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Widmer’s Cheese
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VOLUME 87 • NUMBER 3 MARCH 2022 • $7.00 • Global Consumer Trend Report Advises Businesses to Stay Agile to Survive PAGE 6
• Anyline Survey: Most U.S. Consumers Find Scan-and-Go Option Draws Them to Store PAGE 8
• Craft Meat Producer The Baconer Finds 2022 a Sizzling Year So Far PAGE 8
• Musician Macklemore Joins CLEAN Cause as Investor, First Creative Director PAGE 12
• SEG Expands Charity Giving with Eye on Diversity PAGE 14
• Featured Products PAGE 19
• Advertiser Index PAGE 22
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Great Grapes: Author Explains Foods to Boost Brain, Immune Health Grapes are a top food for immunity and brain health, according to “From Burnout to Balance: 60+ Healing Recipes & Simple Strategies to Boost Mood, Immunity, Focus & Sleep,” a new book soon to be released by dietitian and author Patricia Bannan. “Grapes are my go-to ingredient for color, hydration, and nutrition,” said author Patricia Bannan, MS, RDN. “As a snack or
recipe ingredient, grapes are an easy, healthy choice for wellness. Studies show that grapes are linked to benefits in multiple areas of health, including support for brain and immune health.” Bannan’s book lists top foods in several categories, among them brain and immune health, with grapes on the list for both. In addition to the recipes, “Grapes are another fruit packed
BY A.J. FLICK
Montebello, Napa Valley Naturals, Vermont Village, Village Candle, Urban Accents, Vermont Coffee Company, Michel Design Works and a co-branded line with Legal Sea Foods. If that weren’t enough, Stonewall Kitchen’s portfolio includes home and kitchen products from appliances to candles to cookware and giftware and gift baskets. But it began with jams using
Quality Products – That’s Stonewall Kitchen’s Jam
Three decades ago, after tasting success with their homemade jams given to friends, Jim Stott and Jonathan King created a fledgling business, selling preserves at farmers markets in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and anywhere else they could tote their jarred delights. Now, the men sit atop a company that embraces not only its own specialty food products, but brands including Tillen Farms,
with polyphenols, such as resveratrol, which has been widely studied for its health benefits, including immune function, cancer prevention, and cognition,” Bannan writes in the book (See excerpts inside.). “In a preliminary study conducted at UCLA, researchers found that grapes may support brain health by preserving healthy metabolic activity in areas of the brain where decline is associated with early-stage Alzheimer’s." UCLA researchers found that consuming about 2¼ cups daily preserved healthy metabolic
Americans Grilling More Than Ever BY A.J. FLICK
Stott’s 90-year-old grandmother Pearl’s blueberry pie filling recipe. “It really started as a hobby, shared with friends,” said
Grilling has never gone away and nobody expects it to. What no one saw coming was a global pandemic that will help boost the barbecue grill market up to $1.56 billion in 2025 at a compound annual growth rate exceeding 5 percent, according to Technavio. “One thing that affected the grilling pattern was the number of people around the grill,” said Patrick Ford, vice president of Ford’s Gourmet, maker of Bone Suckin’ Sauces. “In the beginning of the pandemic, there were family sizes, but then they became a neighborhood get-together. “It was slow for us as far as commercial sales, but individual sales started to grow as restaurants shut down and we saw a big shift toward consumers.” The pandemic led consumers to spend nearly $5 billion on grills, smokers, camping stoves, accessories and fuel in 2020, according to a report from The NPD Group. The rising trend of cookouts on weekends and holidays, increasing number of middle class population and rise in trekking and camping activities will offer immense growth opportunities. However, NPD cautioned, less
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FDA Sets French Dressing Free From Outdated Regulations When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began to consider relaxing regulations for the making of French dressing, it sparked a bit of confusion. A few people asked if cancel culture were to blame because of “French” in the name. Someone else wondered if public health concerns prompted the move. No, the FDA was just acting on a request from the Association of Dressings and Sauces to free French dressing manufacturers from outdated standards. “When the standard of identity was established in 1950,” the FDA said in its ruling, which was
issued in January, “French dressing was one of three types of dressings we identified. We generally characterized the dressings as containing a fat ingredient, an acidifying ingredient and seasoning ingredients." While French dressing’s standards allowed for flexibility, tomatoes or tomato-derived ingredients were allowed, but not required. Subsequent amendments allowed for ingredients such as safe color additives to give it the expected rosy hue. “Most, if not all, products currently sold under the name ‘French dressing’ contain toma-
toes or tomato-derived ingredients and have a characteristic red or reddish-orange color,” the FDA ruling states. “They also tend to have a sweet taste. Consumers appear to expect these characteristics when purchasing products represented as French dressing.” The FDA also noted that decades after the original dressing standards were created, manufacturers sell French dressing that has less than the minimum amount of vegetable oil (35 percent by weight) contained in the standard of identity. “We were unaware of any evidence that consumers are de-
ceived or misled by the reduction in vegetable oil when these varieties are sold under names including terms such as ‘fat free’ or ‘low-fat.’ By contrast, these varieties appear to accommodate consumer preferences and dietary restrictions,” according to the ruling. Keeping the standard of identity would not be honest or fair to consumers, the FDA ruling states. Other provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act protect consumers from adulteration and misbranding of Continued on PAGE 18