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Soda taxes sound like a sweet solution to this country’s obesity problem, but a new study shows states will have to charge a lot more than they currently do before the strategy impacts consumer waistlines.

Researchers combed through data from a 2004 national survey of 7,300 fifth graders, charting their growth in concurrence with soda taxes at the time. They found that the taxes had no effect on the children’s weight or their overall consumption of soda.

That’s tough news for the 30 states that currently have taxes in place, and who championed them as a key measure in the fight against obesity. According to the study, though, the 4% average cost they’re adding on isn’t nearly enough. To start curbing pounds, a tax would have to go all the way up to 18%, said lead author Randall Sturm.

“Small taxes will not prevent obesity,” he told the Associated Press

Soda and other sugary drinks are major contributors to obesity, but they’re not the only ones, and certainly not so grievous as to warrant an 18% levy. That’s skewing our priorities, if you ask me, and you’d get no cooperation from the industry whatsoever. Everyone would just see it as “The War Against Soda”, and lose the context of the larger issue at hand. MORE…

There have been culinary horror stories about ships plying the Mediterranean, stopping at ports in Spain, Italy and Turkey, and filling their vast holds with olive and other oils that are then indiscriminately mixed, yet sold as pure in U.S. food stores. Unscrupulous producers bottle inferior grades of oil and slap on a premium label. Sometimes the product is cut with inferior oils like sunflower or hazelnut, though it’s still marketed as “100% pure olive.”

American consumers love olive oil, but they’re in dire need of some education — and some reassurance that the oil they’re purchasing is authentic. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed new standards, but has yet to finalize grading and issue new regulations. As a result, we keep using the four grades of olive oil established by the agency in 1948.

The rules are based on four basic elements: acidity, absence of defects, odor and flavor. There’s nothing about purity or authenticity, and this is the loophole that’s been blatantly exploited by less reputable producers. When consumers see terms like “pure extra virgin” on a label, that actually means nothing in the eyes of the USDA, because that’s a definition used by the International Olive Council, located in Spain. The United States isn’t a member of the IOC, and so, such wording is not officially recognized stateside. MORE…

Whole Foods Market is taking another big step in its continuing Back to Basics (my term) campaign outlined by CEO John Mackey last year. The natural foods chain has rounded up a few dozen films about food and the food industry and is hosting more than 150 screenings around the country.

The films will be shown throughout April as part of a new challenge called “Let’s Retake Our Plates,” of which the screenings are the centerpiece.

In promoting the effort, Whole Foods uses language one normally doesn’t find in the lexicon of supermarket retailers, who are notorious for trying to offend no one and please everyone.

“What we put on our plates affects the world and its people every day. We cast a ballot with every bite,” the website for the campaign tells readers. “We vote with our food dollars for organic, for ethical trade, for planet-friendly, for whatever is important to us. The more we vote for better choices, the more change happens in the food industry and in the world.”

The films, most of which were made within the past 3 years (but include at least one doozy: Soylent Green, set in 1973 New York City and starring Charlton “People! Save the People!” Heston). They’re being shown in public spaces, libraries and, in some cases, Whole Foods stores. Do they sell microwave popcorn there? MORE…

Trader Joe’s is a retailer that likes to do things its own way, and has enjoyed immense success because of it. From the Hawaiian shirts to the one-of-a-kind private label selection, to the plucky marketing language it employs in stores and online — there’s no mistaking the company for its competition.

A couple years ago, however, Trader Joe’s showed that it also had a stubborn side. Under pressure from the Humane Society, and despite the fact that most major retailers had made the decision already, the company refused to source cage-free eggs under its private label umbrella. It eventually relented in 2005, but has remained something of a holdout on another key issue: seafood. A recent Greenpeace scorecard ranked Trader Joe’s 17th out of 20 mainstream retailers on its sustainable seafood offerings.

Thankfully, Trader Joe’s decided not to hold out for very long. Last week on its website, the company announced that all of its seafood would come from sustainable sources by the end of 2012. It’s currently working with a third-party organizations to set goals and standards for the effort, and plans to soon include more information on seafood packaging, including species background and catch or production method.

