Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin is expected to sign a bill passed by the legislature that requires food labels to clearly state the GMO ingredients in foods produced in the state. The law, which would go into effect on July 1, 2016, includes the requirement that products with GMO ingredients cannot claim to be “natural”. However, meat and dairy products from animals fed GMO feed need not be labeled GMO. And the law does not apply to medical foods or restaurant foods. While the law was welcomed by anti-GMO groups, some legal experts say it is highly likely it will face a 1st Amendment challenge.

A U.S. study adds to the mounting evidence that vitamin D deficiency in seniors is associated with cognitive decline over time. The researchers looked at 2,777 well-functioning adults aged 70 to 79 whose cognitive performance was measured at the start of the study and again four years later. Vitamin D levels were measured at the 12-month follow-up visit. Low vitamin D was associated with worse cognitive performance on one of the two cognitive tests used. The researchers were careful to point out they could not determine a direct cause-and-effect relationship, but there was enough associative data to support a campaign to increase vitamin D supplementation among the elderly.

Canadian and Swedish researchers have found that advising pregnant women about the potential dangers to infants of exposure to quickly eliminated contaminants in fish – e.g., mercury – are generally effective. But advisories don’t work well when it comes to “persistent organic pollutants”: chemicals such as DDT and PCBs banned long ago but still in the environment and the food chain. Persistent pollutants can remain in the body for years, even decades because the human body has a difficult time eliminating them. Women who stop eating fish shortly before or during their pregnancy may only lower their child's exposure to persistent pollutants by 10 to 15 percent.

Vitamin E has been shown to improve age-related diseases and conditions, like Alzheimer’s and macular degeneration. That fact, and the growing proportion of older people in the world, led Swiss vitamin supplier DSM to recently call for a substantial increase in the recommended daily intake (RDI) of vitamin E. But supplements are not the only viable source, Euromonitor says. The two most common food sources are gamma-tocopherol – found in corn oil, soybean oil and margarine – and alpha-tocopherol, found in wheat germ oil, sunflower and safflower oils, as well as sunflower seeds, almonds, hazelnuts and peanuts. According to Euromonitor, in 2012 nearly 1,500 tons of vitamin E were consumed in food and drink products, of which 40 percent came from oils and fats.

Inadequate government oversight of the food processing industry in China has forced Western food retailers like Walmart and Carrefour to take inspection matters into their own hands.  Walmart, for example, is boosting supplier inspections after a recent donkey meat recall – the meat turned out to contain fox DNA – and now conducts more DNA tests of meat in China than it does anywhere else in the world. The company expects to spend $16 million over three years to increase food safety in China after being stung by previous scandals there. The FDA is beefing up its inspection presence in China as well. The best solution, however, would be for the Chinese food processing industry to take more responsibility in food safety and for the government to strengthen its enforcement of standards.

A researcher in Canada has devised a way to gather consumer purchase data from grocery store checkouts that public health agencies can use to determine where people tend to eat unhealthy foods and perhaps focus diet improvement interventions. It’s a public health issue because the direct health costs of diseases associated with obesity total $1.8 billion – a “huge toll both on lives and public finances”. Data gathered from store scanners in Montreal in 2008 and 2010 showed, for example, that for each $10,000 decrease in median personal income, there was a fivefold increase in estimated monthly sales of soft drinks.

Unilever has applied to the EU’s Food Safety Authority for permission to use a proprietary phytosterol – a plant sterol – as a cholesterol lowering ingredient in cooking, baking and liquid margarines. The FSA approved earlier Unilever applications to use the ingredient in its Flora pro.activ margarines and milk-type and yogurt-type foods. The company says that eating 1.5 to 2.5 g of plant sterols a day can lower blood cholesterol by seven to ten percent in two weeks. The new application may signal Unilever’s intention to broaden its Flora Cuisine cooking liquid product line under the pro.activ brand. Flora Cuisine is made from linseed, rapeseed and sunflower oils.

