Jana’s Classics, Portland, Ore., recently was named supplier of the year by the Oregon Dairy Industries and also received the Outstanding Minority-Owned and Women-Owned Business Enterprise award from Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. In addition, Jana Taylor, the company’s founder and president, was named one of the Portland Business Journal’s Women Executives of the Year.

Chr. Hansen A/S, Horsholm, Denmark, and Urex Biotech Inc., London, Ontario, Canada, announced the formation of a strategic alliance to bring therapeutic solutions to women’s health issues. “Chr. Hansen and Urex Biotech are perfect partners,” says Steen Andersen, marketing director for Human Health and Nutrition at Chr. Hansen. “The name Urex is synonymous with outstanding research within probiotics and, combined with Chr. Hansen’s technology and knowledge of the human health market, this puts us in a strong position.”

Closer to home, Chr. Hansen Inc., Milwaukee, announced the completion of a $10 million-plus expansion of two of its production facilities in Wisconsin. The company says the expansion, which includes the world’s largest –55 degrees C freezer and a new pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, would allow it to expand production of cultures for the dairy industry and continue its export growth. The company is planning another major expansion in Milwaukee, slated to begin within the next year or so.

Beloit, Wis.-based Kerry Americas, part of the Kerry Group plc, recently revised its Web site in an effort “to educate and enlighten” customers about the company and major trends shaping the food industry. The Web site, www.kerryamericas.com, opens with the premise: “All Great Food Starts with a Big Idea.” Each workday, a different Kerry specialist shares with site visitors his or her opinions about industry trends.

Meanwhile, the Kerry Group, Ireland, announced the acquisition of four flavor businesses. The acquired companies, which the company says will significantly expand its Mastertaste division’s flavor development and global customer service capabilities, include Manheimer Inc., Teterboro, N.J.; Flavurence, Los Angeles; Laboratorios Krauss, Mexico City; and Fructamine, Mozzo, Bergamo, Italy.

The 7th Symposium on Advances in Dairy Product Technology — Concentrated & Dried Dairy Ingredients will be held February 7-8, 2005, at The Cliffs Resort in Shell Beach, Calif. Organized by California Polytechnic State University’s Dairy Products Technology Center, the two-day symposium is designed to provide an overview and an update on trends in the marketing, science, manufacturing technology and food applications of value-added dairy products.

David Michael & Co., Philadelphia, will hold its 2004 Innovation Roadshow™ on October 5, 2004, in Philadelphia. According to the company, the “event will explore the world of product development and offer insight into food industry trends and concerns.” For more information, call (800) DM-FLAVORS.

Danisco completed the acquisition of Rhodia Food Ingredients on June 1. The integration includes the formation of a new product division within cultures, Danisco Cultures. Other activities will be integrated into the Specialties, Textural Ingredients and Functional Systems divisions, says Danisco.

In May, nearly 350 people from 43 countries met in Cancun, Mexico, to attend the 4th International Symposium on Recombined Milk and Milk Products. Conducted under the auspices of the International Dairy Federation, Brussels, Belgium, the program addressed the socioeconomic importance of recombined milk and identified new technologies, opportunities and challenges for the recombined milk products sector. Conference proceedings will be published this summer. For more information, visit www.milkrecombine04.com.

The Wisconsin Council of Safety presented an Outstanding Achievement Award for Excellence in Safety to Briess Malt & Ingredients Co., Chilton, Wis. The award honors companies with employees who exemplified safety and health excellence in 2003.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) named Laura Tarantino, Ph.D., director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition’s (CFSAN) Office of Food Additive Safety. Tarantino will head up FDA’s food additive safety program and oversee all aspects of CFSAN’s petition review processes for food and color additives, consultation and notification processes for GRAS substances, food-contact substances and foods and ingredients derived from recombinant DNA biotechnology.

Penford Food Ingredients Corp., Englewood, Colo., announced the certification of its CanTab® dextrose product as a non-genetically modified organism (GMO). The certification, from the independent authority Cert-IDSM, verifies that the product complies with new European Union regulations pertaining to labeling and traceablity of GMOs.

Honey imparts a unique sweetness to frozen yogurt, yogurt shakes and other dairy treats. A Web site, www.honey.com, provides technical information, research details, foodservice recipes and many other honey-related resources. — National Honey Board, (303) 776-2337, www.nhb.org

An updated version of “Guide to Selecting Gums” now is available. Designed for research and development professionals, the free 30-page guide provides information about gum products’ gelling properties, solubility characteristics, natural labeling status and suggested usage levels. — TIC Gums Inc., (800) 899-3953, www.ticgums.com

A company now is marketing Canandaigua Concentrate & Colors’ MegaNatural line of grape-derived natural food colors for use in foods and beverages. The colors feature exceptional light and pH stability, and the Carmine Substitute color is the only grape-derived color to exhibit excellent stability in the presence of ascorbic acid. Most colors are available in both liquid and dry forms, and kosher certification is available. The colors may be labeled as “grape juice concentrate” or “grape skin extract” (Carmine Substitute). — Sethness-Greenleaf Inc., (773) 889-1400, www.sethnessgreenleaf.com

All-natural glucono-delta-lactone (GDL), an inner ester of gluconic acid classified as a carbohydrate, creates the slow pH reduction typically achieved by microbial acidification — without potential microbiological problems. Suitable for use in feta, mozzarella and cottage cheese processing, GDL also can be used to create acidified dairy drinks or desserts. The slow-release water-soluble white crystalline powder has an initial sweet taste and a slight acidic aftertaste. — PURAC America USA, (847) 634-6330, www.purac.com

The small granule size and soft gels of rice starches can help formulators create a creamy texture that mimics the taste and mouthfeel of milkfat in ice cream. Economical alternatives to other milkfat replacers, rice starches are offered in both modified and natural versions. Such starches long have been used in flavored milks, yogurts and whipped toppings, but new research demonstrates their effectiveness in the creation of creamy, great-tasting lower-fat ice creams, frozen yogurts and frozen novelties. — A&B Ingredients Inc., (973) 227-1390, www.abingredients.com

Organic caramelized rice syrup allows formulators of organic products to add a rich brown color to foods such as butterscotch puddings. Produced from 100 percent organic brown rice, the syrup may be labeled as “organic” on the ingredients statement. — D.D. Williamson, (800) 227-2635, www.caramel.com