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December 2, 2008 9:34:28 PM CST

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food industry

food industry news stories

13 Stories

 Calorie Counting 
 Makes a Comeback 

Get ready for sticker shock, as nutrition info hits menus

New York Times New York Times Oct 29, 08 11:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - Thanks to new laws, calorie counting is back in vogue and bigger than ever, writes the New York Times . After decades of diets that focused on the balance of fat, protein, and carbs, “More and more, people are looking at calories in, and calories out,” a doc tells the Times. Chain restaurants in New York are now required to print the calorie content of dishes next to prices, and the harsh truth is prompting some menu changes. More »

More about:  food • obesity • diet • food industry • calories • restaurants • calorie-posting law

 Eat Less, Or the Icecaps Melt 

Meat a big climate change contributor, study finds

Guardian (UK) Guardian (UK) Sep 30, 08 1:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - To avoid catastrophic global warming, people need to cut way down on their meat and dairy consumption, a new report on climate change says. Four modest servings of meat and about a quart of milk a week are all we should be consuming, the Guardian reports. And the report urges government programs to limit emissions, because consumers won’t make these changes voluntarily. More »

More about:  climate change • food • carbon emissions • meat • food industry • food production • dairy products

ANALYSIS

 As Food Prices Rise,
 Lobster Treads Water

In Maine at least, local economies dodge the perils of globalization

Slate Slate Aug 20, 08 12:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - As global demand drives food prices to new highs, there’s one high-end food item whose price is in decline, Daniel Gross points out in Slate: lobster. In Portland, Maine, a pound of lobster costs slightly more than a gallon of gasoline, a ratio that historically was more like 4-to-1. And the prices get even lower farther upstate. More »

More about:  food prices • food industry • speculation • supply and demand • lobster • global food crisis

Glossies

 Bluefin Tuna Tricked
 Into Spawning

Australian aims to overcome fish shortage by simulating breeding grounds

Time Time Aug 17, 08 7:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - A seafood entrepreneur thinks he can solve the world's bluefin tuna shortage by making the fish feel frisky, Time reports. German ex-pat Hagen Stehr, the baron of a $230-million Australian seafood empire, is simulating the tuna's breeding grounds in a hatchery—a "fishy virtual reality" with 14 hours of daylight and water at 73°F—and has succeeded in harvesting fertilized eggs from bluefin breeding stock. More »

More about:  environmentalism • endangered species • fishing • food industry • tuna • sushi • overfishing

 Bankruptcy Shutters 
 Bennigan's, Steak & Ale 

Chapter 7 filings mean corporate-owned locations unlikely to reopen

Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal Jul 29, 08 2:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - In a move that has hundreds of restaurants closed and thousands of workers laid off, casual-dining chains Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale filed for bankruptcy today, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sources say the restaurants’ parent company—which violated a lending agreement this year—had put off declaring bankruptcy for months as it negotiated with lenders. More »

More about:  bankruptcy • food industry • restaurants

'Whole Grain' Lawsuit Hits
at Truth About Health Food

Food industry accused of labeling products with only a grain of truth

BusinessWeek BusinessWeek Jul 23, 08 11:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - The food industry is coming under pressure to start telling the whole truth about whole grain products, BusinessWeek reports. Sara Lee, facing a lawsuit from a consumer advocacy group, has agreed to change the labels on its Soft & Smooth bread to reflect that it's made from just 30% whole grains, with refined white flour making up the rest. More »

More about:  food • nutrition • food industry • bread • whole grains • food company

Opinion

We Live in a Time of Bacon—
Resistance Is Futile

Spray-on variety a bit much, but writer thinks meat can't ever get too full of itself

Salon Salon Jul 10, 08 8:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - Everywhere Peter Meehan looks, he sees bacon. Fatty, salty, bombastic, and blissfully delicious bacon. The Salon writer tries to figure out "where we are in the bacon bonanza"—he cites bacon spray, scented candles, trendy recipes, even a bacon-of-the-month club—and reaches out to experts "to see if there's relief from or more fervent bacon mania on the horizon." The upshot: Bet on the bacon. More »

More about:  junk food • food industry • pork • fast food industry • salt • cocktails

 US, S. Korea Reach Beef Deal 

Imported US meat must come from cattle younger than 30 months

Associated Press Associated Press Jun 21, 08 10:46 AM CDT
(AP) - All US beef imported into South Korea will come from cattle less than 30 months old, officials said today, in a deal made to placate South Korean protesters worried about mad cow disease. Nonetheless, thousands of protesters returned to the streets of Seoul, calling for a complete renegotiation of an April agreement to resume imports of American beef. More »

More about:  business • South Korea • beef • US exports • food industry • beef industry • imported food

opinion

 Dear Lobster,
 I Hardly Knew Ye 

A conscience-clearing letter to the author's slain-in-the-name-of-succulence dinner

Gourmet Gourmet Jun 11, 08 12:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - Francis Lam eases his guilt about chowing down on a certain tasty crustacean by creating an unlikely enemy on his dinner plate, writing an open-ended letter to “Lobster” in Gourmet. He's not sorry for chowing down, "for your meat was like butter and nuts," but his conscience is uneasy: “I had to pretend you had done something awful,” Lam writes, “maybe to my mother.” More »

More about:  food industry • seafood • delicacy • lobster

Rising Food Allergies Drive
a Swelling Specialty Market

'Free-from' foods will bring in $3.9B this year

Washington Post Washington Post Jun 8, 08 12:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - As the number of people with allergies soars, so does the “free-from” food market—that is, foods that avoid common allergens like peanuts, the Washington Post reports. Specialty foods are expected to bring in $3.9 billion this year, a study says, while gluten-free products will likely bank some $1.3 billion by 2010. Special-needs customers have become a coveted slice of the market. More »

More about:  health • food industry • food allergies • food production • peanut • gluten free diets

US Farmers Want Feds' Help on Food Crisis

Skyrocketing prices bring speculators to grocery stores

Washington Times Washington Times Apr 23, 08 1:24 PM CDT
(Newser) - US farmers asked for federal help yesterday in stemming a tide that has seen speculators hitting grocery stores and consumers hoarding basic foodstuffs, the Washington Times reports. "The public is all too aware of the recent credit crisis on Wall Street," a farmers-union rep said. "We don't want a lack of oversight and regulation to lead to a similar crisis in rural America." More »

More about:  food prices • biofuel • farmer • food industry • Commodity Futures Trading Commission

 Behind Organic Labels 
 Lurk Megacorporations  

The nation's top 30 food processors have quietly cornered the green market

Treehugger Treehugger Apr 20, 08 1:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - Yes, your probiotic flaxseed Kashi cereal is still organic, but shoppers looking to stick it to the man by going green be advised: the nation's top 30 corporate food processors—think Pepsi, Kellogg, Kraft, General Mills—have been quietly buying up vast swaths of the organic aisle of your supermarket, Treehugger reports. More »

More about:  organic food • Pepsi • USDA • food industry • corporations • Kraft Foods

Wal-Mart Helps Farmers Grow, American Style

But Central American stores may ruin them first, critics say

Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Mar 9, 08 6:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Wal-Mart is helping Central American farmers even as the chain threatens to render their mom-and-pop ways outdated, the Los Angeles Times reports. Thousands of small farmers are financially at risk, unable to grow produce that fits the US giant's supply chain—so Wal-Mart, Washington, and a Portland, Ore., relief group have kicked in more than $2 million to help. More »

More about:  Mexico • Wal-Mart • agriculture • retail • farmer • Guatemala • food industry • Central America

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