Branded food tastes better than its unbranded counterpart—at least, according to preschoolers who participated in a study funded by Stanford University and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Youngsters participating in the research project sampled identical foods, including “generic” items like carrots and milk, in name-brand (McDonald’s) and unmarked wrappers. The unmarked foods lost the taste test each time. Coming less than a month after 11 major fast food restaurants and foodservice manufacturers, including McDonald’s, announced new curbs on marketing to children under 12, the study will likely incite more debate over the movement to restrict advertising to children. It also brings to light the fact that purveyors of healthy food may benefit from changing the manner in which they promote their wares to the younger set. Full story:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20148538/
Back to Top.

Efforts by the USDA to implement a National Animal Identification System (NAIS)-- wherein livestock owners would be required to affix electronic tracking devices to cattle, dairy, poultry and horses-- falls short of the mark, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. The report indicates that while the agency has taken some steps to address issues pinpointed by livestock industry groups, market operators, health officials and others, it has not effectively addressed several issues which, if left unresolved, could undermine the program’s ability to achieve the goal of rapid and effective animal disease traceback. Specifically, the document holds that the USDA's decision to implement NAIS as a voluntary program may prevent it from attracting the necessary levels of participation. Full Report. Should NAIS eventually become law, as has been the case with many federal programs that originally were voluntary, it will not pose a significant monetary hardship to larger livestock operators, who will be able to tag whole groups of animals with a single device. However, it will probably spark financial woes for small ranchers and farmers, who will be forced to tag each individual animal at a cost of anywhere from $3 to $20 apiece. NAIS will also bring to livestock owners challenges of other kinds, most notably new paperwork and monitoring regulations for operations of all sizes.
Back to Top

Concern about potential adverse effect(s) on human health following the ingestion of food from animals with excessive levels of veterinary drugs in their systems is spurring the U.S.Food and Drug Administration to investigate and take action against dairies for improper administration of medication to their livestock. In mid-August, a Complaint and Consent Decree of Permanent Injunction were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, Western Division, against Ysselstein Dairy Inc., Rock Valley, Iowa, and its owner and president, Sjerp W. Ysselstein, after illegal drug residues were found in the dairy's cows. The injunction is based on the discovery of nine illegal residues in the edible tissue of seven dairy cows sampled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) between July 21, 1992, and March 10, 2006. The drug residues found by FSIS included antibiotics, such as tetracycline, sulfadimethoxine, flunixin, oxytetracycline, and penicillin, at levels not permitted by the FDA. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01679.html. Similarly, an Order of Permanent Injunction was filed this past month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico against two dairies, J.M. Dairy Inc. and Las Martas Inc., and their owner Juan Manuel Barreto Ginorio, after five illegal drug residues were found in the edible tissue of three dairy cows sampled by FSIS between August 2003 and September 2005. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01682.html. Food processors and other industry players that purchase products directly from dairies and similar entities would be well served by ensuring that their sources conform to FDA regulations that govern medication administration to livestock. The agency requires that dairies implement record-keeping systems to document compliance with drug usage rules and make certain that no milk or animals for slaughter for human food enter into interstate commerce with illegal new drug residues.
Back to Top

Foodservice operators and institutional feeders would be well-served by making more concerted efforts to target minority populations. According to just-released data from the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly one in every 10 of the nation’s 3,141 counties has a population that is more than 50% minority. In 2006, eight counties that had not previously not been in this category joined the list, increasing the national total to 303. The two largest counties passing the “50%-plus minority” threshold between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006, were Denver County, Colo.,and East Baton Rouge Parish, La., with total populations of 566,974 and 429,073, respectively. Data indicates that Los Angeles County, Calif. ranks among minority avenues most worth pursuing: It had the largest minority population in the country in 2006, with 7 million such individuals or nearly one in 14 U.S. minority residents. Emerging markets of opportunity appear to include Maricopa County, Ariz. (home of Phoenix), which had the biggest numerical increase in the Hispanic population (71,000) since July 2005, and Harris County, Texas, which saw the largest numerical increase (52,000) in its black population between 2005 and 2006. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/010482.html.
Back to Top

Consumer trends bode well for companies that are able to develop easy-to-consume foods, and if those foods are health, all the better. Americans may treat themselves to the occasional gourmet or exotic meal, but when it comes to their day-to-day fare, they show an increasing penchant for valuing convenience over all else, including taste and nutritional value.Among packaged foods and snacks, quick breakfast options, yogurt and a few types of snacks, mainly healthier options, showed increased household penetration rates of one percentage point or more during the past few years, according to a new "On-the-Go Eating" study from the Packaged Facts division of MarketResearch.com.http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=65472. Yogurt offers particularly strong appeal here; Packaged Facts’ analysis of IRI data for mass-market outlets (supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers, excluding Wal-Mart) ranks it at the top in terms of dollar sales gains between 2005 and 2006, up $185 million (7.2%), to $2.8 billion. Also worth pursuing: non-breakfast frozen handheld entrees and single-serve frozen dinners/entrees,sales of which rose by a respective $124 million, to $1.2 billion, and $83 million, to $3.6 billion.
Back to Top

