Tightening legislation around nutritional claims has set back product activity in the digestive health segment, but despite these difficulties, digestive health claims continue to grow. In 2014, more than 3.2% of products launched carried digestive health claims, up from 2.7% in 2009. [ + ]

German company U-Boot Getränke has launched a new mixed drink, thanks to an innovative packaging concept from Greiner Packaging. [ + ]

As recently as five years ago, meat snacks were viewed as an unhealthy, male-oriented legacy category. Now, sales of meat snacks are booming, with growth of 20% annually for many countries between 2012 and 2014.

$11 million in grants is up for grabs for small exporters - but applications close soon. The government's Package to Assist Small Exporters provides funds to small exporters of dairy, meat, eggs, fish, horticulture and grain products to help them grow their industry. [ + ]

Recent research suggests that as many as two in five British consumers want to improve their bone health, presenting brands with an opportunity to help prevent or manage this growing health concern.

Creative Gourmet and Nanna's brand frozen berries will now be sourced from new farms and factories and will be subject to stricter microbiological testing than before, Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash said in a statement. [ + ]

After extensive testing, no trace of Hepatitis A or E. coli has been found in samples of recalled and non-recalled Nanna's Mixed Berries, Patties Foods has revealed. The company says this result confirms that there was no system failure of its quality assurance programs. [ + ]

If you were asked what Australia's largest horticultural export is, would you think of nuts? [ + ]

While mass bio-attacks on our water or food supplies may seem to belong in the realm of science fiction, there exists a very real threat to global food manufacturers from deliberate attacks and food fraud either through substitution or adulteration.

Imagine if food packaging could warn consumers if the product inside was contaminated with pathogens like E. coli and Salmonella. This concept could soon be a reality, after researchers at McMaster University developed a new way to print paper biosensors.

Bio-based barrier film business Plantic Technologies has been acquired by Japanese company Kuraray. [ + ]

Avery Dennison has filed a lawsuit in Germany against UPM Raflatac, asserting that Raflex MDO infringes Avery Dennison's patent on its Global MDO pressure-sensitive film product. [ + ]

Exponential growth in affluence of the middle classes in Asia, regional population growth and new trade agreements with China, Japan and Korea offer Australia's agribusiness sector the potential to increase its agricultural and food-based exports by more than 45% over the next few years. [ + ]

Physicists have discovered a breakthrough new material that could revolutionise the cooling industry, including food refrigeration and air conditioning. LSU physicists have discovered a magnetocaloric material that could change how we create cool temperatures. [ + ]

The Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST) Convention will be held in 2015 in conjunction with the 15th Australian Microbiology Conference. [ + ]