"Healthier" Chocolate Products Show Success in US Market

"Healthier" chocolate products with lower fat and calories are increasing in demand while other segments are declining. Nestle USA stated the lower-calorie chocolate line it launched in 2011 was one of its snack division's best-ever debuts, and in 2012 Hershey brought out Simple Pleasures, a brand with almost a third less fat than average milk chocolates. Barry Callebaut claims products with health benefits now make up 5 percent of its sales. Although demand in the North American cocoa market slowed throughout much of 2012, the processing of cacao beans rose nearly 6 percent in North America in the first quarter of 2013, reports Reuters

Sharks worth more for tourism than in soup: study

Sharks swimming free in the oceans may soon become more valuable as tourist attractions than when caught, sliced up and served in soup, a global study showed on Friday.

It urged better protection for the fish, from Australia to the Caribbean, to reduce catches of an estimated 38 million a year to meet demand for shark fin soup, mainly in China.

"We are hoping that people will recognize that sharks are not only valuable on the plate," lead author Andres Cisneros-Montemayor of the University of British Columbia in Canada said.

Shark-watching tourism generates about $314 million a year and is projected to surge to $780 million in the next 20 years, according to the study in the journal Oryx - The International Journal of Conservation.

By contrast, the landed value of world shark fisheries is now $630 million a year and has been declining, according to the experts in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

In recent years Palau, the Maldives, Honduras, Tokelau, The Bahamas, the Marshall Islands, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia and New Caledonia have created sanctuaries by banning commercial shark fishing.

"Many countries have a significant financial incentive to conserve sharks and the places where they live," said Jill Hepp, director of global shark conservation at the Pew Charitable Trusts which took part in the study. Pew urged more sanctuaries.

The study is one of many about how to aid world fisheries, hit by pollution and over-fishing. Tourism draws almost 600,000 people annually to watch sharks from hammerheads to great whites, supporting 10,000 jobs in 29 countries, it said.

One problem is the separate sources of demand - Asian lovers of shark fin soup are unlikely to abandon the dish in favor of tourism, which has so far been mainly for Westerners.

Fishermen need to see a higher value from organizing tourism - such as running boat trips to view sharks or renting scuba gear - than from killing them for fins, said Carl Gustaf Lundin, director of the global marine program at the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which was not involved in the study.

Simple vinegar test 'cuts cervical cancer deaths by a third'

A simple vinegar test cut cervical cancer rates among Indian women by nearly a third and could prevent 73,000 deaths worldwide each year, the authors of a large-scale study have said.

Wealthy countries have managed to reduce such fatalities by 80 per cent thanks to the widespread use of regular Pap smears that can detect the disease at an early, treatable stage.

But it remains the leading cause of cancer death among women in India and many other developing countries lacking the money, doctors, nurses or laboratories for widespread screening.

The inexpensive vinegar test, which has a comparable accuracy to Pap smears, offers a solution to that problem.

A primary health care worker swabs the woman's cervix with vinegar, which causes pre-cancerous tumors to turn white. The results are known a minute later when a bright light is used to visually inspect the cervix.

Aside from the cost savings, the instantaneous results are a major advantage for women in rural areas who might otherwise have to travel for hours to see a doctor.

The test could also be useful in the United States, where 40 per cent of women do not get treatment following an abnormal Pap smear, said Electra Paskett, a gynecological cancer expert at Ohio State University.

"We have a problem with follow-up," she said.

"The thing in their program that was really wonderful is they assured follow-up - their completion rate was phenomenal."

The randomized study of 150,000 women living in Mumbai slums found that the vinegar test was able to reduce cervical cancer deaths by 31 per cent through early detection and treatment.

The 15-year study also found that the vinegar test sidesteps a common problem of overdiagnosis. The incidence of cervical cancer was essentially the same among the women who were screened every other year and those who were simply taught how to watch for warning signs.

"We hope our results will have a profound effect in reducing the burden of cervical cancer in India and around the world," said lead study author Surendra Srinivas Shastri, a professor of preventive oncology at Mumbai's Tata Memorial Hospital.

"This is the first trial to identify a cervical cancer screening strategy that reduces mortality and is feasible to implement on a broad scale throughout India and in other developing countries."

 

Gluten-Free Products Market worth $6,206.2 Million by 2018

This new report defines and segments the global gluten-free product market with analysis and forecasting of the global revenue and volume for gluten-free products. It also identifies the driving and restraining factors for the global gluten-free product market with an analysis of trends, opportunities, burning issues, winning imperatives, and challenges. The market is segmented and revenue is forecasted on the basis of major regions such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World (ROW).

Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disorder triggered by the consumption of gluten that leads to extensive damage in the small intestine of genetically susceptible people. There is no medication available except a gluten-free diet for this disorder. The increasing number of celiac patients, gluten intolerants and health conscious people has increased the demand for gluten-free products. The gluten-free products market is experiencing a double-digit growth.

The most important factor behind buying more gluten-free food products is that they are considered healthier than conventional products. Other important factors are growing retail presence and continual improvements in new gluten-free products development. One of the major restraints of the gluten-free products market is a lack of awareness. Many consumers do not know the difference between an allergy and intolerance. Furthermore, many consumers are either misdiagnosed or undiagnosed entirely for the coeliac disease.

The global gluten-free product market is projected to reach a value of $6,206.2 million, growing at a CAGR of 10.2% by 2018. Gluten-free bakery and confectionery products accounted for the largest volume share of about 46%, followed by gluten-free snacks that contributed about 20% in the gluten-free product market. North America contributed to about 59% share in the global gluten-free product market. Highest consumption of gluten-free product in the global market was through conventional sales channels. Chain stores have become a preferred retail channel for gluten-free products, and there has been growth in the sales and assortment carried by the supermarkets and mass merchandisers.

The demand for new products and a variety of gluten-free products is increasing in the market. The existing companies are actively introducing new products with different ingredients and flavors, thereby understanding the needs of their consumers. Developments in the global gluten-free products market have been growing globally, but it has been growing at a higher pace in North America and Europe. Companies such as The Hain celestial Inc. (U.S.), General Mills Inc. (U.S.), Dr. Schar (Italy), Amys Kitchen Inc. (U.S.), and Boulders Brand Inc. (U.S), are involved in market dynamics.