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.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/55305
This month we look at "super" broccoli, QR codes, food fat taxes, bubble-gum–flavored strawberries and more. food trends BY DENISE SHOUKAS Strawberry Breeders Branch Out S trawberries are the stars of the show in Queensland, Australia's Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI), where a team is focusing on creating different breeds of the favorite fruit. What kinds of breeds? Principal hor- ticulturalist Mark Herrington gave an example of what could be created in the future using natural breeding techniques: the bubble-gum–flavored strawberry. Though such a concoction is years away, in the meantime, the research station boasts the success of its Rubygem strawberry, which is being grown and sold in Turkey, where it's popular for its flavor and glossy red color. The scientists sold the intellectual property to Turkey, which means Turkey grows and sells the strawberries, with royalties returned to Australia. Turkey is currently exporting the berries to Moscow and Eastern Europe. I Broccoli Gets a Boost A s if the vitamin-packed vegetable wasn't already a powerhouse, super broccoli has arrived. A team of British scientists has developed a new breed of broccoli that contains three times more glucoraphanin, a beneficial chemical believed to lower rates of heart disease and some forms of cancer, than conventional broccoli. "Super" broccoli was developed at two of the U.K.'s world-leading biological research institutes, the Institute of Food Research and the John Innes Centre, by scientists who used traditional plant-breeding methods to cross-pollinate a conventional British broccoli with a wild Sicilian variety. It's now available in the U.S. under the brand name Beneforte, and boasts a sweeter flavor as it contains less sulfur. Calcium-Rich Foods That are Free of Dairy R esearchers in India have discovered innovative ways to up the calcium in foods without adding dairy. In an attempt to benefit calcium-deficient children, scientists at the University of Pune and Hirabai Cowasju Jehangir Medical Research Institute have boosted such foods as pancakes, biscuits, breads and dips with the essential element by adding concentrated amounts of pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and cauliflower leaves. The manufacturing process itself helps as well: methods including malting and fermentation increase calcium absorption from these foods. The SPF of Chocolate n addition to its taste and antioxidant properties, there may be a new unexpected benefit for chocolate to tout. Scientists at Laval University's Institute of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods in Quebec are studying whether eating dark chocolate helps protect against sunburn. Currently, they're recruiting fair-skinned female volunteers to eat three squares of chocolate every day for 12 weeks. (By only including females, they can control the variability between men's and women's hormones.) Participants will then be exposed to ultraviolet light in a lab, and their skin will be checked for sun damage. A control group will be given a placebo, allowing the scientists to compare the degree of UV damage. Scientists were spurred on by research including a study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology in 2010 that showed that chocolate high in the antioxidant flavanol (i.e., those with high percentages of cacao), reached the upper layers of skin and coun- teracted the free radicals generated from exposure to UV radiation, mak- ing it a good secondary form of sunscreen. Green and white tea also contain epicatechin and catechin, the flavanols responsible for added sun protection. MORE TRENDS: ARTISAN CHEESES DEMANDING ATTENTION, P. 40 20 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE ❘ specialtyfood.com