Responsible Marketing

Responsible Marketing

On Dec. 6, 2005, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies released a report titled “Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity.” The study was requested by Congress, sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and undertaken by the Committee on Food Marketing and the Diets of Children and Youth. After reviewing the scientific evidence on the influence of food marketing on the diets and dietrelated health of children and youth, the report concludes that “the prevailing pattern of food and beverage marketing to children and youth in America represents, at best, a missed opportunity, and at worst, a direct threat to the health prospects of the next generation.”

The health of this generation already appears to be at risk. According to IOM, obesity in 6- to 19-year-olds has more than tripled in the past four decades, from 5% in the 1960s to 16% in 1999 to 2002. That translates to some 9 million obese children and youths in the United States. In addition, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has more than doubled in the past decade. Higher than recommended intakes of calories, sugars, sodium, total fat and saturated fats are to blame, according to the study. At the same time, intakes of whole grains, fiber, calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium and vitamin E are well below recommendations.

Marketing campaigns targeted to youth are not solely responsible for this grim reality, the study acknowledges. Genetics and biology, culture and values, economics, and physical and social environments also help shape the dietary patterns of children and youth. However, the report states: “Among the various environmental influences, none has more rapidly assumed central socializing roles for young people than the media, in its multiple forms. With its growth in variety and penetration has come a concomitant growth in the promotion of branded food and beverage products in the marketplace, and the influence ... on the diet and related health patterns of children.” The central claim of the study, then, is that if America’s youth are to develop healthy long-term eating habits, they need to reduce their intake of high-calorie, low-nutrient and sweetened foods, all of which make up a “high portion of the products marketed to them,” according to the study.

“It’s the ultimate perfect storm of challenges,” says Bill Goodwin, president and CEO of Goodwin, Media, PA, a youth-oriented marketing design firm. “Using characters on packaging works, and it has worked for decades, ever since Mickey Mouse appeared on a Post cereal box in 1930. And if you take away the characters, many retailers will not bring in a product that doesn’t have a recognizable offering that increases the likelihood of its success.” The truth is, according to Goodwin, parents choose the category of food— cereal, for example—and kids choose the brand.

“With advertising, particularly when it comes to kids, it’s push,” Goodwin says. “That’s where it gets difficult, because a child can’t watch program X without having X pushed on him. That’s where the marketing industry needs to take some responsibility.”

That said, Goodwin maintains that the IOM report doesn’t reflect the food-industry changes that have occurred over the last several years. “I wouldn’t for a moment attempt to minimize the importance and the value of what the report is all about,” Goodwin says. “But in the last three years, there have been 4,500 products that have come out that are aspiring to a better nutritional benefit—either improved or outright new. And many companies are addressing the issue head-on. There is a great deal of activity missing from the report.”

In Jan. 2005, for example, Kraft Foods Inc., Northfield, IL, began to phase out advertising products that did not meet specific “better-for-you” nutrition criteria in media viewed primarily by children aged 6 to 11. Further, a “Sensible Solution” flag on packaging alerts consumers to more-nutritious products. Goodwin predicts more industry leaders will follow suit.

“Ultimately, I don’t believe that the product and packaging are bad,” Goodwin says. “I have to want the product and accept responsibility for taking it off the shelf. I have the same challenges any consumer does, but I also have the same responsibility that any parent does. I’m the gatekeeper. I am solely responsible for what my children have access to. I’m also able to look at it from a professional level and see the dynamics of households and tell you that the whole concept of nag factor is largely a decades-old, generations-old concept, which has given way to a more inclusive family environment.”

Productscan Online, Naples, NY, recently identified 10 “Build a Better Mousetrap” new product innovations of 2005. Winners included Dave’s Gourmet Adjustable Heat Hot Sauce from Dave’s Gourmet Specialty Food Company, San Francisco. The divided bottle of mild and zesty hot sauces lets consumers combine them to suit their tastes. Another winner, Ketcho’rapé Ketchup au Fromage from France Fromage, is a bright-red ketchup-cheese combination.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, shrimp is the No. 1 seafood choice among U.S. consumers. In 2004, the consumption per person was 4.2 lbs. In addition to its appealing taste, shrimp is low in carbohydrates, fat and calories.

ARS physiologist Gary Hausman and his colleagues at the Animal Physiology Research Unit, Athens, GA, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Georgia, Atlanta, have developed a method that can increase marbling fat as much as 3.5% by mixing certain compounds into livestock feed. FDA has approved some of the compounds, called thiazolidinediones, but not for use in livestock feed with the intent of changing food composition. Other technologies exist for boosting marbling fat, but they are costly and the effectiveness varies.

A recent consumer study on white-milk preferences by Food Perspectives, Inc., Plymouth, MN, shows high levels of preference and purchase intent for shelf-stable, aseptic milk when compared to pasteurized milk. The study aimed to disprove existing dairy-industry perceptions that consumers would react negatively to the taste profile of an aseptic product. Research found steam-injected aseptic skim milk scored very well throughout the study and represented the biggest opportunity as it demonstrated several benefits over the pasteurized equivalent, including a thicker, smoother consistency.

