Commodity Online
India's largest food store was opened at Malleshwaram in Bangalore by SPAR, the world's largest independent retail chain under a license agreement with Max Hypermarkets India Pvt Ltd. Spread over 90,000 sq ft on a single floor plate, the mart is loacated at Mantri Square Mall at one of the oldest residential localities in the garden city. The mall has capacity to park 2000 cars in basement.
SPAR brings a truly international shopping experience at Indian prices to customers. The aesthetics of this hypermarket are truly phenomenal. The systematically arranged sections at SPAR promise the customer an easy and hassle-free shopping experience. Be it the bakery, grocery, fruits & vegetables, dairy products, easy-to-cook products, meat, poultry & fish, wines, beer and spirits, home textiles, personal care, kitchenware, crockery, electronic products and IT and accessories or children's products, SPAR provides the widest range of quality and value-for-money products in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Viney Singh, Managing Director, Max Hypermarket India Pvt. Ltd, said "Through the introduction of such large format stores, we hope to take the shopping experience in India to a whole new level. At SPAR, customer satisfaction takes precedence over every other aspect. We would like to provide our customers with the best of services, coupled with value for their money, and make their weekly shopping an experience to look forward to." SPAR has presence in 35 countries.
Low Income and Obesity
Researchers at Kansas State University in Manhattan link higher risk of obesity in cities with fewer than 40,000 people to the availability of food stores -- rather than the lack of them. Women who resided in these cities had an 18 percent increase in obesity risk when living within a 1-mile radius of a supermarket. The presence of small grocery and convenience stores also was associated with an increased risk of obesity.
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Rural low-income women had 74 percent fewer supermarkets and 55 percent fewer small grocery stores available, but the number of convenience stores per 10,000 residents was highest in rural areas.The researchers say their study, published in Obesity, suggests policies that increase the accessibility of healthful foods at small grocery stores might be a promising strategy for reducing the higher prevalence of obesity in rural areas.
"This study was one of the first to look at supermarket availability across the urban-rural continuum, and the findings suggest that policies to increase healthful food availability may need to differ depending on urban influence," study co-author David Dzewaltowski said in a statement.
Salmonella scare expanding in US, Canada
Officials say the recall of numerous foods possibly contaminated with salmonella bacteria is expanding in both the United States and Canada.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it traced the source of the bacterial strain -- Salmonella Tennessee -- to hydrolyzed vegetable protein manufactured by a Las Vegas company. The FDA said the ingredient is used most frequently as a flavor enhancer in many processed foods, including soups, sauces, chilies, stews, hot dogs, gravies, seasoned snack foods, dips and dressings.
Among the latest 150 recalled products in the United States are:
-- Kroger onion soup and dip mix and beefy onion soup and dip mix.
-- Mrs. Gerry's Kitchen crab Creole spread and old fashioned spinach dips sold in Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri.
-- Various varieties of taquitos and quesadillas sold under the Jose Ole, El Pasado, Casa Solana and Posada brand names.
-- Herr's cracked pepper and sea salt flavored kettle style potato chips.
-- Quaker Minis savory tomato and basic rice cakes.
-- Quaker Snack Mix baked cheddar flavor with a "sell-by" date of June 15.
-- Publix mushroom gravy mix, meatloaf seasoning, beef-flavored stew mix and au jus gravy mix.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the latest recalls in that nation include:
-- Sabatini's Gourmet spinach and vegetable dips.
-- Mon's Pantry dressed popcorn seasoning.
-- Compliments onion soup mix.
-- Family's Best smoky bacon potato chips.
-- Selection roasted BBQ peanuts.
-- No name (consumers can have their name printed on the package) cream of leek and onion soup mixes.
-- Quaker Minis savory tomato and basic rice cakes.
Salmonella in black pepper
Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin alerts consumers to some products with black pepper that may have Salmonella contamination. Frontier Natural Products Co-op is recalling several of its products made with a non-organic black pepper that were sold under the Frontier and Whole Foods Market brands. The products contain black pepper, supplied by Mincing Overseas Spice Company, that may be contaminated with Salmonella.
Inhalable Coffee Powder
The Paris-based manufacturers of an inhalable coffee powder said the confection became available Thursday at stores in New York and Massachusetts. Le Whif coffee, created by David Edwards, a Harvard University professor of biomedical engineering, and marketed by his Paris-based company LaboGroup, is being offered for sale at Dylan's Candy Bar in New York and Cardullo's Gourmet Shoppe in Cambridge, Mass., The Chicago Tribune reported.
LaboGroup, part of experimental art and design center Le Laboratoire, said it hopes to expand the product to other states during the next month. A Dylan's Candy Bar worker said Le Whif packages will cost $3 each."Le Whif is a new delicious approach to eating by breathing," a Le Whif product brochure reads. "With Le Whif, we inhale food, like chocolate, into our mouths and taste it, without chewing, an experience of flavor without the calories."
Retail loyalty cards for recall
CAMBRIDGE: Retail loyalty cards are used by some food chains to alert customers of recalled products and other retailers should too, a U.S. food advocacy group says.
Officials of the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington said the group has shown that customer loyalty cards provided crucial information to pinpoint the items that sickened nearly 250 people in 44 states. "This valuable tool should be used by all retailers to alert their customers when they purchase food products that are later recalled," the CSPI said in a statement.
"The bonus cards swiped at grocery stores can do more than just save consumers money and generate powerful marketing databases for retailers. If a retailer knows the address, phone number, or e-mail address of someone who has purchased contaminated peanut butter, spinach, or salami, the company should take advantage of that opportunity to prevent future illnesses from recalled products."
Discount chain Costco and grocery chains Wegman's and Price Chopper already use their customer loyalty cards to alert consumers of recalled products they purchased, the CSPI said.
Calif restaurant accused of selling whale meat illegally
LOS ANGELES, CA: Federal prosecutors last week accused a Santa Monica, Calif., restaurant and one of its chefs of selling Sei whale meat illegally.
The sale of whale meat is banned in the United States under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and Sei whales are on the endangered species list, U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said in a news release.
Prosecutors filed a criminal complaint Wednesday charging Typhoon Restaurant Inc. -- the parent company of The Hump restaurant at Santa Monica Airport -- and Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, 45, a chef at the restaurant, with the illegal sale of a marine mammal product for an unauthorized purpose.
"Federal law has a variety of provisions, including criminal statutes, intended to protect this planet's threatened natural resources," Birotte said. "People should be aware that we will use these criminal statutes where appropriate to protect endangered species, including to ensure that they do not end up part of a meal."
Prosecutors said The Hump sold whale sushi to customers on three occasions since October -- with scientists using DNA testing to determine the meat was Sei whale and receipts given to the restaurant's customers indicating they had purchased "whale."
The investigation began after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration received information from members of the public about the alleged violations, prosecutors said.
