A new study recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine raised some uncomfortable questions about dietary advice and nutritional research. NutriRECS researchers published their findings concluding that there was only “low- or very low-certainty” evidence...
Posts from: Discerning consumers
Plant protein takes off
Almost every day there is some new media story about the inexorable rise in plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products. Most recently, widely reported data from the Good Food Institute and Spins highlights the growth in US sales of dairy product substitutes...
Bud’s Super Bowl bust
Super Bowl ads always generate lots of interest for brand – this year they were significantly more interesting than the game itself. However, with their ad for Bud Light, Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB- InBev) managed to anger a key supply chain partner in the National Corn...
Alt-milk truth bomb
Investigative food journalist Joanna Blythman has launched a stinging attack on “healthy alt-milks”. Blythman bemoans punters who pay extra for a latte made with soy, almond or some other substitute because they have been led to believe it’s the virtuous thing to do....
Melbourne cafes eating themselves
A recent article in food and art culture bible Broadsheet ponders a serious question for the Melbourne café scene. Despite being so successful that copycat offerings are popping up in capital cities around the world - is the sector out of ideas? As the Melbourne café...
Kiwi raw milk up for review
In New Zealand, the regulations governing raw drinking milk - that is milk that hasn’t been pasteurised - will be evaluated this year, two years after their implementation. Prior to November 2016, consumers were able to collect milk from collection points across the...
What’s the alternative?
There’s been lots of discussion lately about alternatives – or non-dairy - milks and whether they should be allowed to use the word “milk” at all. A lot people in the dairy sector are getting pretty excited about the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considering...
Impossible burger draws fire
When biochemist Pat Brown created Impossible Foods in Silicon Valley, he paired science and plants to make a synthetic meat that would tempt the most devoted carnivore. The long-time vegan wanted to create a ‘beef’ patty made from plants that tastes, looks and bleeds...
Pret a Manger est attrapé
UK sandwich shop chain Pret a Manger has been caught out by the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for claims on its website that it makes “good, natural food” by making “proper sandwiches avoiding (..) obscure chemicals, additives and preservatives”....
Not organic enough
Many consumers already have a foggy idea of what organic actually means, but in the US, the waters area bout to get muddier still. Two groups are creating new organic certification for those who don’t believe organic is “organic enough”. The research-based Rodale...
Ingredient shaming backfires
Panera has been at the forefront of smart-casual dining in the US, expanding from a small Missouri-based bread chain in the 1980s to more than 2,000 outlets by 2016. In 2015, it was named Fast Company’s most innovative company, with its rollout of Panera 2.0 deploying...
A low key renovation
Last year, Kraft Heinz announced it would be removing artificial colouring from its macaroni and cheese products due to public pressure, including a petition signed by 365,000 people. However, no marketing campaign about the new wholesome product was launched, and...