NPD Group market research finds that grocery shoppers may be cautious of GMO foods and beverages, but not enough to get them to pay a premium for non-GMO foods. Half of respondents to a survey said they were concerned about genetically modified organisms in their food, but two-thirds said they would not pay a premium for foods that were GMO-free. NPD advised food manufacturers and retailers to help educate consumers about GMOs. And marketers who want to inform consumers about GMOs and their products “should engage both traditional and social media for effective communication avenues”.

Beverage makers that want to substitute the natural sweetener stevia for sugar in their product formulas should be aware of a key marketing advantage. Stevia-based beverages can have a significant impact on overweight and obese populations, because a person who drinks two cans of a stevia soft drink a day could cut their annual calorie consumption by 6,132 calories. Companies looking to reformulate with stevia should focus on carbonated beverages, flavored water, fruit and vegetable juices and RTD teas, Euromonitor advises. They should target markets where those types of beverages – especially reduced-sugar varieties – are already consumed heavily.

Producers of snacks and other food items made from fresh fruits and vegetables are getting a marketing boost from powerful allies besides First Lady Michelle Obama: Sesame Workshop (owner of the Sesame Street characters), the Disney company, and school cafeterias. Disney, often criticized for licensing its characters to sell junk food, has lately begun licensing to companies that sell snacks made from fresh produce. Sesame Workshop has been letting the Produce Marketing Association use characters like Elmo and Big Bird – free of charge – to promote fresh fruit and vegetables to children. And efforts by school cafeterias to offer more fruits and veggies, both à la carte and in vending machines, has resulted in a 26 percent hike in students’ daily consumption of fruit, and a 14 percent increase in veggie eating.

The move by big pizza chains to Web-based ordering systems – now accounting for 40 percent of total sales – has put the squeeze on less technologically savvy, poorer independent chains and shops. Large pizza chains, which already have marketing clout and lower cost ingredients, accounted for 52 percent of pizza orders, while the share for independents dropped to 29 percent from 31.5 percent. One pizza shop owner in Ohio reports a 20 percent decline in sales as a result of the Webification of pizza ordering. One possible solution for the little guys is online food ordering companies like Chicago-based GrubHub Seamless, which usually take a cut of online sales transacted via their platform.

Subway is removing a controversial chemical from its bread that, though FDA approved at certain maximum levels, poses a small carcinogenic risk to humans, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Azodicarbonamide, a chemical found in yoga mats and shoe soles, is used to strengthen bread dough. According to the American Bakers Association, the chemical improves the volume and texture of a finished loaf, and substitute chemicals “are likely not to work as well". The chemical is also used in grocery store breads, restaurant breads and breads sold by other major fast food chains, including McDonald's, Starbucks and Arby's.

Turns out, quinoa is not really a grain, but a “chenopod” related to spinach and beets. That fact has not diminished its popularity among foodies worldwide as a base for a salad, pilaf or risotto. But if you cook it long enough, until its starches begin to release, quinoa can be shaped into cakes for pan-frying, without using bread crumbs or eggs. New York Time Food writer Mark Bittman says quinoa is really tasty when transformed into crunchy crumbs that have been seasoned and roasted. They can be sprinkled on salads, stir-fry dishes, pastas or anything else as a substitute for toasted bread crumbs or chopped nuts.

Reckitt Benckiser is entering the U.S. dietary supplement market with the launch of an omega-3 krill oil product. The company has hired British public relations agency GolinHarris London to introduce MegaRed Omega-3 Krill Oil to American consumers. It is the first time the agency has worked with RB. Celebrity brand ambassador will be Gabby Logan, supported by media doctor Ellie Cannon and celebrity fitness trainer James Daly. The theme of the campaign will be the role played by omega-3 fatty acids in heart health in women over age 45.

Juice made from genetically-modified purple tomatoes that are reportedly more nutritious than the conventional varieties is beginning to reach store shelves in the U.K.. Purple tomatoes are engineered to contain the pigment anthocyanin, the same antioxidant that gives blueberries their nutritional – and anti-cancer – punch. The tomatoes were developed at a research center in the U.K.. Large-scale production of the purple tomato juice has begun in Canada, with the first 1,200 liters ready to ship. Ontario company New Energy Farms produces enough purple tomatoes in its greenhouse to make 2,000 liters (440 gallons) of juice. The tomatoes do not contain seeds, so there is no risk of contamination by genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).

