SK Foods Expands Ingredient Line
SK Food International, Inc. has recently expanded their product line to include cocoa products, sweeteners, dried fruits and brans/germs. Other food and feed ingredients SK Food supplies include soybeans, dry beans, grains, seeds, flours, meals and oils.
A reputable import/export trading company and domestic bulk ingredient supplier since 1990, SK Food supplies a full line of Certified Organic and Non-GMO food and feed ingredients to a worldwide market. Some of the ingredients SK Food supplies are specialized and less common, including grains such as amaranth and quinoa. However, SK Food’s main business is soybeans, accounting for more than half of the company’s sales. The company supplies food grade varieties of yellow soybeans as well as black soybeans for the applications of miso, tofu, natto, roasting, soy flour, soy meal, soymilk, soy sauce, sprouting and tempeh.
SK Food International, 701.356.4106 • skfood@skfood.com• www.skfood.com
BioCal Shows How To Identify GMOs
BioCal has published an application note entitled, “HDA-GT12 System for Detection of Genetic Modified Organisms (GMO) Using Strain Specific PCR Amplification Primers.” The document describes the use of BioCal’s HDA-GT12, a cost-effective, multi-channel capillary electrophoresis system, as an alternative to slab gel analysis. This affordable system can be used in research laboratories for routine GMO analysis.
The bench-type HDA-GT12 system uses fluorescence type detection for high-efficiency GMO analysis. Twelve DNA samples are automatically injected and analyzed simultaneously with a multiple-usage, multi-capillary cartridge. A total of 96 GMO samples in a plate can be automatically analyzed within 1 hour.
BioCal, 714.639.2124 • www.biocal.com
2004 U.S. Organic Industry Overview Hot Off Press
According to the Organic Trade Association (OTA) 2004 Manufacturing Survey, the U.S. organic industry grew 20% to reach $10.8 billion in consumer sales in 2003. Organic foods, by far the largest and most clearly defined part of the organic industry, grew 20.4% in 2003 and accounted for $10.38 billion in consumer sales. Other organic products or ‘non-foods’—including personal care products, nutritional supplements, fiber, household cleaners, flowers and pet food—grew 19.8% in 2003 and totaled $440 million in U.S. consumer sales.
The OTA 2004 Manufacturer Survey was conducted and produced on behalf of OTA by Nutrition Business Journal. More that 300 companies responded to the survey, with 272 companies providing wholesale organic sales totaling $3.2 billion or a survey capture rate of 73% of the $4.4 billion in wholesale sales of packaged organic foods (excluding unpackaged produce or store-label products).
The complete 85-page survey, including a 2004-2008 forecast by major category and all 60 subcategories is available for $495 standard rate and $195 OTA Member rate.
Organic Trade Association, 413.774.7511 • www.ota.com/bookstore/2.html
Educate Your Consumers with Free Brochure
Almost everyday, Americans are confronted with new information that challenges their faith in the food system. Mad cow disease, the avian flu epidemic, genetically engineered hormones in milk, rising obesity levels—these are only some of the recent headlines that have prompted many to question the safety and healthfulness of the food we eat and feed our families.
Farm Aid is launching a new public education campaign to link consumer demand for safe and healthful food to the family farmers who are committed to producing it. Its new publication, 10 Ways to Ensure Healthy Food for You and Your Family, highlights the links between family farms and the safe and healthful food we desire. The “10 Ways” guide not only educates Americans about the importance of individual food choices for strengthening family farm agriculture, but also engages readers to take public action to ensure that they will have a choice about who grows their food today, and for years to come.
Farm Aid, 800.FARM.AID • www.farmaid.org/info_help