A study out of Osloveien, Norway, compared consumer acceptance of cheeses with quality scores given by expert dairy assessors. The results, published in the Journal of Food Quality, revealed a notable difference between how consumers responded to certain cheeses and how experts predicted they would respond. For example, one cheese that scored the lowest overall with experts scored high with one consumer segment. As a result, lead researcher Margrethe Hersleth of the Norwegian Food Research Institute emphasizes the importance of giving more weight to the opinions of the consumer when determining food-quality standards.

Productscan Online, Naples, NY, reports that 190 new pomegranate-flavored foods and beverages were introduced in the U.S. market in 2005, compared to just 31 in 2003. Naturally high in polyphenols, a recognized antioxidant, the fruit has a rich color and an appealing sweet-sour flavor. It stars in a range of new products, including ice cream bars, jelly, truffles and chewing gum. Among the more-unusual introductions was Chicken Pomegranate Sausage from Jody Maroni’s Sausage Kingdom stores.

Poultry proteins from Proteus Industries, Gloucester, MA, have been affirmed GRAS for fat-blocking and moisture-retention applications. The patented protein-application process decreases fat absorption and improves the quality of meat, poultry, fish and other foods while extending the food’s shelf life, reducing bacteria and increasing moisture and protein content.

A new pilot study in humans has demonstrated that Beneo™ P95 oligofructose, a prebiotic ingredient from chicory root from Orafti Active Food Ingredients, Malvern, PA, can act as a trigger, limiting feelings of hunger and, subsequently, energy intake. Oligofructose fermentation modulates the release of gut hormones in the blood, which act as signaling agents to the brain to influence appetite.

Researchers at Proliant Health and Biologicals, Ankeny, IA, have shown the ability to reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) using ImmunoLin®, an immunoglobulin protein isolate. One of the core functions of the product is to eliminate foreign antigens, which cause the gut inflammation and resulting pain associated with IBS. During the six-week study, subjects received 10 grams of the ingredient, 10 grams of soy protein, or a combination of 5 grams of the ingredient and 5 grams of soy protein. Symptoms decreased by 16% and 18%, respectively, in the groups receiving 5 grams and 10 grams of ImmunoLin.

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Board of Directors recently recommitted FMI’s role as the sole proprietor of FMI’s annual May convention and Marketechnics® show. “We are excited about the opportunity to continue to work with our retail and wholesale members, our exhibitors and our co-location partners to maintain these two shows as signature events for the industry,” said Tim Hammonds, FMI president and CEO.

Vitiva, Markovci, Slovenia, is expanding its natural rosemary antioxidant extracts product line to South America. W. Robless Internacional, São Paulo, Brazil, will distribute the Inolens™ line.

Silliker, Inc., Homewood, IL, renamed its former Research Center in South Holland, IL, to the Silliker Food Science Center. The food-research laboratory conducts shelflife studies, collaborates on rapidtesting methods and offers new-product development as well as processing-equipment validation. In other Silliker news, the company acquired Dr. A. Verway chemical laboratories, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Martin Bauer (MB) North America, Torrance, CA, a supplier of specialty herbal extracts, powders, tea cuts and standardized extracts, and Guilin Layn Natural Ingredients (LAYN), Guilin, China, have formed a partnership that establishes MB North America as the exclusive distributor of LAYN’s botanical extract ingredients.

A. M. Todd Company, Kalamazoo, MI, recently discontinued its Zink & Triest vanilla-bean trading business in order to focus solely on its flavors and botanicaltherapeutics business.

Century Foods International, Sparta, WI, a contract manufacturer of dairy proteins, nutritional products and powder blends, earned registration by NSF International, Brussels, Belgium, for complying with current GMPs.

The Hershey Company, Hershey, PA, has introduced a new cocoa label highlighting that cocoa is a “natural source of flavanol antioxidants.” The company also debuted a new seal on packaging listing the total percentage of cacao in select dark-chocolate products.

Barry Callebaut, Zurich, Switzerland, announced the opening of its new $20 million state-of-the-art chocolate factory in American Canyon, CA. The 150,000-sq.-ft. production facility features lines for manufacturing approximately 27,500 tons of solid-chocolate products per year and will also provide warehousing, distribution and customer service for all finished goods for company divisions on the West Coast and in Mexico. The factory, which currently employs 52 people, was selected in part because of its proximity to Napa Valley and the Culinary Institute of America, St. Helena, CA.

Custom Culinary, Inc., Oak Brook, IL, acquired DM Foods, Avon, OH. Together, the companies provide a range of culinary products, including food bases, sauces, gravies, concentrates and flavor systems in shelf-stable, frozen and refrigerated formats.

