Food Business News - February 12, 2013 - 11

New Mexico legislature blocks
bioengineering labeling bill
SANTA FE, N.M. — Legislation introduced
in early January by New Mexico state senator Peter Wirth that would have required
the labeling of bioengineered foods sold in
the state was rejected by the state legislature due to a procedural issue. Mr. Wirth
said he will not reintroduce the bill during
this session of the state’s legislature.
According to the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, a procedural mistake
meant that after the senate voted to reject
a report on the bill from the Senate Public
Affairs Committee on Jan. 30, the senate
should have considered the bill “deemed
lost” instead of ordering the bill to another
committee, under senate rules.
“Instead of allowing the committee
process to run its course, this procedural
rule was invoked to stop the debate in its
tracks,” Mr. Wirth told the newspaper.
The procedural rejection comes after the New Mexico Legislative Finance
Committee released a report on Jan. 22
highlighting the impact the legislation
may have had on the state’s economy if
it was passed.
In the report the New Mexico Environment Department said, the “mandatory

labeling of G.M.F.s (genetically modified
foods) has been proposed throughout
the United States., but has never been enacted at the national, state, or local level.
Every food manufacturer in the world
who sells/distributes food in New Mexico
would have to modify current labeling for
food items shipped to New Mexico.
“S.B. (senate bill) 18 states, ‘a genetically
modified food product that is offered for
sale in the state shall be labeled to indicate
that the product contains genetically modified material.’ This would imply food offered
for sale through restaurants that has genetically modified material in its ingredients
would also need to be labeled a genetically
modified food. The fiscal impact on the restaurant industry would be significant.”
The N.M.E.D. added that the costs
associated with the labeling of bioengineered foods would put New Mexico
food processors at a disadvantage when
they tried to sell their products outside
of the state. The group also noted that
the legislation may cause confusion for
consumers, because the proposed labeling did not address the health or safety
aspects of a product. FBN

Kraft Foods ﬁlls newly-created
marketing post
NORTHFIELD, ILL. — Deanie Elsner
has been named to the newly-created
position of chief marketing officer at
Kraft Foods Group, Inc.
Ms. Elsner was most recently
president of Kraft’s beverage business and previously managed Kraft
Foods Inc.’s European coffee business. She has been with Kraft
since 1992 and was previously with
Procter & Gamble and Johnson &
Johnson.
“Kraft is focusing its resources
and energies on
leveraging our
brands, people and
innovation to drive
growth,” said Tony
Vernon, chief executive officer. “Establishing the chief Elsner
marketing officer
position will enable us to harness the
power of these tremendous assets.
Deanie is uniquely qualified to pioneer
this role given her success in building some of the world’s most iconic
brands throughout her 20-year career
at Kraft.” FBN

Pork prices may be volatile in 2013

NEW YORK — There has been discussion related to how the drought and
its impact on feed prices may impact
animal protein processors. The Food
& Agribusiness Research and Advisory
group at Rabobank anticipates some
weakness in pork prices in the first and
second quarters of 2013 due to pressures on production and limited growth
in global consumption levels.
The Rabobank group highlighted three

February 12, 2013

“swing factors” it said will impact pork
prices during the year, including declines
in European hog production due to new
housing regulations; how much pork China imports during the year; and whether
U.S. production will continue to expand
despite a spike in feed costs.
Higher prices for pork are expected and
necessary for 2013, as the drought in the
United States and Black Sea region last
year has led to low inventories of feed
crops, and adverse weather in pork-producing countries continues to limit production expansion, according to the Research and Advisory Group. There is now
no margin for error for world crop production, with pork production and pork
pricing in the second half of 2013 highly
dependent upon crop growing conditions.
There is also uncertainty regarding the
pace and magnitude of European Union
enforcement of the ban on sow crates.
The pace of pork demand growth is the
primary unknown for industry margins in
2013, and is dependent upon economic

growth in the developing world, according to Rabobank.
“Despite the higher feed input costs, the
U.S. swine breeding herd has modestly expanded and large scale farming continues
to develop at a rapid pace in China, Russia
and Brazil,” said David Nelson, an analyst
with Rabobank. “There seems to be limited opportunity for a significant increase in
pork prices, given this expansion. Chinese
hog supplies appear to be sufficient, but
recovery in the Chinese economy could
stimulate demand growth.”
Strong Chinese demand ahead of
the Chinese New Year in February supported global pork prices early in 2013.
However, the bank’s analysts said, price
movements in China will be a key indicator for the year as the market moves into
the second quarter. Rabobank forecast
global pork prices may come under slight
pressure because production growth in
China, the United States, Brazil and Russia is expected to be higher than global
consumption growth. FBN

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Food Business News - February 12, 2013

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