How to tackle obesity and hunger remains a two-pronged challenge for the agri-food industry, but increasing crop yield is not the answer - instead the focus should be on boosting the nutritional value of crops, claims a sustainable food systems activist.

Leading confectionery and ice-cream brand owners are switching to colouring foodstuffs over natural colours, as consumer demand for clean label products continues unabated, and retailers acknowledge the potential they hold in terms of brand value, claims Chr. Hansen.

Taura Natural Ingredients, which was launching is URC Inclusions range at FIE in Paris last week, is aiming to enter both the US and Asian confectionery, snack, breakfast cereal and bakery markets with fruit and vegetable pieces produced by rapid concentration.

European producers of speciality yeast products are defending the use of yeast extracts in food following claims from consumer advocates such as FoodWatch in Germany that the food industry’s use of such ingredients and labelling around them is deceptive.

National Starch continues to innovate along clean label lines, with the launch of new pulping agents at FIE for cost savings in pasta sauces or fillings.

New flavouring legislation was the spur for DSM’s new yeast extract range, which it claims delivers salt reduction as well as clean label advantages for meat and other savoury products.

Cargill is looking beyond beverage to dairy as it flags up pending product launches for Truvia in both table-top and as an ingredient on the EU market next year.

A new two tier system for the regulation of nano-materials in foods could help to alleviate the strain that suggested new regulations may put on industry, whilst ensuring the safety and control of ingredients and materials that need it, according to one expert.

When it comes to developing and launching stevia products, European manufacturers can learn a lot from the successes achieved by their US and global counterparts, according to one industry expert.

Prerequisite safety programmes for packaging operations have developed hugely over the past five years but still rely on the commitment of plant managers to make them work, Graham Packaging’s Suzanne Matuszewski told FoodProductionDaily.com.