Food Industry Archive

The health ministry of Austria has said it found negligible traces of cocaine in Red Bull Cola — just a week after Germany reported similar findings. The Austrian health ministry said it didn’t perceive any health risk, as the levels found are very low. German authorities also said the drink should be perfectly safe, but nevertheless, such ingredients are not legally permitted. Six...

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Working Mother magazine just announced its annual list of Best Companies for Multicultural Women, and General Mills was in the top five. It was also the company’s sixth consecutive year on the list. I’ve interviewed diversity consultants in the past, and they’ve expressed frustration with companies, saying too many business leaders see diversity initiatives as a way to avoid...

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McDonald’s aims to overtake Starbucks in Europe — McDonald’s is expanding its McCafe across Europe, with plans to open hundreds of new stores by the end of the year. McDonald’s has been thriving in the current economy, while rival Starbucks has been closing stores and struggling to keep up profits. It seems likely that McCafe will have an easy time usurping...

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Hank Cardello is the author of the book “Stuffed: An Insider’s Look at Who’s Really Making America Fat.” He’s also a consultant and former food executive who’s worked for General Mills, Michelob and the Coca-Cola Company, among others. I spoke with him this morning about the obesity epidemic and why he believes it’s important for the food industry to...

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Last week, I wrote a lot about the local food movement, and about different companies’ attempts to present their products as local, whether justified or not. In Britain, an organic food group called the Soil Association takes food miles into account when deciding which products to give its seal of approval. Some UK supermarket chains label food that has been flown in, in order to warn...

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Sara Lee sues Oscar Mayer over hot dog claims — The maker of Ball Park hot dogs is accusing Kraft’s Oscar Mayer of false advertising because of an ad that claimed Oscar Mayer had beaten Ball Park hot dogs in a taste test, when in fact, it only beat out the leading Ball Park product. The lawsuit, which comes just as hot dog season gets started in earnest, also attacks Oscar...

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As local food is my theme for this week, I thought I should make at least a half-hearted attempt to explain what the term means. The answer is: it’s thoroughly open to interpretation. Some say that to be “local,” food has to be grown within a hundred miles of where its sold. Others put the bar higher (or closer), while others count anything within a day’s drive. Wal-Mart...

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True devotees of the sustainable food movement are scornful of what they see as attempts by major food-makers to jump on the bandwagon through superficial initiatives. As I discussed yesterday, Frito-Lay’s recent attempt to cash in on pro-local sentiments did not go over well with local food activists. Even Chipotle Mexican Grill seems to be getting a bit defensive over the trend. The...

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Mexican officials flaunt pork safety — Two hundred government representatives ate pork at a party in order to assure the public that pork is not unsafe to eat, despite the recent outbreak of swine flu. Although the H1N1 influenza strain most likely originated in pigs, the virus later passed between humans and there is no evidence that anyone became sick through food products. The young...

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Last week PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay got a lot of attention — not all of it positive — for its new ‘Lay’s Local’ marketing campaign. TV spots are debuting in California, Michigan, Florida, Texas and other markets with farmers from each individual state making statements like, “Next time you grab a bag of Lay’s in Michigan, think of us.” The...

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