Stonyfield Farms CEO Gary Hirshberg continually stresses the rationale for organic eating and frequently mentions that avoiding diseases caused by pesticides and other factors in the diet is a huge part of it. But it's a strong message that isn't digested easily by American consumers who aren't true believers in organic, so the brand must continually develop more palatable ways to spread the gospel of organic eating.

The brand's new "Be a Food Superhero" campaign attempts to make that message more fun. The Londonderry, N.H.-based leader of the U.S. organic-yogurt market — majority-owned by Groupe Danone — is pitching the light-hearted campaign on Facebook to draw folks to a microsite.

Once there, they can virtually assume the identity of a "superhero" and use that persona to explore baby steps that they can take to improve their diet and the sustainability of organic agriculture. Along the way, the brand will kick in a contribution by Stonyfield to FoodCorps, which builds "healhty school food environments in high-obesity, limited-resource communities," as Stonyfield put it in a statement.Continue reading...

As New York City enters a period of public comment on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed ban on large soft drinks, it seems that everyone already has had a lot to say about it. What's left?

There's the contingent who's backing the entire idea, including the city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley. He heads NYC's Board of Health, which voted unanimously on Tuesday to put Bloomberg's controversial (and lampooned on the current cover of The New Yorker) proposal to the public.

Other avowed fans of the proposed ban include ex-Coca-Cola marketing executive Todd Putman, who has gone on a mea culpa tour to oppose the soft-drink industry and expose his earlier 'dirty' work.

"How can we drive more ounces into more bodies more often" was how Putman described what he perceived as his mission as a Coke marketer.

Meanwhile, however, the proposed ban has fallen flat with New Yorkers in a new poll by Quinnipiac University. Slightly more than half — 51 percent — are against the idea, led by older voters, with 57 percent of those aged 50 to 64 raising their hands as opposed. Manhattan lodged the highest geographic support.Continue reading...

Remember the old aphorism about eating oatmeal because it "sticks to your ribs?" Quaker Oats now plans to find out whether that is at least metaphorically true — and, if so, whether there might be a new "satiety" benefit to eating its oatmeal products that could help promote the brand.

That's just one of the objectives of the new Quaker Oats Center of Excellence, a research nexus announced this week by the PepsiCo brand. The company is streamlining and accelerating research around other potential health and nutrition benefits of oats besides it well-documented, government-approved claim to help lower cholesterol levels and thus mitigate heart disease.

Also, Nestle announced that it has centralized its clinical-research efforts at a new unit in its headquarters city of Lausanne, Switzerland, with the aim of rationalizing the planning and management of clinical trials and fundamental research projects so that it's better positioned to gain health claims by the European Food Safety Authority. The new Nestle unit also is expected to help it expand its global reach and better adapt products to gloabl needs, a Nestle executive told NutraIngredients.com.

Both efforts are significant as mainstream CPG giants seek much bigger gains in the world of better-for-you products, just as they for so long have dominated markets for mainstream foods and beverages.Continue reading...

The last major food that promised to cut weight by inhibiting digestion of fat after ingesting it was potato chips that contained Olestra. And we know what happened with that.

Now, Japan's Kirin Holdings is selling a beverage called Kirin Mets Cola that claims to reduce fat absorption by the body if it's consumed with a meal. Launched in Japan in April in 480ml bottles, Mets Cola became the first cola to receive clearance under Japan's strict new food-regulatory regime, according to BeverageDaily.com.

While it has nothing to do with the New York Mets or baseball, it certainly has a pitch as a "fat busting health drink" for men. No surprise, the cola drink is a runaway hit in Japan.Continue reading...

Microsoft takes the stage at E3 to talk up Xbox.

Marvel starts production on Iron Man 3.

Vita Coco unveils new campaign with Rihanna (right).

Aon Hewitt finds positive shift in internal brand engagement.

Black & Decker coffee machines recalled following 1,300 complaints.

BlackBerry parent RIM shares drop below $10.

Celsius mobile phone with embedded Swiss timepiece retails for $312K.

Coca-Cola and McDonald's hit back at Mike Bloomberg's NYC big soda ban.

Corning expands on Gorilla Glass with thinner Willow Glass.

Facebook shares tumble to new low on Sanford Bernstein questions.

Ford crowdsources Focus ST commercial.

Google's Project Glass codename? Wingman.

Got Milk? and California Dairy Council partner for consumer education campaign.Continue reading...

As New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg responded to criticism of his proposed ban on sugary drinks bigger than 16 ounces with statements of support, the inevitable animated version from Apple Daily's NMA.tv was released today. Hear more, in Bloomberg's own words, at this week's AllThingsD D10 conference.Continue reading...

It didn't take long for New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has been on the warpath against obesity, to create buzz around his plans for a ban on banning the sale of sugary drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces at cinemas, restaurants and other "service" outlets in Gotham.

Hizzoner barely had time to tweet messages such as, "Obesity kills thousands of NYers a year & adds $4 billion a year in health care costs," and, "Public health officials across America talk about fighting obesity. In NYC, we DO something about it," before one of the biggest brand targets of his proposed move, Coca-Cola, lashed back at the Bloomberg-spurred Department of Health proposal.

"The people of New York are much smarter than the New York City Health Department believes," Coca-Cola's statement said. "We are transparent with our consumers. They can see exaclty how many calories are in every beverage we serve. New Yorkers expect and deserve better than this."Continue reading...

What's in a name? A lot, if you've got an inconvenient one and you want to change it. Would John Denver ever have become beloved, or even reviled, as Henry John Deuschendorf?

Thus you can understand the disappointment of the makers of high-fructose corn syrup this week after the U.S. Food & Drug Administration rejected a request by the corn-refining giants to allow them to change the name of their product to "corn sugar."

The agency said that it defines sugar as a solid, dried and crystallized food — not a syrup. Plus there's already something that technically is a solid corn-based sweetener, dextrose. Thus, the corn refiners are stuck with the moniker — better known by the acronym HFCS — that might as well appear as a skull and crossbones on nutritional labels, the way many American mothers see it.Continue reading...