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Industry News
U.S. consumers are highly aware of
food safety issues and have
high recognition of third party certification as an
effective signal of food safety assurance, according
to a study conducted by Michigan State University. Consumers
strongly prefer to see products labeled as independently
safety certified, and are willing to pay a premium,
upwards of 30%, for such assurances. Full
Story
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WMS Report: Is Your Warehouse
Ready for the Upswing? Three Steps to Take Now
You've been in maintenance mode for what seems
like years - are you sure your warehouse or DC
is ready for the economic recovery? Follow a three-step
action plan to prepare your business.
Download
your FREE copy
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The
average grocery shopper has $17.35 to spend for unplanned
purchases,
according to a study published in the Journal of
Consumer Research, reported The New York Times
on the Web. Grocery shoppers remain able to predict
near-perfectly beforehand the amount they will spend
while shopping. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Cross-promotions on food packaging
targeted at children increased by 78% between 2006
and 2008, according to a study from Yale's Rudd Center
for Food Policy published in Public Health Nutrition.
The study also found that only 18% of foods examined
met accepted nutrition standards for foods marketed
to children, reported Food Navigator USA.  Full
Story Purchase the
recording today! The Food Institute's
Advertising to Children: Successfully Meeting the
Challenges webinar is now available for purchase.
Marketing and advertising food products to children
is an area of increasing interest and is of major interest
to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This webinar
provides guidelines to companies on how to create truthful,
accurate and acceptable advertising directed to children.
To purchase the recording, click
here. FI Members, pay $99 with your Member
Rewards Card! Not a member? Click
here for details on joining.
Publix (No. 5), Wegmans (No. 12),
Starbucks (No. 13) and Panera Bread (No. 21) are among
BusinessWeek's  Customer
Service Champs 2010. Full
Story
PepsiCo
completed its acquisitions of The Pepsi Bottling
Group, Inc. and PepsiAmericas, Inc. Full
Story
However, FTC is requiring PepsiCo, Inc. to restrict
its access to confidential business competitive information
of Dr Pepper Snapple Group as a condition for proceeding
with PepsiCo's proposed $7.8 billion acquisition of
its two largest bottlers and distributors, which also
distribute Dr Pepper Snapple Group carbonated soft drinks.
Full
Story The
Food Institute will host a webinar, A Look at Merger
& Acquisition Activity, Past, Present and Future,
on Thursday, Mar. 11 at 12 p.m. (EST). Following tepid
 activity
last year due to economic conditions, many analysts
see an increase in activity this year and beyond. To
sign up and learn more, click
here.
The
National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Performance
Index stood at 98.3 in January, down 0.3% from
December's level. Some 27% of restaurant operators reported
a same-store sales gain between January 2009 and January
2010, down from 35% of operators who reported higher
sales in December.
Full
Story
International News
About 97% of consumers
in India consider the safety of food an important factor
when deciding where to buy their groceries, and 85%
stated that they were willing to pay a  premium
for food that is safe, according to a Nielsen Global
Online
Survey. Full
Story
The
European Food Safety Authority approved three new substances
in food contact materials, homopolymer and/or co-polymers,
poly stearate and perfluro acetic acid, reported Food
Production Daily. Full
Story
Washington News
FDA will host a public workshop,
Measuring Progress on Food Safety: Current Status and
Future Directions. The purpose
of the workshop is to inform the public about current
and potential measurements for assessing progress in
food safety and associated methodological issues and
to discuss potential improvements, and will be held
Mar. 30 in Washington, DC. Full
Notice, Registration
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Implementing
An E.coli Control Policy
A Webinar From The Food Institute and
Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Bode Matz PC
The
food industry continues to be plagued by
a number of food-borne organisms. One of
those getting lots of press is E. coli.
The Food Institute gathered a panel of experts
to discuss how to prevent and control E.
coli outbreaks; how to keep your records
in order to avoid shouldering the blame
for mishandling foodstuff; and how to deal
with a positive finding should it occur.
To sign up for the webinar, scheduled for
Tuesday, Mar. 9 at 12 p.m. (EST), please
click
here or contact Sue Antista at 201-791-5570,
ext. 212 or santista@foodinstitute.com.
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The Kroger Co. initiated a voluntary
recall of its Kroger Onion Soup & Dip Mix and Kroger
Beefy Onion Soup & Dip Mix as an ingredient in the product
may have been contaminated with Salmonella. Full
Story
Market News
Peanut stocks reported in commercial
storage on Jan. 31 totaled 3.60 billion-lbs.
of equivalent farmer stock, compared with 4.07 billion-lbs.
a year ago. Utilization by type was 92.3 million-lbs.
for all peanut butter products, 22.7 million-lbs. for
peanut candy and 27.3 million-lbs. for snack peanuts.
Peanut
Stock and Processing Report
California's tomato processors intend
to contract for 5% fewer processing tomatoes than
a year earlier, a contract total of 12.6 million short
tons if processors were to carry through with these
early intentions. Monthly retail prices for fresh potatoes
declined during 2009, down from the high levels of 2008,
but still above the average for 2000-07. Retail prices
for potato chips were higher in 2009 than in 2008. Meanwhile,
the preliminary value of the 2009 dry bean crop was
estimated to have declined 13% from a year earlier to
$794 million as both output and average price fell.
Vegetables
and Melons Outlook Report
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