FDA has launched a national initiative intended to spark the adoption of more uniform, equivalent, high-quality regulatory programs by state agencies responsible for regulating facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold food under its jurisdiction. A set of Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards that form the crux of the initiative define best practices for the critical elements of state regulatory programs designed to protect the public from foodborne illness and injury, including, but not limited to, staff training, inspection, quality assurance, food defense preparedness and response, foodborne illness and incident investigation and enforcement. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01674.html. That the initiative will have at least some measure of a positive outcome cannot be questioned. Currently, programmatic activities can vary from state to state and such variations can lead to inconsistencies in oversight of food safety. Adoption of voluntary standards for state regulatory programs will establish a uniform basis for measuring and improving the performance of state programs for regulating manufactured food and help state and federal authorities reduce foodborne illness hazards in food facilities.
Back to Top

Expect inspections of food and ingredients imported from abroad to become more stringent. The FDA will likely increase the number of food safety inspectors in its ranks possibly even placing some in foreign countries, to stem the tide of imported food that is contaminated with disease or foreign substances, according to comments made by agency Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, reported The Chicago Tribune. Full Story (Free Registration Required). The FDA also suspended its plan to cut seven of its 13 field laboratories, until a new Cabinet-level panel finishes its review of ways to ensure the safety of imports, noted FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, reported The Washington Times. Full Story
Back to Top

The “eating local” movement is on the rise. Whether scared by stories of contaminated produce, uncomfortable with the reputed environmental toll of shipping food long-distance or simply seeking a stronger connection to where their food comes from, some consumers are increasingly rooting out locally grown or produced dairy products, meat, poultry and similar items, reports the Chicago Tribune. According to the article, which incorporates statistics from Packaged Facts, sales of locally grown foods jumped to $5 billion in this past year from $4 billion in 2002. Additionally, the number of farmers markets has grown dramatically, with federal officials having counted 4,385 such entities in 2006, up from 1,755 in 1994. While foodservice operators may be able to appeal to consumers who prefer to “eat local” by adjusting their purchasing practices, they should also prepare for some confusion. Different consumers assign different meanings to the term “local.” What’s more, foods considered “local” in one region may not necessarily be local in another.http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=617&docId=l:658851391&topicId=12563&start=5&topics=single. Many proponents believe that the term "food miles" should be viewed in a much wider manner than it currently is. For example, in a recently published op-ed piece in The New York Times On The Web, the author holds that while the push toward eating locally grown or produced food product is admirable, it is often more environmentally beneficial to source food from much further distances. Full Story(Free Registration Required)
Back to Top

Consumers may be eating fewer structured meals and more snacks, but they aren’t necessarily taking these frequent bites in restaurants. Nearly 85% of consumers who participated in Restaurants & Institutions’ recently completed “New American Diner” study said they snack at least once a day, but nine of 10 claimed they rarely—if ever—visit a restaurant to do so, the magazine reported. Just as significantly, according to the article, foodservice consultancy Technomic Inc. found last year that fewer than one in 10 consumers rated the selection of snacks at foodservice venues as “excellent.” A number of foodservice operators are already working to change the tide, devising new branded snacks for sale in vending machines as well as developing new snack items such as smaller-size, many of which feature chicken. To capitalize on the trend, restaurants and even institutional feeders should plan to follow suit now, rather than later, as other players have new menu items in the pipeline that will only heat up competition. At the same time, foodservice processors stand to gain by positioning their products as viable additions to round out venues’ array of snack fare. http://www.rimag.com/web-exclusives/articles/chain-snacks.asp
Back to Top

Other Association News:  

More Industry News at ifmaworld.com 

Distribution Awards

IFMA is proud to announce the introduction of a new series of annual awards for the foodservice distribution community. This series of awards will recognize the leadership role and overall excellence that the recipients have demonstrated within the industry. The following awards will be presented at the 2007 Presidents Conference on November 13, 2007. Click here for Award Details 

President Conference Update

The Presidents Conference '07 sponsorship opportunities have just been finalized and the information will be mailed to all members this week.  You can also access the information on our website via the following link IFMA Sponsorship.  There are a variety of events and price levels to accommodate all companies so please review the information and contact Lea Eisenberg at 719/266/0531 or lea@ifmaworld.com should you have any questions.  Thank you! 

Presidents Conference Speakers: