FDA is calling on the food industry and other interested parties via a public hearing for input on the use of advisory labeling of allergens in food.

FDA said it has looked at the current situation and found that the use of advisory statements is not uniform in the U.S., particularly when it comes to the risk of cross-contamination during food production.

FDA is developing a long-term strategy to assist manufacturers in using allergen advisory labeling that is truthful and not misleading, conveys a clear and uniform message and adequately informs food allergic consumers and their caregivers. To that end, FDA is seeking information to assist the agency in determining how manufacturers currently use advisory labeling, how consumers interpret different advisory labeling statements, and what wording is likely to be most effective in communicating to consumers the likelihood that an allergen may be present in a food.

The hearing will be held on September 16 at the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in College Park, Maryland. Comments may be submitted to FDA by January 14, 2009.

CONGRATULATIONS TO NAFFS
SCHOLARSHIP AWARD WINNERS

On August 11 NAFFS President Phil Parisi, East Coast Scholarship Chair Al Roth, Executive Director Bob Bauer and Associate Director Diane Davis presented NAFFS’ third annual scholarship awards to two deserving students in the Rutgers University Food Science Program. Dr. Mukund Karwe, chairman, Department of Food Science; Dr. Karl Matthews, associate professor, and Dr. Kit Yam, professor/acting graduate director, were also on hand to congratulate the students. Photos of the presentations are available at www.naffs.org.

Two $1,500 awards were presented to:

Graduate: Swetha Mahadevan, a Ph.D. candidate with a 3.85 GPA

Undergraduate: David Sorkin, a food science student with a 3.76 GPA

In early September Patrick Imburgia, West Coast Scholarship Chair, will present the West Coast scholarship award at Chapman University.

NAFFS’ scholarship support helps Rutgers and Chapman to provide quality programs, attract the brightest students and support cutting-edge research. It also provides highly qualified food scientists and nutritionists for the food industry workforce.

NAFFS extends its sincere congratulations to the outstanding students and thanks the many member companies who provided financial support.

FUNCTIONAL FOOD SALES
ON THE RISE

Sales of functional foods and beverages are growing faster than vitamins and dietary supplements, according to global market research firm Euromonitor International.

But functional foods are not expected to cannibalize the overall market for traditional supplements.

Euromonitor International estimates the global fortified food and beverage market climbed to about $97 billion in 2006, to almost double the size of vitamins and dietary supplements. Worldwide functional F&B grew by 10 percent in 2006 while supplements grew by six percent.

Global functional food and beverage growth is projected at 34 percent between 2006 and 2011. Vitamins and dietary supplements are expected to grow worldwide by 18 percent between 2007 and 2012.

Other food and beverage trend highlights from Euromonitor included:

• U.S. sales of functional drinks other than yogurt grew 11 percent to over 13 billion last year and are expected to increase by 46 percent to over $19 billion by 2012.
• Functional drinking and spoonable yogurts combined grew 28 percent in the U.S. in 2007 to $812 million and are projected to grow 83 percent to nearly $1.5 billion by 2012.
• Euromonitor estimates that dietary supplements positioned primarily as beauty-enhancing grew by 17 percent, to $100 million, in the U.S. alone last year.

STUDY FINDS NEW USE
FOR BERGAMOT WASTE

A study indicates that bergamot juice could be used to fortify fruit juice in place of synthetic additives, opening up a potential new use for a by-product of the essential oil industry, reported Food Navigator.

While bergamot is used by the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries, the juice is considered a waste product. Its bitter taste has precluded the juice from food industry uses in the past. Its primary food use is as an aroma for confectionery, liquors and tea. But Rita Pernice and researchers from the University of Naples found that its juice could be used to fortify other commonly consumed fruit juices with additional flavonoids and to prevent the thermal degradation of ascorbic acid during processing.

The research team tested the bergamot juice in a real food system using a traditional industrial recipe to make fruit juice from apples and apricots on a laboratory scale. They also made variants that contained 10 and 20 percent bergamot juice, both together with and replacing synthetic ascorbic acid and citric acid. The juices were tested throughout the production process and after storage at 37ºC for 15 days.

“All the results obtained support the hypothesis that the addition of bergamot juice to juices preserves their ascorbic acid content from thermal degradation and contributes to enhance the antioxidant activity, ensuring a product much richer in antioxidants and ascorbic acid,” wrote Pernice. The researchers also noted that bergamot had a better effect on preserving ascorbic acid after thermal treatment and storage than the synthetic additives.

The study concluded with trying out the juice enhanced with bergamot on consumers. The fortified juices ranked well on color and visual viscosity. However, while the 10 percent bergamot juice had an acceptable taste, the 20 percent juice was not acceptable as it was too bitter or astringent.

The scientists did not rule out using the juice at a 20 percent level, however, saying modifications to the recipe could reduce bitterness, as could a milder extraction procedure.

NAFFS CALENDAR

Be sure to save these dates when filling in your calendars:

October 23-26 - The 91st Annual NAFFS Convention, The Resort at Longboat Key Club, Longboat Key, Fla.