| Industry
News McDonald's Corp. plans to increase prices
2% to 3% in 2011 due to inflation. Meanwhile, the company
is gaining U.S. market share with low-priced food on its Dollar Menu, renovated
restaurants and, in some markets, longer operating hours, reported Reuters.
Full
Story 
Chocolate
for Breakfast, Foods for Healing and Creative Chips are among the top five food
trends for 2011 identified by a panel of food experts at the NASFT Winter
Fancy Food Show. Other trends include New Noodles and Heat with Flavor. Full
Story 
Foodservice
distributor Ben E. Keith Foods bought Dan's Foodservice, which specializes
in sales to pizza restaurants, reported San Antonio Business Journal. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)  New!
The Jan. 18 edition of the Lempert Report,
hosted by Phil Lempert, takes a look at farming in the U.S. To view, click
here.
Cold Stone Creamery is rolling
out The Cold Stone Yogurt Bar, a self-serve frozen-yogurt line extension.
The concept consists of self-serve, soft-serve machines accompanied by a toppings
bar and is designed to be able to be a standalone concept, particularly in locations
such as airports or military bases, reported Advertising Age. A handful
of stores in Arizona, California and on the East Coast will test the new yogurt
concept over the next few weeks in preparation for an intended nationwide launch
in the spring. Full
Story (Free Registration Required) Nestle HealthCare
Nutrition will close its St. Louis Park, MN-based plant in 2012. The company
will move production of Boost and other products "to other Nestle factories and
to co-manufacturers," reported TwinCities.com. Full
Story (Free Registration Required) International
News  About
53% of Canadians believe health claims made on food labels
and 47% do not believe them, according to an Ipsos Reid survey. Some 72% believe
probiotics improve their health, while 79% believe the addition of Omega-3 fatty
acids to food products makes them healthier. About 44% are willing to pay more
for products that make health claims, reported The Montreal Gazette. Full
Story
United Biscuits is looking to auction
its biscuits division for about £1.5 billion as China's Bright Food
abandoned plans to acquire the whole company, according to The Mail, reported
MarketWatch. Full
Story Health News Eating
blueberries can guard against high blood pressure, according
to research by the University of East Anglia and Harvard University published
in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Full
Story Washington
News FDA's
efforts to identify false or potentially misleading qualified health claims on
foods "are hampered by the lack of access to the
evidence that a company relies on to make such a claim," according to a report
from the Government Accountability Office. While FDA may ask a company to provide
scientific evidence to support such a claim, it does not have the legal authority
to compel the company to do so. Full
Report 
NutraCea
reached a settlement with SEC regarding an investigation into alleged accounting
irregularities. NutraCea settled the case without admitting or denying the charges.
No financial or regulatory penalties were assessed. Full
Story Market News The
13 major potato states held 205 million cwt of potatoes in storage Jan. 1,
down 13% from a year ago. Potatoes in storage accounted for 58% of the 2010 fall
storage states' production, three percentage points below Jan. 1, 2010. Potato
disappearance, at 147 million cwt, was 2% below Jan. 1, 2010. Season-to-date shrink
and loss, at 14.7 million cwt, was down 11% from the same date in 2010. Processors
in the nine major states used 77.2 million cwt of potatoes this season, up 2%
from the same period last year. Potato
Stocks Report
| Recording Now Available! The Food
Institute, NPD Group and the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) presented
a one-hour webinar entitled Private Label: Consumer Perceptions & Intentions.
Whether private label offers you an opportunity or a threat, this presentation
is not to be missed! Know and understand today's private label shopper! To learn
more and purchase the recording, click
here. | | AMS
Exotic plans to introduce item-level traceability on its vegetables. The traceability
program is expected to be available on the company's Earth Exotics baby vegetable
line, reported The Packer Online. Full
Story (Subscription Required) | 
