Milling & Baking News - March 6, 2012 - 40

Washington 

F.D.A. looking to conduct study on whole grain labeling
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration has submitted a collection of information to the Office for Management and Budget Review regarding a potential study on consumer responses to whole grain labeling statements on food packages. In a Feb. 27 filing in the Federal Register, the F.D.A. said it is important for policy makers to gain a better understanding of how consumers interpret whole grain statements, adding that the majority of existing studies focus on whole grain intake or the relationship between whole grain and disease prevention. The F.D.A. said it plans to conduct a survey of 2,700 individuals, with each completing a 15-minute questionnaire. The study would examine five key issues: • Consumer judgments about a food product, including its nutritional attributes, overall healthiness, and health benefits; • Consumer judgments about a labeling statement in terms of its credibility, helpfulness, and other attributes; • Consumer interpretations of different terms and statements, such as “Made with Whole Grain,” “Multigrain” and “100% Whole Wheat”; • Consumer extrapolation of whole grain statements beyond the scope of the statements themselves (i.e., halo effects); and • How whole grain statements influence consumer use of the Nutrition Facts. The study randomly would assign each participant to view one label image from a set of food labels that would be varied in the labeling statement, featured product, access to the Nutrition Facts Panel, and nutritional profile, the F.D.A. said. MBN

Letter to the Editor 

Water at heart of broad range of productivity, sustainability issues in agriculture
Feb. 29, 2012 To the Editor, I just wanted to take a moment of your time to say how much I enjoyed your editorial on water. Your focus on irrigation as it applies to current and future applications was excellent. I have often said that a focus only on increasing yields to meet the growing demand for food could well wind up a “zero sum game” at the end of the day. Instead, the focus should be on determining just how much water we have to work with (withdrawal/recharge balance) and then apply the “more crop per drop” approach, but not a drop more than we can re-charge. As you would know, and as an example, during the period of 1987-2007 we saw unprecedented productivity efficiency increases in U.S. agriculture land use (yields), soil loss, irrigation, energy an greenhouse gas emissions. However, the key word is “efficiency.” Where we are doing a wonderful job of reducing our resource to output ratios, we are still seeing increase in water, energy and greenhouse gases in absolute usage terms. Therefore, it is my view we must focus on getting the most out of what we have to work with as opposed to the short-sighted approach of simply getting the most out of our resources based on our current situation. If not, in time we will reach a day of reckoning. Whereas we can all do better in our mills, plants and processing activities, it is important to never forget that 70% of the fresh water available to us on this planet is used in agriculture. We have an obligation to help our growers face these serious challenges with education, tools and the full support of the entire supply chain all the way to the consumer. Thank you for a great read. Best Regards, Fred Luckey Mr. Luckey serves as chairman for Field to Market — The Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture. Mr. Luckey assumed his current position after his retirement following a 30-year career with Bunge North America. There he was executive vice-president with Bunge’s food business. Earlier in his career he was general manager of Bunge Milling and was an active member of the North American Millers’ Association. Established five years ago, Field to Market is a broad alliance of agriculture, food, conservation, food processing, retail and government organizations focused on enhancing productivity, promoting agricultural sustainability and improving human health as well as economic and social welfare. MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

Since 1929, Knappen Milling Company has been producing soft wheat products that have been exceeding customers’ expectations. Throughout the years we have expanded our milling capabilities and product mix to meet our expanding customer needs. Today we mill soft white and red wheat ﬂour and clean soft white, red, and hard red wheats. Let us put our expertise to work for you. Get exactly what you are looking for in a miller.

KNAPPEN MILLING COMPANY 110 S. Water Street | Augusta, MI 49012 269-731-4141 or 1-800-KNAPPEN | Fax: 269-731-5441 www.knappen.com

40 / March 6, 2012 Milling & Baking News

http://www.knappen.com http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - March 6, 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milling & Baking News - March 6, 2012