Breaking News on Food and Beverage in Asia Pacific

Ulrick & Short adds to tapioca starch fat replacement range

Ulrick & Short has launched a clean label tapioca-based starch for fat replacement in cakes and muffins.

How will organic food hold up in the recession?

Market analysis have expressed concern that demand for organic food will shrink in the tight economic situation, as consumers become less willing to part with a premium.

Video season's greetings from Decision News Media

The Decision News Media team would like to bring you its seasonal greetings in person and show you around the offices.

Australian government, industry to set salt targets

Salt reduction targets for food products sold in Australia are expected to be set in October 2009, subject to development and agreement between the government and the food industry.

Chinese food safety concerns intensify

Chinese consumers are even more concerned about food safety than their UK or US counterparts, according to a new report from The IBM Institute for Business Value.

Melamine takes its toll on ingredient sales in China

The impact of this year’s melamine dairy crisis has rumbled through the food chain and although quality assurance measures can benefit responsible firms, downturn in Chinese dairy has still led to lost of ingredients sales.

Exclusive interview

Sharing broccoli’s goodness with other plants

Everyone knows that broccoli is good for you, and advances in transgenic plant engineering by Danish researchers may soon see that goodness replicated in other plants.

Stevia sweetener gets US FDA go-ahead

The FDA has given the long-awaited green light for Reb A, the sweetener made from the stevia leaf, to be used in food and beverages - opening the flood gates for new product launches.

Coke seeks sterol juice approval Down Under

Coca-Cola South Pacific has applied to the joint regulator in Australia and New Zealand to allow phytosterols to be added to fruit juice drinks in the two countries.

2008 round-up: The most read articles about omega-3

NutraIngredients is reviewing the year and recapping on which articles generated the most interest amongst you, the readers. Today we look at the most read articles about omega-3.

News in brief

Japanese question EFSA lycopene levels

The Japanese Tomato Processors Council (JTPC) has challenged the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Average Daily Intake for lycopene.

Chr Hansen targets Middle Eastern yoghurt tastes

Chr Hansen has introduced a new yoghurt culture specifically designed to meet taste and texture preferences of Middle Eastern consumers, and help producers make cost savings.

Cargill takes texturizers direct to Australia and New Zealand

Cargill’s texturizing business is opening offices in Australia and New Zealand to serve local markets as well as customers meeting burgeoning demand for dairy products in Asia Pacific.

2008 round-up: This year's top five comments

NutraIngredients is reviewing the year and recapping on which articles generated the most interest amongst you, the readers. Today we look at the comment pieces that sparked the most interest.

Meat and poultry product checks for melamine

US officials are to begin sample checks on processed meat and poultry products that are already on shop shelves for traces of melamine contamination.

Soaring demand for spelt sees product launches up 130 per cent

The popularity of spelt has rocketed in recent years, leading to a 130 per cent increase in European product launches containing the ancient grain over the past three years.

2008 round-up: This year’s top five science

As the year draws to a close, NutraIngredients thought you functional food and supplements industries. First up is the science.

Coca-Cola could launch stevia drink ahead of FDA GRAS

Coca-Cola is expected to launch a drink sweetened with stevia in the US this week, according to reports, but there is still no word from the FDA on GRAS status.

Colours pose no health risk to Australians, says FSANZ

A survey into the levels of colourings in food products in Australia showed usage far below the maximum permitted levels (MPL); FSANZ says this shows there is no public health risk associated with their use.

Low-carb diets may reduce cognitive ability: Study

Researchers at Tufts University have reported that low-carbohydrate diets may impair cognitive performance, following a study comparing an Atkins-type diet with a reduced-calorie regime.

Growth for Chinese food and drink sectors post scandal

China’s food and beverage industries are poised for big growth in domestic and overseas markets, according to a new report from Research and Markets.

Symrise expands in Asia with new spray drying plant

Symrise today inaugurated a new pilot plant for flavour encapsulation at its Singapore facility, which the company says is one more step in its expansion in the region.

Roquette plans for an open, sustainable future

Marc Roquette shares his vision of a future where the glucose molecule, microalgae, and sustainability will figure large.

The private label potential for functional foods

Private label will become a major avenue of opportunity for innovative functional products, which could make their mainstream debut via this “historically unlikely source”, according to a firm specializing in functional food development.

Science supports modified starch as fat replacer and creaminess enhancer

A potato starch-derived ingredient may enhance the creaminess of low-fat yoghurt to that of its full fat equivalent, according to new research.

Can steel meet the sustainability challenge?

Philippe Wolper, managing director, APEAL, outlines the green properties of steel for food and drink packaging.

Functional drinks show greatest global growth

UK-based Market researcher Zenith International reports regular carbonated drinks are no longer the world’s biggest beverage category as they were surpassed by bottled waters in volume terms in 2007.

Definitive duties on Chinese MSG will not affect users much

The European Commission has imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on the additive from China, stating that the impact on firms using the additive will not be great.

China gives hard-earned thumbs up to Benecol

Finnish group Raisio has won a hard-to-come-by approval for its Benecol cholesterol lowering plant stanol ester ingredients in China, as it continues its push to develop new markets.

Chinese citric acid duties will not halt imports

European producers of citric acid and monosodium glutamate have this week received long-term assurance that their prices will be supported against cheaper Chinese imports, but China is expected to remain a significant player in a more level field.

Folic acid in early pregnancy linked to wheezing in baby: Study

Would-be mothers taking folic acid supplements during the first three months of their pregnancy may increase the risk of their babies being hospitalised with respiratory infections, says a new study from Norway.

Many manufacturing bases make much sense

Cargill's product manager for starches explains why the firm has a global manufacturing base, and the systems it has in place to predict raw material supply problems.

World AIDS Day

The role of nutrition in living with HIV/ AIDS

Nutrition and HIV/AIDS are intricately linked. To mark World AIDS Day, NutraIngredients.com looks at the science behind the role of nutrition and nutrients for people living with HIV and/or AIDS.

French probiotics find success in China

Canadian probiotics supplier, Lallemand, has responded to the growing wealth and interest in healthy foods in China by formalising an existing probiotics-based partnership with a Chinese nutrition company.

US infant formula safe from melamine, says FDA

The domestic supply of infant formula in the United States is safe for consumption, the FDA has said following an investigation into contamination with the industrial chemical melamine.