Nutrition News

One of Australia’s leading consumer product surveys, Product of the Year, today released its third annual survey results for innovative new products in the Australian supermarket retail industry. Product of the Year was established 25 years ago in France and currently operates in 28 countries worldwide. For a product to be eligible for the survey, [...]

While Australian Food News yesterday reported the strong performance of Coles fresh produce division, the quarterly figures reported by parent company Wesfarmers show that Coles Express non-fuel sales declined by 1.4 percent for the quarter compared with Woolworths positive 4.9 percent increase from the previous year. Meanwhile Coles’ fuel sales for the second quarter ended [...]

One of Australia’s leading research companies, Roy Morgan Research has released its first, “Supermarket and Fresh Food Currency Report”. The Supermarket and Fresh Food Currency Report tracks numbers of customers by the supermarket they shop at, total dollar spent in each supermarket, and also these details as a percentage of total market spend dollars. The [...]

Cocoa, an antioxidant-rich raw ingredient for chocolate is “set to become a major force in the market for functional and healthier food”, according to Julian Mellentin, director of UK consultancy, New Nutrition Business. His company is a leading provider of analysis and insight into the global nutrition business. He said that cocoa was at a [...]

The Cancer Council of New South Wales has published online a list of the food advertising that occurs during children’s favorite television programming. The online list at a specific website (http://www.fatfreetv.com.au/) has been dubbed a “Fat Free TV Guide” by the Cancel Council which recommends the list be used by parents to filter their children’s [...]

In announcing its second quarter retail sales results for the 2012 financial year today, Wesfarmers has expressed pleasure with the continuing strong growth of its subsidiary Coles. Coles is one of Australia’s two major supermarket groups. Coles’ first half-year’s sales this financial year were $13.6 billion, a 4.9 percent increase on the previous year. Wesfarmers’ [...]

One of Australia’s leading diabetes experts has criticized a reported study published in the journal Nature, on February 2, 2012 that was written by Dr Robert Lustig, Dr Laura Schmidt and Dr Claire Brindis of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). The co-authors  claimed that high consumption of sugar “largely mirrors the effects of [...]

KR Castlemaine has  launched a campaign for a pre-packaged ham product with the claim to be “natural”, using new technologies to become the “first Australian pre-packaged ham that is artificially preservative-free”. This new range of ham is said to be produced using cutting-edge High Pressure Pasteurisation (HPP) technology. The company claims that it “does not [...]

A report released on 1 February, 2012 by the Australian Insitute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), has stated that although diabetes has increased significantly in Australia over the past 20 years, the rate of diabetes-related deaths is falling. The new web-based report, “Diabetes indicators in Australia”, shows the prevalence of diabetes in the Australian population [...]

Leading Australian experts in gut research, gastroenterology, nutrition and dietetics have released their key recommendations for actions to be taken to improve digestive and bowel health for Australians. The recommendations come out of an Expert Roundtable panel made up of representatives from the Gut Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The [...]

Coles supermarkets have launched a new marketing campaign around Australia promoting low prices for domestic fresh fruit and vegetables. The Coles campaign takes advantage of a current glut in fresh produce around Australia. However the campaign also signals greater competition for the “fresh” descriptor crossing into the marketing cornerstone of its major competitor, Woolworths. Over [...]

A new scientific study conducted at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine suggests a potential link between the consumption of diet soft drinks and heart attacks or other vascular events. The study has found that people who drink diet soft drinks on a daily basis may be at an increased risk of suffering [...]

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) has issued the AFGC CHEP Retail Sales Index, as at January 30 2012, which forecasts continued subdued growth for Australia’s retail sector in the March quarter, traditionally one of the slowest trading periods of the year. According to the retail index issued, based on supply chain activity for [...]

The Australian Environmental Pest Managers Association (AEPMA) has re-launched its November 2011 Code of Practice for the management of pests in the food industry. The code defines best practice requirements for food business and premises. Australian food safety specialist, Gavin Buckett says that the new Code of Practice brings a new level of professionalism and [...]

In a response to notification of a low pathogenic influenza detection in ducks on a property in Victoria, the Japanese government announced today that it had suspended imports of Australian poultry products and egg-derived products. However, questions were being raised as to the extent of the suspension, given that there are many processed foods that [...]

Woolworths Limited today announced first half year sales of $29.7 billion, a 5 percent increase on the previous year. CEO Grant O’Brien said, “The first half year result was solid considering the ongoing headwinds facing the retail sector with subdued consumer confidence and significant deflation along with the change agenda we are driving through our [...]

Australia’s most talented chocolatiers and pastry chefs will descend on the Foodservice Expo on 27-29 May, 2012 at Moore Park, Sydney to compete for a spot in a prestigious World Chocolate Masters competition. The World Chocolate Masters, an initiative by Cacao Barry and Callebaut Chocolate, is the world’s premier culinary competition devoted solely to the [...]

New Zealand based Cookie Time Limited (CTL) and Australian health-food giant Sanitarium have partnered in a major licensing deal to launch CTL’s new ‘breakthrough’ meal bar, ‘One Square Meal’, into the Australian market. The product features New Zealand’s famed manuka honey. The One Square Meal is described as “the total meal to go”, consisting of [...]

For over 40 years, scientists and physicians have thought eating a high-fibre diet lowered a person’s risk of diverticulosis. A new US study of 2,104 people shows this may not be accurate. The study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at the Chapel Hill School of Medicine found that [...]