January 17, 2008
Register today for the 41st annual Canola Council convention March 9 – 11/08 in Boca Raton, Florida! - Call an airline, book the hotel and register today for Canola! Growing a Healthier World set for March 9-11 at the Boca Raton Resort on Florida's Gold Coast, north of Fort Lauderdale. Catch the Early Bird Special - Register by February 8, 2008 and save $50 per full conference delegate registration.
REGISTER at www.canola-council.org
Trans fat Targeted! – Target Stores announced this week that products in its food brand, Archer Farms now contain zero grams of added trans fat. These products are sold at Target and SuperTarget stores across the United States.
According to the company, it has dedicated the past several months to reformulating selected products so the entire Archer Farms inventory meets FDA standards for labeling items as zero grams of added trans fat.
More North American cities mull trans fat bans – The Boston Public Health Commission voted unanimously last week to give preliminary approval to a trans fat ban that would take effect late this year if it receives another thumbs-up in the spring.
Edmonton, Alberta city councillors say anything good enough for Calgary is good enough for them. Two councilors have said they’re in favour of a trans fat ban in the Alberta capital.
Meanwhile, restaurateurs in Winnipeg, Manitoba are railing against the idea of a trans fat ban in that city.
Canada to get a new crushing plant, but not where you’d think – The Quebec government announced $20 million in assistance for Twin Rivers Technologies – Entreprises de transformation de graines oléagineuses du Québec (ETGO) for the construction of a canola and soybean crushing plant in Bécancour, QC.
The new plant will also refine canola, soy and palm oils. It will create 80 full-time jobs and generate annual sales of $450 million, according to news stories.
Canadian government consults on food safety – The federal government has launched a public consultation on the proposed Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan announced December 17, 2007 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The action plan is designed to modernize and strengthen Canada’s safety system for food, health and consumer products.
The proposed plan will focus on three key areas: preventing problems in the first place; targeting the highest risks; and rapid response. For more information, go to www.healthycanadians.ca
Unilever study identifies most efficient food labeling methods – Simple, front-of-pack nutritional labeling and endorsement by health organizations are the best way to inform consumers, according to Unilever’s study. Scientists studied consumer friendliness and the ability to differentiate between healthy and less healthy options using eight different nutrition labels.
The results were published this month in Appetite, where the researcher wrote: "Our results indicated that front-of-pack labelling formats help consumers make healthier choices and that there are no major differences between simpler and more detailed labelling formats.” The labelling formats' credibility was strongly increased through endorsement by national and international health organizations.
Safeway puts biodiesel in the tank – Supermarket chain Safeway is converting its entire U.S. truck fleet to burn a 20% biodiesel blend. The company claims this will do away with 75 million tons of carbon emissions, equal to taking 7,400 cars off the road.
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