A nutrient-dense version of a traditional Indian snack could go a long way toward relieving the child malnutrition problem in the country. About 45,000 children die of malnutrition in the state of Maharashtra each year. In a recent pilot study, half of the participating children were diagnosed as severely malnourished. For the study, a researcher developed a recipe for laddoos, donut-hole shaped snacks served at Indian festivals, consisting of whole wheat flour, roasted peanuts, milk, cardamom, butter, sesame seed, and cane juice pressed into cakes. During the study, more than half of the children who regularly ate the fortified laddoos went from severely malnourished to moderately malnourished.

General Mills has launched a snack delivery service – “Nibblr” – that offers 59 portion-controlled snack varieties shipped by the U.S. Postal Service to subscribers. Subscribers control what they get, how often, and can cancel anytime. The service is available in the continental U.S.; snacks are delivered weekly, biweekly or monthly. Nibblr snacks – packed four to a box and sold for $5.99 each – include nuts (Clusters Last Stand), fruits, chocolate and a variety of flavors, including curry, chili pepper and chai (Chai It You’ll Like It).

Contrary to traditional medical opinion, pregnant women should not worry that eating peanuts will cause a peanut allergy in their child, U.S. researchers report. For years women were advised to avoid highly allergenic foods such as peanuts and tree nuts during pregnancy and while nursing. In addition, it was suggested that children three years old and younger should not be allowed to eat peanuts. The researchers noted that despite the advice, from 1997 to 2007 the number of peanut allergy cases in the U.S. tripled. Researchers analyzed data collected from  8,205 children, finding that peanut allergy rates were significantly lower among children whose mothers ate peanuts before and during pregnancy.

Eating just one apple a day would prevent or delay around 8,500 vascular deaths such as heart attacks and strokes every year among adults over age 50 in the U.K., a British study has found. The same result could also be achieved, perhaps with more side effects and complications like muscular myopathy, by taking statins each day. The researchers used mathematical models to analyze the effect of eating an apple a day on common causes of “vascular mortality”. Subjects in the study did not already take statins. A daily statin given to 17.6 million more adults would reduce vascular deaths by 9,400 a year, while a daily apple given to 22 million Britons over 50 years would prevent 8,500 vascular deaths.

Expectant mothers, babies and young children should not consume unpasteurized (raw) milk or milk products – which can be legally purchased in 30 U.S. states – and should only consume pasteurized products, the American Academy of Pediatrics advises. Raw milk and milk products are a continuing source of bacterial infections that are especially dangerous to pregnant women, fetuses, the elderly, young children and people with compromised immune systems, the organization says. Raw milk and raw-milk products, such as soft cheeses, have become increasingly popular, because of unfounded claims of health benefits. From 1998 through 2009, there were 93 recorded outbreaks of disease resulting from consumption of raw milk or raw-milk products, causing 1,837 illnesses, 195 hospitalizations and two deaths.

Harvard scientists have figured out that it really is more expensive to eat healthy, but not that much more – only $1.50 a day, or $550 a year. In a meta-analysis of 27 studies across 10 affluent countries that compared the costs of eating healthy versus less-healthy meals, the researchers found that healthier diet patterns – for example, diets rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts – cost significantly more than unhealthy diets (i.e., those rich in processed foods, meats, and refined grains). The researchers said the price difference is very small in comparison to the economic costs of diet-related chronic diseases, “which would be dramatically reduced by healthy diets”.

People who have tried intermittent food restriction – not quite strict feasting and then fasting – have found some health benefits in the practice, though most evidence so far is anecdotal. Intermittent restriction involves eating between 500 and 650 calories a day, every other day. On alternate days eating is normal. One 41-year-old man who has tried it for about a year – after a month-long “angry, grumpy” adjustment period – has lost 50 pounds, stopped taking medication for diabetes and no longer has stomach ulcers. A British study among three groups of overweight breast cancer patients found that two intermittent restriction groups lost twice as much weight as the daily calorie restriction group.