It’s also clear — now that it’s committed — that Trader Joe’s aims to be an agent for change on the issue.

“We aim to use our purchasing power to leverage change within the seafood supply community,” the company wrote on its website. MORE…

I recall the day in August 2005 when I walked into one of the newest Ukrop’s stores in suburban Richmond, Va. and found there were entrances to both a gym and doctor’s offices right inside the store.

That’s one of the reasons I was eager to tour this particular unit with CEO Bobby Ukrop and his health and wellness team. I’d heard they had put aside some of the real estate in the store for health and wellness-related enterprises, and it was a key reason why Supermarket News named Ukrop’s that year’s winner of its Whole Health Enterprise Award. A gym in a supermarket? That required a good bit of ingenuity and foresight, indeed.

“We’re local to Virginia,” Ukrop told me as we walked the aisles. “We’re neighbors, so we’re trying to operate a business that’s helping people.”

All of Ukrop’s stores where clustered around Richmond. retailer operated a bakery and fresh meals commissary that were renowned for their output. More important, they placed tremendous importance on making wellness information and resources available to customers. In the deli/meals section, there were signs pointing out gluten-free or heart-healthy or low-fat foods; in the pharmacy there were private wellness center consultation rooms where customers could get advice on diabetes management, healthful dieting or prescription medications. Every year, Richmond’s tree-lined Monument Avenue was closed as thousands ran in the retailer’s 10K race.

The produce department was known for locally sourced products long before such foods came into vogue again. There were sweet-tangy Hanover tomatoes, Virginia melons and local orchard peaches that made Ukrop’s a destination. MORE…

Ever since the launch of LocalHarvest back in 1998, the local food movement has positively blossomed online. The success of that site, which connects consumers with growers in their area, helped spawn others like it as well as buy-direct online farmer markets like Foodzie and Goodapples.org.

And now, the trend has taken a turn towards retailers and restaurateurs, who have worked hard over the past couple years to source locally. FoodHub, which launched in January, is an online forum connecting growers and food buyers throughout the northwest. It’s like a craigslist for the local food world — members pay a $100 annual fee, which sets up a profile and grants access to forums where growers and buyers link up.

Most useful, perhaps, is a search tool that helps buyers find exactly what they’re looking for. Type in “sweet potatoes”, “raspberries” or “rutabaga” to find the folks that grow them.

Or “pickles”, which one recent poster is currently craving.

We currently go through approximately 30 gallons of dill pickles and I would like to source out a local and more creative pickle to offer our customers at our 4 locations around Portland.

Pretty neat, huh? For supermarkets, a tool like this could be a real leg-up. Buyers want to source local, but they often don’t have the time or know-how to establish relationships with area growers. MORE…

Longer days and the additional hours of sunlight are enough to convince even the worst pessimist that spring is finally here! It’s been a tough winter where I work and live in the Northeast, so we’re ready for it. Time to open the windows and shake out the dust of winter. From the food side there are visions of Vidalia onions, truly fresh asparagus and rhubarb, soon to be followed by strawberries.

In many parts of the country, the thought of exchanging heavy, thick woolens for something a bit more shapely and revealing will remind your customers that it’s time to revisit health and wellness goals:

• Emphasize health goals, suggesting a plate should be made up of predominately fruits and vegetables (about half), with the other half split between higher protein foods (meat, fish, chicken, beans, soy) and grains (whole grains!).

• Make spring cleaning matter by putting a focus on green cleansers with earth-friendly ingredients.

• Use herbs and spices to heighten tastes of demo foods, and include some guidelines on the shelf life of these products. Part of renewal is checking out the expiration/best by dates on products in the pantry, on shelves and in the refrigerator.

• Include simple recipes for traditional spring foods, remembering that it may be necessary to demo them. It’s easy to pass on the rhubarb or the spring greens if you haven’t experienced their great taste. And for some, the memories are there but not the skill. Is it time for you to update your spring foods cooking classes?

• April 22 is Earth Day, another reason to tie in the supermarket’s role as a destination for natural and organic foods, as well as sustainable, earth- friendly products. Be sure they’re displayed in full force.

• Schools are embarking on the field trip trail. Plan to introduce visiting kids to spring in your supermarket (start with the seeds and plants in floral, then produce, spring foods, and then green and sustainable products).

