The FoodNavigator Podcast

Our teams of journalists were out in force at Food Ingredients Europe (FiE) last week. We’ve picked out some of our highlights from over one thousand exhibitors, a packed conference programme and talks on industry insights.

The quest for alternatives to animal-derived proteins has led to a huge amount of innovation - some proteins are already thriving on the market and others have some way to go. FoodNavigator looks at the latest trends at IFT.

Food manufacturers should prepare for a positive three years ahead, as the changing economy prompts consumers to spend at pre-recession levels, a leading economist has said. 

Alternative proteins are a “hot area” of interest and products such as sandwich spreads made with meal worms could be a thing of the future, according to one food trend expert.

UK consumers prioritise reducing fat and sugar intake ahead of salt, according to a consumer survey conducted by Klinge Foods, the producer of LoSalt.

Science should look beyond LDL cholesterol and saturated fat, which have dominated cardiovascular research until now, towards other contributing factors and a food-group approach to guidelines, according to one researcher.

Food producers should look at the current obesity crisis as an opportunity to do good business and do good for public health through the reformulation of mass-market products, says one nutrition policy expert.

Saturated fatty acids shouldn’t be avoided as they don't cause cardiovascular disease - but 'excess' is the important word, says a human nutrition expert.

Malaysia hopes to double its palm oil production by 2020 without having to dedicate more land to palm plants, according to a Malaysian minister.

Rothamsted Research has achieved omega-3 levels comparable to fish oil in its first GM camelina harvest, something which has been surprisingly well received by the public, its senior researcher says. 

All diets have similar effects and people should concentrate less on choosing a specific one and more on how to last longer following it, Canadian research has suggested. 

Increased technical efficiency, plate reader accuracy, one step confirmation and dual indicator potential are some of the marketplace drivers caused by Petrifilm Plates, according to 3M Food Testing.

Genius Foods, the UK’s leading gluten-free food producer, made a big investment into its summer campaign after being asked to be an official provider of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

From the benefits of gluten-free to those of Mediterranean and Palaeolithic diets, many claims that one dietary strategy are better than another for health and weight loss are simply 'unjustified' and 'sometimes utter nonsense', according to a new review.

ACD/Labs has released an updated version of their software platform at Analytica 2014 in Munich.

Consumers don’t really want more nutritional information, they want an easy life, according to a behavioural economist talking at a conference in Brussels.

Automated colony counting ensures results are consistently the same standard when dealing with high-throughput demands, according to Synoptics.  

The average consumer’s desire for simplicity and the average journalist’s desire for a good headline is driving public perception of sweeteners, according to participants of a debate in Brussels.

Israeli firm Algatechnologies will work towards gaining approval for its astaxanthin as a novel food and beverage ingredient in Europe, but first it must meet existing demands and cut prices, it said.

Open innovation can be expensive and time-consuming to manage – and many food companies are struggling to find the solutions they are looking for. Could a non-profit platform provide the keys to open innovation success?

Our team of journalists is back in the office after three very busy days at FIE. In this final round-up podcast, we share our thoughts on the show.

FoodNavigator reporters joined 1000s scouring the show floor from the moment Europe’s biggest food ingredients show opened on Tuesday.

Specialty ingredients distributor IMCD says that working with a distributor, rather than individual suppliers, allows food companies to tap into application-driven expertise - beyond their own R&D capabilities.

FoodNavigator reporters joined 1000s scouring the show floor from the moment Europe’s biggest food ingredients show opened yesterday morning.

Food manufacturing giant Unilever will work with international non-profit Solidaridad to drive the sustainable development of the sugar cane industry in Central America.