Milling & Baking News - May 31, 2011 - 1

THE NEWS WEEKLY OF GRAIN-BASED FOODS MAY 31, 2011

bakingbusiness.com / foodbusinessnews.net

INGREDIENTS UPDATE

Grain-based foods groups highly critical of proposed ad guidelines
WASHINGTON — Recently proposed guidelines for the marketing of food to children drew poor reviews in presentations last week by representatives of two leading grain-based foods groups. Mary Waters, president of the North American Millers’ Association, said she was “very concerned” about the proposal. Urging the withdrawal of the proposal was Lee Sanders, senior vice-president of government relations and public affairs for the American Bakers Association. Ms. Waters and Ms. Sanders spoke May 24 at the Interagency Working Group’s “Food Marketed to Children” public forum in Washington. The I.W.G. in late April released a list of foods that children should be encouraged to eat because they “make a meaningful contribution to a healthy diet and contain limited amounts of ingredients that could adversely affect health or weight.” Excluded were foods with nutrients viewed as being unhealthful or contributing to obesity. The omissions of enriched grains was the focus of Ms. Waters comments, while Ms. Sanders noted that many, if not most, whole grains products also would not meet the new standards. In making the case for enriched grains inclusion on the list, Ms. Waters pointed
Continued on Page 20

Gluten-free ingredients remain in demand
Story on Page 32

LATE NEWS

F.D.A. seeks views on food safety proposals
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is seeking comments about a range of proposed steps for food companies to evaluate food safety hazards at manufacturing plants. The rules have been created as part of the F.D.A. Food Safety Modernization Act, signed into law in January. Under the law, preventive control plans must be created with information about evaluating hazards that could affect food safety and specifying preventive step to minimize or prevent the hazards. “The preventive control plans must also specify how the facility will monitor these controls to ensure they are working, how it will maintain
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Floods, tornadoes devastating to regional agriculture
KANSAS CITY — This spring’s severe weather, ranging from massive floods to deadly tornadoes across a wide area, has wreaked havoc on regional farming but most often left mills and food processing facilities with only minor damage. Floods along the Mississippi river and its tributaries have covered an estimated 3.6 million acres of farmland, including 1 million acres in Arkansas, 650,000 acres in Tennessee, 600,000 acres in Mississippi, 570,000 acres in Missouri and 500,000 in Illinois, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. The total includes 40% of the nation’s rice crop. “There is no doubt about it, the effect of the flooding on farmers and ranchers is being felt deeply across the south,” said Bob Young, A.F.B.F. chief economist. “One is reminded of the ’93 or ’95 floods in terms of scale of affected area.” Traffic was impeded on the Mississippi river and speeds were restricted due to high water, but several barge accidents still resulted in temporary river closings. Loading and unloading of ocean-going vessels was delayed at Gulf ports. The Mississippi crested at 48 feet on May 11 in Memphis, Tenn., 14 feet above flood stage and within 4 feet of the floor of the Lallemand/American Yeast plant
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Milling & Baking News - May 31, 2011

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