All weekly comments

All news articles > All weekly comments

Working at self-regulation

02-May-2006 - Self-regulation has become the mantra of food groups who argue that laws are not always necessary - but can industry be trusted when it has failed so spectacularly in the past?

Strategic philanthropy: exploitation or key for emerging markets?

25-Apr-2006 - When a company 'gives back' to the world through charitable donations, should we wholeheartedly commend it for being a good egg or sniff cynically at the profit potential that underlies every business decision?

Salt debate leaves bitter taste

27-Mar-2006 - The current debate about the levels at which the UK's food regulator has set its salt reduction targets misses the point about how healthier eating habits can be achieved.

The benzene trail

06-Mar-2006 - The gamble by US authorities 15 years ago to let the industry deal with benzene residues in soft drinks has failed, and instead only kept those who needed to know in the dark.

The bad research debate

27-Feb-2006 - The dust is settling on the WHI trial. First came the news that low-fat diets didn't reduce the risk of breast or colorectal cancer or cardiovascular disease, then came news that vitamin D and calcium supplements don't protect against fractures.

The cost of bad research

13-Feb-2006 - The science has spoken. Low-fat diets don't work: Forget the carrots and broccoli sprouts, I can now have my cake and eat it, and put extra cream on top.

Marketing the risky way

06-Feb-2006 - Nationality is a dangerous brand.

Time to ditch the FFQ

30-Jan-2006 - Little wonder consumers are confused about which foods are good for them, and which bad, when scientists use methods with almost no chance of meaningful results.

Food miles leave a bitter taste

23-Jan-2006 - The organic food movement has been hijacked by supermarkets intent on being seen to be green, but their disrespect of food miles shows they are anything but.

Some news is good news

16-Jan-2006 - I am beginning to feel like a freak among journalists. Good or bad, my reporting is the product of hours of questions, fact-hunting and often-times editorial debate. Yet, despite this rigour, every day we receive emails from people asking, or even instructing, us to publish their press release on our sites.

The shimmer of patent valuation

12-Dec-2005 - Complex webs of assumptions are spinning a lie about the real value of today's companies, lulling directors and shareholders alike into a false sense of value creation.

The reach of lobbying

05-Dec-2005 - The oft-said adage that there are two things people don't want to see being made - sausage and legislation - falls apart at the doors of the EU's parliament.

Death by food support

28-Nov-2005 - If the EU keeps hiding its agriculture sector behind huge pay cheques instead of devoting more time to food research funding, the bloc's whimpering and wailing will only get worse.

Time for Japan to act on agriculture

21-Nov-2005 - Strong rhetoric at last weekend's Apec summit on the abolition of agricultural subsidies could not drown out the scraping sound of Japanese heels.

Food safety for all

14-Nov-2005 - After all the increased safety procedures put in place over the past decade, one might have been lulled into thinking that poisonings and deaths from food contamination would be rarer than before. While it is true that the new regulatory requirements and better processing techniques have helped, the continuing breakdowns in food safety are still worrying.

No avoiding sustainable sourcing

07-Nov-2005 - Food companies do not yet face the ethical sourcing equation of the clothing industry, where brands from Nike to Marks & Spencer cannot afford a single claim of sweat-shop production. But the moment is fast approaching for food, too, when exploitative sourcing will be the public relations kiss of death.

Putting a premium on substance over style

24-Oct-2005 - Food producers are flogging the term 'premium' for all it's worth, threatening to flood a market that relies on exclusivity for its success with well-packaged tat.

A hungry world needs a fit FAO

10-Oct-2005 - The crusade to end world hunger has been a bitter failure. But with the world set to sweep away a crooked food trading system, there is a chance to get it right - if only we could revive the FAO from dormancy.

Junk Food Babes

03-Oct-2005 - If education is meant to deliver knowledge and wise choices, why are we doing so little to educate our children about food?

McDonald's: facing fat

26-Sep-2005 - There is nothing so redolent of a corporate mid-life crisis as the strategic equivalent of a new car, new girl and new image, set firmly on the shoulders of the same old idea. McDonald's, it seems, is firmly in the throes of a mid-life crisis.

Food law: friend or foe?

19-Sep-2005 - The food industry is in danger of harming itself with its recent lobbying against the further harmonisation and deepening of EU food regulation.

The science behind food

12-Sep-2005 - The words clinical trial or scientifically proven on a label carry huge cachet. But behind the claims of scientific evidence, consumers expect a base level of rigour in ensuring thatfood or personal care products actually deliver the benefits they claim.