Specialty Food Magazine

MAY-JUN 2013

Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.

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SPECIALTY FOOD THE NEWS UPDATE FOR SPECIALTY FOOD PROFESSIONALS NEWS ® BY ROBYN PFORR RYAN A look at industry happenings, store and restaurant openings, legislative and regulatory updates and more FRENCH-STYLE MARKET COMING TO CHICAGO SUBURB A French market, opening in Vernon Hills, Ill., in early June, will feature local growers, regionally sourced cheeses, breads, imported olive oil from Italy and other foods and crafts. A traditional French market canopy system will be set in place with imported canopies from Paris and an aluminum framework reminiscent of an authentic European market. The market will run from June through October. Online Retailer Opens Seattle Showroom Specialty food purveyor MarxFoods.com has opened a retail showroom in Seattle. Founded in 2007 and previously online only, Marx Foods has supplied restaurants, private chefs, caterers and home cooks with exotic products like wild boar, kangaroo, huckleberries and rambutans. The Seattle showroom—equipped with iPads, QR codes and a self-service computer—features a curated selection of items, including local products and imported specialties. RESTAURANT'S CREATIVE USE OF DOUGHNUT DOUGH New Gourdough's Public House in Austin, Texas, is a brick-and-mortar extension of the owner's popular doughnut trailer. Doughnut dough serves as a "kind of a blank canvas" base for everything from burger buns to dumpling batter to the breading for fried mozzarella sticks. Dessert doughnuts have been revamped, with only one repeat from the trailer, the perennially popular bacon and maple doughnut, called the Flying Pig. New offerings include the Ring of Fire (chipotleinfused brownie batter with salted butter caramel sauce and candied pecans) and the Glory Daze (spiced apples, cheddar cheese and cream cheese icing). California Baker Debuts Gluten-Free Shop Flour Craft Bakery features an entirely gluten-free array of cookies, cupcakes, pies and muffins. The San Anselmo bakery's owner has developed a customer base over the past FSMA Traceability and Product Tracing...The FDA published the results of pilot projects about product tracing, which had been prepared for the agency by the Institute of Food Technologists in Chicago. The FDA will consider the IFT's recommendations as it decides how to implement section 204 of the Food Safety Modernization Act, which required the pilot projects study. The FSMA says that the pilot projects must "develop and demonstrate methods for rapid and effective tracking and tracing of foods in a manner that is practicable for facilities of varying sizes, including small businesses," among other goals. The IFT study used pilot projects to look at possible methods for rapid and effective tracking and tracing of food along the food chain, including types of data, ways to connect the various points in the supply chain, and how quickly data can be made available to the FDA. The study used spices and tomato products, among a few others, to test possibilities. An important IFT recommendation is that there be no exemptions from FSMA. The FDA will add some rule or guidance about product tracing to its list of FSMA implementation documents and will report to Congress its conclusions after it has considered the IFT recommendations and public comments. The Specialty Food Association will submit comments by the July deadline. & LEGISLATIVE REGULATORY NEWS FSMA Public Meetings...The FDA held public meetings in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Ill., and Portland, Ore., to hear reactions to its proposal about preventive controls for food safety. Specialty Food Association member Tom Knibbs of Urban Accents testified in Chicago, and member Elizabeth Fujas of Rising Sun Farms testified in Portland about the effect of the proposals on small food companies in terms of time and money and about the impracticality of trying to add all the proposed preventive controls to a facility within two or three years. "All Natural" Litigation...Consumers and public interest groups have challenged the use of the term "all natural" and "100% natural" on several popular, FDA-regulated foods. In a California case involving AriZona Iced Tea the plaintiffs failed in their effort to convince the court to rule in their favor based on the text of the law and without a trial. The court said that the plaintiffs had not presented evidence to support their claims. This is just the first stage in this lawsuit, which will continue, as will many others. Marsha Echols, Specialty Food Association's legal advisor in Washington, D.C., is available to counsel members. Reach her at 202.625.1451 or echols@marshaechols.com. 10 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE ❘ specialtyfood.com

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