Milling & Baking News - December 6, 2005 - (Page 1)

Theinewsweeklyiofigrain-basedifoods Petition seeking whole grains content guidance nixed by F.D.A. WASHINGTON - A petition seeking approval of definitions for "excellent source," "good source," and "made with" whole grains has been denied by the Food and Drug Administration. The petition, filed in May 2004 by General Mills, Inc., suggested that the definition of "excellent source" of whole grains should be 16 grams per labeled serving; "good source," 8-15 grams; and "made with," at least 8 grams. The denial was greeted by whole grains advocates with a mixture of exasperation and determination. Among others com- LATE menting on the decision, Peter Barton Hutt, a partner with the Washington law firm of Covington and Burling, said the F.D.A. action should not deter food companies from flagging on their food packaging the presence of whole grain ingredients (see related story on Page 39). A number of factors contributed to the F.D.A. decision to reject the petition, including concerns over the possibility certain products labeled as "made with whole grains" may not be good sources of dietary fiber and could confuse consumers. Also Continued on Page 39 N E W S F E AT U R E Fuel prices, hurricanes, large crops strain grain transportation system K ANSAS CITY - Record-high fuel prices along with seasonal and disaster-related shortages of trucks, barges and rail cars recently have significantly increased costs for bakers and flour millers and threatened the competitiveness of U.S. grain in foreign markets. While grain elevators and processors annually grapple with a shortage of rail cars during the fall harvest, the situation was worse this year because of shipping DECEMBER 6, 2005 bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com disruptions caused by hurricanes in the South and flooding in Kansas. The hurricanes also disrupted barge traffic on the Mississippi river, vessel loading at Gulf ports, and required the diversion of trucks for emergency use in the disaster areas. "Powerfully compounding those factors was the harvest of a corn crop 1 billion bus larger than had been anticipated during the summer," said a transportation Continued on Page 32 NEWS NEW YORK - Tim Hortons Inc., the Canadian restaurant unit of Wendy's International Inc., on Dec. 1 filed with regulators to sell $600 million of stock in an initial public offering set for March 2006. Details about the number of shares offered and the estimated price Continued on Page 8 Wendy's files for Tim Hortons I.P.O. With no F.D.A. allergen tolerance, ConAgra to change flour labels OMAHA - In the absence of guidance from the Food and Drug Administration on how to label grain-based ingredients that might contain unintended minute amounts of wheat or soy, both identified as major food allergens, ConAgra Food Ingredients last week informed customers that it would change the labels on its grain products effective Jan. 1, 2006, to comply to the letter with the Food Allergen, Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004. The ConAgra labels will feature a Continued on Page 10 PASTA industry perspective Signs of improvement in pasta industry Story on Page 26 inside THIS WEEK New ownership for AMF Bakery 14 Ingredient I.B.C. monthly loss widens and sales sag 16 Frontier Airlines to serve LaMar's 52 Week 39 http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milling & Baking News - December 6, 2005

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Milling & Baking News - December 6, 2005