Mark Mulligan November 27, 2014 The Age It’s grip on oil weakening, OPEC is split on prices The falling oil price will place stress on the global junk bond market, experts say, with US energy companies at increasing risk of default. The plunge in the price is “the most significant risk that could potentially deliver a volatility shock large enough to trigger the next wave of defaults” in junk bonds, Deutsche Bank said. According to the bank, energy companies now account for about 15 per cent of outstanding issuance in the non-investment-grade high-yield – or “junk” – bond market. It warned in a recent report that many of these issuers would come under severe financial stress if the price of benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped from its current level about $US74 a barrel to $US60. “Our calculations suggested that a further 20 per cent decline in oil prices…

Sabrina Tavernise NOV. 26, 2014 The New York Times Now it’s official. Starting next November, menus in many places where Americans eat — like chain restaurants and some movie theaters, convenience stores and amusement parks — will have to list calories. Consumer health advocates were jubilant when the Food and Drug Administration announced the new policy on Tuesday. Many had fought for the rule for more than a decade, believing it would be a major weapon in the fight against obesity. But will it? The evidence on whether menu labeling works — either to move the national needle on obesity, or to reduce the number of calories an individual consumes after looking at a menu — is pretty skimpy, in part because the practice hasn’t been around that long. In the few places where menu labeling exists, like New York and Philadelphia, most studies have observed a few thousand people…

John Ross NOVEMBER 28, 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN IT keeps people firing at night. Now scientists believe coffee keeps people’s brains firing in their twilight years. Researchers say people who drink between three and five coffees a day are up to one-fifth less likely to contract Alzheimer’s disease. An overview of recent studies has concluded that “regular, lifelong, moderate coffee consumption” can reduce the risk of developing the disease by up to 20 per cent. The report, presented at the Alzheimer Europe Congress in Glasgow, says caffeine and polyphenols — both found in coffee — reduce the deterioration of brain cells, particularly in regions involved in memory. Polyphenols are also found in fruit, vegetables, olive oil and red wine and are credited with the health benefits associated with the Mediterranean diet. The report says caffeine also reduces inflammation in the brain and helps prevent protein accumulations between and within brain cells.…

Pan Demetrakakes Retail Leader Executive New FDA regulation requires groceries that sell ready-to-eat food must provide calorie counts and other information. New federal regulations requiring restaurants to provide calories and other nutritional information will affect all establishments, including grocery stores, that provide prepared food for immediate consumption. FDA officials explained the new regulations, which technically spring from the Affordable Care Act, at a press conference Nov. 25. Basically, they require that calorie information be listed on menus and menu boards in chain restaurants, similar retail food establishments, and vending machines, all with 20 or more locations. They stated that it was important to include grocery stores because of the blurring of lines between food retailing and foodservice. Restaurants have one year to comply; vending machine operators have two. “Grocery stores were clearly a complicated issue. Our intention was never to cover all foods sold in a grocery store,” Jessica Leighton,…

Rupert Neate 26 November 2014 The Guardian Fairlife will cost twice as much as regular milk, contain 30% less sugar, and ‘make it rain money’ for the soft drinks firm Coca-Cola is launching its own brand of milk, which it claims could become so popular that it will “rain money” for the company. Fairlife, which will launch in the US next month, will cost twice as much as regular milk and will have 50% more protein and 30% less sugar. Sandy Douglas, Coke’s global chief customer officer, said Fairlife was “a milk that’s premiumised and tastes better and we’ll charge twice as much for it as the milk we’re used to buying”. He told a conference: “We’re going to be investing in the milk business for a while to build the brand, so it won’t rain money in the early couple of years. But like Simply [Coke’s premium fruit juice…