1. Nutrient Profiling Scoring Worksheet, including columns to help with score improvement
2. Nutrient Profiling Scoring Tables
3. Link to Report on the P293 proposals on Health, Nutrition and Related Claims on FSANZ website
4. Link to the On-Line Nutrient Profiling Calculator

The New Food Bill:

Nutrient Profiling Scores of NZ breakfast cereals. (Sept09)

By request the results of the Nutrient Profiles for 141 cereals from the workshops (data Nov 2008). Of those 52% pass the benchmark score of less than 4 under the P293 proposals, in which only products that have a score <4 will be able to make health claims. Best scoring are Rolled Oats with a score of -7 and the worst score is for Pam's Cocoa Snaps with a score of +18. So is your favourite cereal product or brand scoring well or not?

So how do the brands compare!
Hubbard's is the clear leader of the larger brands with 70% of it's cereals scoring well against Sanitarium (55%) and Kellogg's (46%).

To make it easier to find the info I have uploaded 2 files, The first one has products sorted to scores and within scores alphabetically to product name. The second file has the cereals sorted alphabetically to brand name and within the brand to scores. That should make it easier to find things. Please let me know if any of the data are wrong or have changed since Nov2008, as the cereal category is quite dynamic with constant changes, additions and deletions.

My apologies for the delay to those that asked for the results after the workshops last year: I have been very busy with work and organising my wedding.

• Anny's presentation on Nutrient Profiling at NZIFST 2008 conference (with speech notes) (28 June 08) (2MB)
• From Anny's NZIFST workshop 26 August 2008:
  1. Nutrient Profiling Scoring Worksheet, including columns to help with score improvement
  2. Nutrient Profiling Scoring Tables
  3. Link to Report on the P293 proposals on Health, Nutrition and Related Claims on FSANZ website
  4. Link to the On-Line Nutrient Profiling Calculator

Anny's contribution to Anchor Cooking Cream winning the Massey University Food Service Award recognized. (October 2008).

Massey University Food Service Award
Fonterra Brands (NZ) Limited - Anchor Cooking Cream

Developing the Anchor Cooking Cream was an exciting challenge as combining cream and wine or juice in hot sauces can often result in curdled disappointment. But Anna Smith from the Fonterra Brands Innovation Team at Takanini (with technical support from Anny Dentener) solved that problem. With clever formulation work and processing adaptations she developed a "perfect for hot cooking" UHT cooking cream. The product has also won an Australian Food Service Award. Judges comments: "This great product cuts down on preparation time in commercial kitchens which is always a plus. It has full bodied cream flavour and does not split when cooking with other acidic ingredients".

For more info on the award see the Massey University Food Awards site: http://foodawards.massey.ac.nz


(Fonterra (Mike Haley & Sarina Carson), Adecron (Anny Dentener) and Massey University (Professor Ray Winger))

Anny's presentation on Nutrient Profiling

at NZIFST 2008 conference (with speech notes) (28 June 08) (2MB):

• Peanut Butter soundly beats Nutella on healthiness score.
• "Unhealthy" Nutella will need to drop "low GI" claim soon.
• Crackers get sorted on balance of good and bad nutrients, not just fat.
• Winner Griffin's Huntley & Palmers Low Fat crackers with a near perfect score.
• Several culinary writers' recipes are checked out on their NP score.
• Warning issued for Jo Seager's rich Sunday Roast Dinner (158% DI energy/serve).
• Trusted Alison Holst cooks just as healthy as Healthy Food Guide.
• Nutrient Profiling judged a better tool than %DI labelling or traffic lights.

Winning with new products: idea's from Holland

Top 20 selling new food products 2006 (Netherlands)(in Dutch)

Get your labelling right to avoid costly recall (by Anny and Peter Dentener; May 2005).

Being in the news for an allergen recall is being in the news for all the wrong reasons. So make sure it never gets to that stage and get all your allergen labelling right. If you are redoing labelling be it for design or legal reasons it of course also presents an ideal opportunity to reformulate products for better quality or lower costs. Grab the label change also as an opportunity to work on nutrition aspects, maybe to get a Heart Foundation tick. The nutrition calculations will quickly point to those ingredients that need to be reduced or replaced to fit the criteria.

Checking the Nutrition Information Panel (See example) and other labelling requirements such as allergen alerts and characterising % is best left to an experienced food technologist. They not only understand the legal aspects but also understand foods and raw materials to know where the risks for allergens for instance can be hiding. They will utilise their extensive experience and can use specialist labelling and nutrition software to help sort out the finer details. Click here for a review of specialist food technology software, including labeling.