Take the initiative. Between the urge to get outdoors again and the desire to clean out winter’s gloom, it’s a great time to promote the idea of spring renewal — outside and inside.

(Photo credit: Chris Bartnik Photography)

An audit of the National Organic Program that was just released includes some worrisome insights on the state of imports. The USDA’s Office of Inspector General found that the National Organic Program’s oversight of foreign certifying agents is in need of “significant” improvement.

The report, which includes 14 recommendations for the NOP to follow, looked at all aspects of the program, though primarily the focus was on administration and other internal controls. As they pertain to foreign growers, the OIG found that onsite reviews had not been performed at 5 of the 44 foreign accredited certifying agents; similarly, reviews at 24 of the 44 foreign agents were not performed until at least 2 years had passed, though these agents had been conditionally accredited.

The need for imported organic ingredients and foods is well documented. The explosive growth of the organic food industry here in the United States since the NOP was introduced in 2002 quickly sent companies desperate for organic inputs overseas. In its most recent industry overview, the Organic Trade Association found that a “lack of a dependable supply of organic materials continues to be an important issue for the industry. Forty-one percent of producers say that undependable supplies of organic raw materials limit their ability to generate sales.”

According to the OTA, manufacturers stated that organic grains were the most difficult to source, while organic sugar was cited by 11% of companies.

So, what countries cultivate the most organic land? Numbers compiled in the World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics & Emerging Trends found that Australia led with the most organic land (12.3 million hectares), followed by China (2.3 million hectares) and Argentina (2.2 million hectares). The United States came in fourth, with 1.6 million hectares in 2005, the latest year for which statistics were available. MORE…

It’s no secret that, when it comes to health and wellness retailing, women rule. Not only are they the ones buying most of the products — they’re also the impassioned voice driving many of the trends we see, from healthy kids’ options to better-for-you snacks and beyond.

So for retailers, it’s good to stay up on the latest consumer polls, like the one our parent company Penton, in concert with women’s lifestyle website iVillage.com, just released.

The results, which come from input submitted by close to 5,000 iVillage readers, aren’t surprising in a broad sense. But they do underscore the growing number of women saying they want to eat healthy, and then putting their ideals into action. Seventy-three percent of respondents, for example, say they read labels closely and are concerned about certain hot-button ingredients, like high-fructose corn syrup. And 50% say they look for specific health attributes like “low sodium” or “high in fiber” as opposed to general claims like “natural” and “organic”.

Here are a few other findings:

- 71% want to buy healthful products from mainstream grocers.

- 57% believe organic food is better for them.

- Only 26%, however, say they’ll go out of their way to purchase it.

- 39% say time is the biggest obstacle to healthful eating, followed by willpower and motivation.

The 71% figure should be especially encouraging to our readers. Indeed, that shows just how far supermarkets have come as wellness destinations — and how much further consumers want them to go.

Topco Associates’ pitch for the dormant Wild Oats brand name seems — at first blush — like an odd move. What would a company that already offers a pretty successful private-label natural/organic brand called Full Circle want with a retail name that hasn’t been seen on shelves for three years?

Or, more to the point: Why would Topco want it?

First, the background: The Wild Oats brand name has been for sale since Whole Foods Market acquired Wild Oats in 2007. A messy antitrust battle with federal regulators ensued, and ended only after Whole Foods agreed to sell off 32 Wild Oats units, along with the brand (to date, three stores have actually been sold).

Fast forward three years. According to papers filed with the Federal Trade Commission, Topco and Luberski Inc., a Fullerton, Calif.-based food-product supplier, are both bidding for the Wild Oats rights. A source familiar with Topco tells me that Topco has been interested in the name since the acquisition.

Why? The current thinking is that Topco will position the Wild Oats name as a “better-for-you” brand that complements the existing Full Circle natural/organic line, similar to what Safeway has done with its “O” Organics and Eating Right brands.

Adding a lesser-evil tier will allow retailers who pull from Topco to offer an additional line, with different price points and product attributes, to mainstream customers who might otherwise simply buy conventional products if given only a natural/organic option. MORE…