Problems over health claims of yogurts containing probiotics have pushed marketers to emphasize claims of high protein. More than 10 percent of recent yogurt launches globally used protein claims; in the U.S. a third of new launches were positioned this way. The trend is catching on, thanks to the booming interest in Greek and Greek-style yogurts, which have higher protein content. This in turn has led to the emergence of a sub-category, known as “brogurt”, targeting men, especially those interested in fitness. A new U.S. product, Powerful Yogurt, says it is the first Greek yogurt to target a male audience. It is sold in eight-ounce cups, each containing 25 grams of natural protein.

A new British study shows that vitamin D, which is important for bone health, is also important for the health of other tissues and organs, including the brain. Middle-aged rats fed a diet low in vitamin D for several months developed free radical damage to the brain, and many different brain proteins were damaged as identified by redox proteomics. The rats also showed a significant decrease in cognitive performance on tests of learning and memory. The researchers advised people whose vitamin D levels are low to eat foods rich in vitamin D, take vitamin D supplements, or get at least 10-15 minutes of sun exposure each day.

Supermarket Guru Phil Lempert predicts that ten trends will dominate the food and beverage world in 2014.The underlying current of the trends is the ever-changing relationship of health-conscious consumers with merchants, brands and food generally. At the top of the trend list is the emergence of the “IndieWoman”: a “major food influencer”. There are 31 million of them and they spend $50 billion a year on food and beverages. They are aged 27 and older, live alone, have no kids, are active socially, concerned about career growth and love to shop. Other trends focus on healthy snacking, loyalty to brands involved in social causes, reliance on smartphones when grocery shopping, etc.

Pres. Obama’s Affordable Care Act mandated that restaurant chains with more than 20 locations nationwide post the calorie content of all regular food and drink items on their menus. The idea, of course, was to encourage healthier food choices. Is the strategy working? Not according to a study by New York University researchers. Posting calorie content does not change purchasing habits or decrease the number of calories customers consume, especially among lower-income and less-educated consumers. The researchers said “more robust interventional policies” should be considered in neighborhoods where obesity is most prevalent.

The market for ready-to-drink protein-fortified meals is booming, according to beverage industry observers. Mintel reported recently that 74 beverages containing protein were released in the first six months of 2013, compared to only 49 during the same period of 2012. A Wisconsin company that supplies protein ingredients to the beverage industry says America has become an “on-the-go” society that demands nutritious food – including protein – in a quick, convenient format. Consumers are also looking for “wholesome and natural” ways to consume a balanced diet. The basic trend? Beverages are no longer around just to wash down a meal – they’ve become the meal.

Researchers who published a study on the content of vegetable oils urge the Canadian government to rethink its advice on the health benefits of corn oil and safflower oil. The two commonly used oils have been on a list of oils recommended because of purported cholesterol-lowering effects. But the researchers found that the two oils contain high levels of omega-6 linoleic acid, but almost no heart-healthy omega-3 α-linoleic acids. Labels on corn oil and sunflower oil products are allowed the claim: “a reduced risk of heart disease by lowering blood cholesterol levels”. That claim is not warranted in the case of omega-6 linoleic acids, the researchers argue.

U.S. researchers who analyzed the recipe recommendations of several popular food blogs found that many of the recipes were acceptable in calories, but excessive in saturated fat and sodium. The researchers noted that the meal photos on the six blogs were probably more attractive than the actual nutritional content of the foods. Another downside is that food companies sponsor the sites, so the recipes are actually advertisements for company products. “The public should be aware of the nutritional limitations of popular food blogs,” the researchers concluded. They recommended that dietitians help bloggers modify blog recipes and partner with bloggers “to improve the nutritional profile of recipes”.

Scientists in New Zealand have developed an onion that makes a “tearless” sulfur compound similar to that found in garlic. Consumers who use the new onion in recipes not only avoid the tears associated with regular onions, they may also be providing the heart-healthy benefits associated with garlic eating. The scientists found in lab tests that tearless onion extracts significantly reduced blood platelet clumping (reducing the risk of heart disease), and had about the same anti-inflammatory properties as the regular version. Preliminary testing in rats also showed that the tearless onion could help control weight gain, more so than regular onions or garlic.