Adecron Ltd Technical Director Anny Dentener is one of those food technologists, with extensive experience in the food industry since 1981, both in product design and in labeling and nutrition calculations. Over the years Anny has assisted dozens of companies with the labeling of well over 500 products now. No labelling job is too small: while some clients are large companies, many others are small businesses selling to local businesses or even in farmers markets. Examples of products for which Anny has checked label statements are provided here.

Anny uses dedicated software such as FoodWorks and ESHA Genesis R&D (with combined databases with over 25,000 foods and ingredients) for her labelling and nutrition calculation work. She can also use the software for (re)formulation work, maybe when you find out that your product is just a bit too high in energy, fat or sugars. The alternative to calculation is analysis, which tends to be more expensive and does not allow for working through different 'what if' scenarios for different formulations. Analytical laboratories can charge between approx. $300 (without) to $600 (with dietary fibre) per sample for a one-off analysis.

Calculations tend to cost less per product whilst at the same time not only covering the nutrition information panel, but also all other labelling requirements, such as storage instructions, address formats, ingredient and sub-ingredients, characterising percentages and allergens. The exact cost depends on the number of products and the complexity of the product but typically range from $150-$300 (+ GST) per product label. Costs are at the lower end where a range of products share common components. Occasionally products do not lend themselves to calculations and we will incorporate the results of analytical tests into the overall label information we give you.

Please contact Anny with any queries, and for an obligation-free estimate of the cost to get your product range compliant with the latest FSANZ requirements. For some examples of labelling and nutrition calculation jobs, click here.

Anny judges Innovative Foods (by Peter Dentener; 2 December 2004).

The Massey University Food Industry Awards are held every 2 years to honour the best in innovation in New Zealand food products. One hundred and thirty entries were judged by a panel of 12 judges at the [HortResearch] Sensory Facility in August, and the Awards were announced at a sumptuous dinner on 11 October 2004.

Adecron Ltd Principal Consultant Anny Dentener was part of the judges panel and judged the NZIFST Technology Award. This prestigious award was won by David Fellowes, Product Development Technologist at Heinz-Wattie's for their Supreme Instant Soup Single Serve, Tuscan Tomato.

Anny's comments about the NZIFST Technology Award recipient "The recipient of the 2004 NZIFST Award was involved with this project from concept to launch. The product formulation work required collaboration with research providers and raw material suppliers, to obtain the functional food ingredients and product systems needed. The conflicting requirements of the project resulted in repeated setbacks on the way from kitchen and pilot plant prototypes, through to initial factory trials. Long-standing manufacturing procedures had to be changed whilst keeping consumer safety paramount.

The recipient showed perseverance in driving the project forward, and pushed back the boundaries in his company. The project resulted in a patent application. It is with pleasure that I announce that the winner of the 2004 NZIFST Food Award is David Fellowes from Heinz Watties in Hastings."

Anny really enjoyed the judging and comments: "Tasting of foods ranged from, to put it politely, challenging to devine. Judging, preceded by hours of homework going through a thick folder with all the detailed written company submissions, was carried out over 2 full days, a real challenge to the taste buds." Judges needed to keep a cool head, while scoring products on many technical points. Not easy for instance to start breakfast taste buds with a dinner product, or an industrial raw material.

One concern expressed by Anny was the poor compliance with food regulations. "In many cases these were minor points but several products showed major problems especially in regards to obviously missing allergen declarations such as soy in lecithin, characterising percentage declarations or non-permitted label claims". Her observation was also that some smaller companies appeared to be still on a learning curve in regards to achieving a consistent product.

Anny mentioned that it was great to see such a high presence of innovative small companies, who often explore new culinary angles, before products become mainstream and get taken on by bigger companies. However, innovation was also evident from bigger companies who do have the benefit of a larger infrastructure and capital resources to make it happen.

For a complete list of winners, sponsors and other details, visit the Massey University Food Awards web site.

Anny Dentener and Geoff Webster made NZIFST Fellows (by Peter Dentener; 14 July 2003).

Founding FoodInc members Anny Dentener and Geoff Webster were made Fellows of the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology (NZIFST) at the recent joint NZIFST-DIANZ conference in Rotorua (25-27 June 2003). Anny was awarded a fellowship for her contributions to the food and dairy industry, in particular UHT aseptic technology, and to the Institute. Particular mention was made of her critical reviews of food industry software.

Geoff Webster, a driving force behind the formation of FoodInc, was awarded a fellowship for his contribution to the oils and fats industry. His efforts on the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry Oils and Fats Committee has produced many seminars, conferences and publications for the benefit of the food industry.