The House of Representatives dealt a blow to childhood obesity warriors on Thursday by passing a bill that abandons proposals that threatened to end the reign of pizza and French fries on federally funded school lunch menus, reports Reuters. The changes, which would have stripped pizza's status as a vegetable and limited how often French fries could be served, stemmed from a 2010 child nutrition law calling on schools to improve the nutritional quality of lunches served to almost 32 million U.S. school children.

Portland, Ore.–based Bob’s Red Mill Natural  Foods identifies upcoming trends in whole grains.

Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. The Chinese New Year celebration is a 15-day event that starts with the new moon on the first day of the New Year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. This year (4710 on the Chinese calendar) begins on January 23rd, and is the Year of the Dragon.

Asked to rank the top food stories of 2011, 1,000 Americans put the listeria outbreak that caused 29 deaths at the top of the list, and food inflation third, according to Hunter Public Relations, which commissioned its 9th annual survey, reports Marketing Daily.

With the NFL playoffs in full swing and the Super Bowl, most-watched televised event in the United States, fast approaching, the majority of football fans say they feel no guilt about snacking down heartily as they watch their favorite teams try to make it to the Super Bowl, reports Progressive Grocer.

Bell Flavors & Fragrances has selected the Top 10 sweet flavors, Top 10 savory flavors, Top 10 beverage flavors for 2012, and predicts Korean, Cajun and Greek will be the emerging cuisines, and salty caramel flavor will make the largest impact on all food and beverage products, and ginger orchid will be the No. 1 fragrance.

Wen-Juin Shieh Technical Leader Cargill Texturizing Solutions

If you use gum Arabic in your products, you know that prices reached record highs in 2011 and are nearly 40% higher than they were a year ago. The continuous appreciation of the US Dollar against the Sterling, Euro and other currencies is still causing increases in gum Arabic prices. And the continuing instability in top grower Sudan, coupled with natural variations in quality, is expected to further limit the gum supply for the 2012 season.

Gum Arabic, the hardened sap of the acacia tree, helps citrus flavors and other oil-based flavors remain evenly suspended in beverages such as sports drinks, carbonated soft drinks and juice drinks. In addition to being an effective emulsifier in beverages, it also is an excellent carrier for the spray-dried flavors used in instant beverage formulations and savory snacks.

However, with gum Arabic in short supply, food and beverage manufacturers have turned to Cargill for more reliable and lower-cost functional solutions such as EmulTru® starch.  Our customers include both global and regional beverage manufacturers and flavor emulsion manufacturers, which produce concentrated flavor emulsions for dilution at bottling companies.

Expanded beyond our borders to reflect a global perspective, McCormick & Co. Inc.'s 12th annual Flavor Forecast was compiled by a global panel of chefs, sensory scientists, trend trackers, marketing experts and food technologists. It showcases six flavor trends, and flavor combinations with global impact.

Privately held Irving, Texas-based Hostess Brands, the maker of Twinkies snack cakes, Wonder bread, Ding Dongs, Drake’s Devil Dogs, and Nature’s Pride breads, f

Mark Alexander has been named president Campbell North America, effective Jan. 16. He succeeds Sean Connolly, who joins Sara Lee Corp. as CEO of the company's North American Retail and Foodservice business. Connolly will serve as CEO of MeatCo, Sara Lee's North American Meats business following that company's planned spinoff of its international coffee and tea business ...