that claims to have produced the world’s first pure milk vodka says that sales are growing, with Black Cow vodka now on sale in numerous retail outlets across the UK, including premium department stores.
Contrary to some media reports, Coca-Cola is not developing a new high-fiber frozen beverage, but it did help develop Slurpee Lite - a low-calorie beverage launched in 7-Eleven last May, said bosses today.
Nestlé milkshake brand Nesquik has escaped UK Advertising Standards Authority censure after viewers of a TV ad alleged that it encouraged ‘poor nutritional habits’ among children, but the Children's Food Campaign slammed the 'ever-accommodating...
Sales of Sirco – the UK juice containing an EFSA-approved, blood flow-benefitting tomato extract – have surged 300% in the past 12 months amid a formula, claims and distribution revamp.
ABA SAYS 'BODY' OF SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE DOES NOT BACK CLAIMS
Despite industry claims energy drinks contain no more caffeine than Starbucks coffee, a group of top US health professionals tells the FDA energy caffeine content differs in ‘three important ways’ and says the agency should apply GRAS standards for soda...
Scientists based in US claim their new study shows that bitter melon juice has strong efficacy against human pancreatic carcinoma cells without noticeable side effects, and urge its ‘clinical usefulness’.
