Food & Health News, October 3

Autumn is harvest time, a time when food is gathered, processed to be ready for the winter. Today we have a round up of food news for our readers.

Food giant Nestle goes personalized
Nestle, the world’s biggest food maker is going personalized. Just as medical care and pharmacological products are being customized to specific needs of the patients, Nestle will develop “personalized nutrition products in order to help prevent or treat health complexities like obesity, heart diseases, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.”

For this purpose,, the company announced last week the setting up of 2 new separate units: Nestlé Health Science S.A. and the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences to pioneer this “new industry between food and pharma.”

Ben & Jerry’s Taking ‘All-Natural’ Label off Products
Manufacturers of Ben & Jerry ice cream are taking off the traditional “All-natural” phrase that is written on the product labels. This is in response to the reminder from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) that  products should meet certain criteria in order to carry the all-natural label. Ben & Jerry products do not the criteria because they contain alkalized cocoa, corn syrup, hydrogenated oil or other ingredients that are not natural. Instead of changing their recipes, the company is changing their labels. The company, points out, however, that the US FDA does not give a clear definition for the term “natural” on food labels. CSPI agrees and says in a statement:

“The Food and Drug Administration could do consumers and food manufacturers a great service by actually defining when the word ‘natural’ can and cannot be used to characterize a given ingredient.”

Recalled Infant Formula
Several infant formula brands have been recalled. Check out the list at the FDA site.

Fruit & Vegetable Matters
The fruit of the month for October is persimmon, the vegetable of the month are rhizomes which include galangal, ginger and turmeric. Check out this CDC’s special food site for tips on selection, preparation and storage of rhizomes.

Food-related Health Observances in October
A lot of food-related observances are also celebrated in October.

October is US National Celiac Disease Awareness Month
www.csaceliacs.org

October is US National Apple Month
www.usapple.org

October 11 to 15 is US National School Lunch Week
www.schoolnutrition.org/nslw

October 16 is World Food Day
www.worldfooddayusa.org