News on Food Trends

The Food Channel has released our 2011 Trends Forecast – the Top Ten Trends we see for the coming year, and the top ten foods to watch.

If you thought 2010 was a year of challenges, hang on to your hat.

By a vote of 215 to 144 today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Food Safety Modernization Act, enacting large-scale changes to the nation’s food safety system.

A special ceremony, held on December 6 celebrated the signing of a renewed agreement between the International Potato Center and the Pisaq Potato Park’s Association of Communities - represented by the Association ANDES.

Extreme weather patterns wreaking havoc on many parts of the world could put the global farmer on the endangered species list, says an international agricultural expert.

In the latest Euro-Potato report of November 30: NEPG estimates of EU 5 production, area and yield

Potato prices jumped sharply last week, as cold weather continued to disrupt movement between farms, packers and retailers.

Food processing is an ever-changing environment. To be as efficient and effective as possible, individual processes must be regularly audited and analyzed, with outcomes measured and costs considered.

Chris Voigt is the executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission, which supports and promotes the Washington state potato industry (1). On October 1st, Mr. Voigt began a two month, potato-only diet to raise awareness about the health properties of potatoes.

Canada's foodservice industry is growing in terms of both unit counts and menu offerings. After a 1.2 percent decline in 2009, estimates indicate that Canadian foodservice has achieved a higher growth rate in 2010 than its U.S. counterpart.

Technomic, the leading North American foodservice research and consulting firm, examines the future for Canadian restaurants

A mother of two says that McDonald’s uses toys as bait to induce her kids to clamor to go to McDonald’s and to develop a preference for nutritionally poor Happy Meals. With the help of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, today the mom, Monet Parham, is filing a class action lawsuit aimed at stopping McDonald’s use of toys to market directly to young children.

McDonald's Corp. is planning its biggest ever expansion in China as it faces mounting challenges from competitors and higher food costs amid rising inflation.

Union Pacific says the dehydrated potato flakes it was hauling caused a costly derailment at its biggest railyard because Idahoan Foods did not properly clean the wheels of its freight cars.

During the last couple of years the market has been dominated by the immediate effects of the recession and as we move into 2011 the potential ‘double-dip’ risk still looms large.