Tokyo-based Taiyo International, Inc.’s Sunphenon® green-tea bases and manufacturing facility in Minneapolis received USDA organic certification by the Organic Crop Improvement Association International, Lincoln, NE. Sunphenon also is approved by the Japanese Foundation for Health and Nutrition as a Food for Specified Health Use (FOSHU).

Orafti Active Food Ingredients, Malvern, PA, recently united its functional-food ingredients under the Beneo™ umbrella. Although manufacturers previously knew the company’s inulin and oligofructose ingredients as Raftiline® and Raftilose®, consumers had come to recognize products containing Orafti ingredients by the Beneo trademark on product labels. The company believes that unifying the ingredients under a single designation will allow better overall recognition and understanding of its messages.

LycoRed, Ltd., Be’er Sheva, Israel, has integrated its subsidiary companies under the LycoRed name. These include Nutriblend, Biodar, Nutriblend International Sàrl and Buckton Scott Nutrition. In addition, the company has formed two regional offices— LycoRed Corporation, Fairfield, NJ, and LycoRed Ltd.,Aylesford, England—while maintaining its corporate headquarters in Israel.

Along with the changes comes a new logo and redesigned website (www.lycored.com). The website’s business-to-business focus offers visitors the tools to learn about the company’s new line of products, as well as its microencapsulated ingredients and solutions for fortification challenges. According to the company, the number of visitors to the site has doubled since it was launched in Dec. 2005.

In additional company news, Tomat-O-Red® has received FDAapproval for use as a food coloring. The ready-to-use natural tomatolycopene product is stable under a range of temperatures and its color does not shift with changes in pH.

At Food Ingredients Europe 2005 in Paris, Avebe Food, Veendam, the Netherlands, garnered the Silver Award for its Eliane™ starches. This award cited the line, based on amylopectin potato starch, as the most-innovative ingredient in 2005.

Purac, Lincolnshire, IL, has broken ground on a new plant in Rayong, Thailand. By the end of 2007, the plant is expected to be fully operational, with a capacity of 100,000 tons undiluted lactic acid. In addition, a sodium- and potassiumlactate facility on site will have a capacity of 15,000 tons.

GTC Nutrition, Golden, CO, announced that its FortiFeed®scFOS® product meets the official definition of fructooligosaccharide adopted by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, Inc. This natural, indigestible carbohydrate ingredient has value-added applications in pet foods.

Flavor Solutions, Inc., and Custom Cuisine have joined forces as Custom Culinary Solutions. The company will provide food-product creation, as well as culinary promotion, product presentations, trend forecasting and new business development.

Stepan Company Food & Health Specialties has submitted a self-affirmed GRAS notification to FDA for the use of Drewpol® PGPR as an emulsifier for improving stability and performance characteristics in margarines, spreads, creamers and dairy analogues.

ADM, Decatur, IL, announced that FDA had no objection to the company’s expansion of GRAS categories for its cholesterol-reducing CardioAid™ plant sterols. This provides a newly expanded range of food products which can be fortified with the plant sterols, including mayonnaise, salad dressings, pasta, sauces, healthy bars, salty snacks, processed soups, cheese, yogurt and more. The National Institutes of Health, through the National Cholesterol Education Program, suggests that Americans consider plant sterols as a therapeutic lifestyle change for reducing cholesterol.

D.D. Williamson, Louisville, KY, has acquired the Dinesen Trading Company, Port Washington, WI, a natural-color manufacturer. D.D. Williamson will operate Dinesen’s Wisconsin facility as the central source for its expanded natural-colors operation. The spectrum of colors offered now includes annatto, turmeric, paprika and carmine.

Nutri Pharmaceuticals Research, Inc. (NPRI), Las Vegas, a developer and marketer of powdered nutritional ingredients, has entered into a product- development and supply partnership with Aloecorp, Inc., Lacey,WA, a supplier of bioactive aloe-vera raw materials. Aloecorp will supply NPRI with a dried aloe-vera crystal flake for use as a carrier matrix with NPRI’s O2P oil-to-powder conversion process. In addition, both companies will work together to develop powdered-oil product concepts using the aloe-vera crystal flake.

Faribault Foods, Faribault, MN, marked 110 years in business at the end of 2005. Incorporated in 1895 as a small regional canner of peas and corn, the privately owned company now also produces a line of certified-organic products, as well as chilis, soups, pastas, beans, juice pouches and private-label products for grocery stores and manufacturers.

Symrise, Holzminden, Germany, a supplier of fragrances, flavorings and raw materials, has acquired Hamburgbased Kaden Biochemicals, a company that develops and produces high-purity active ingredients from plant material. The acquisition allows Symrise to offer “comprehensive sensory solutions,” especially in the functional- food and nutraceuticals market, according to the company.

Solbar Industries, Israel, has new distributors in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland for its range of specialty soy protein concentrates, isolates and textured products.