Tree of Life has joined the SmartWay Transport Partnership, an innovative collaboration between the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the freight industry, designed to increase energy efficiency while significantly reducing greenhouse gases and air pollution.

Tree of Life will contribute to the Partnership’s goal to reduce 33 to 66 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and up to 200,000 tons of nitrogen oxide per year by 2012 by improving the environmental performance of freight operations across the country. According to the EPA, carbon dioxide is the most common greenhouse gas, and nitrogen oxide is an air pollutant that contributes to smog, both of which are created by road vehicles.

The EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership is a voluntary public-private partnership that addresses greenhouse gas emissions, fuel consumption, criteria pollutants (NOX and PM) and operating costs associated with ground freight transportation operations.

As part of joining the partnership, the company launched a nationwide education and training initiative to show the Tree of Life fleet how it can contribute to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in its jobs.

Launched in February 2004, the SmartWay Transport Partnership aims to achieve fuel savings of up to 150 million barrels of fuel per year. The Partnership brings together major freight shippers, trucking companies, railroads, logistics companies and trade/professional associations to pursue mutually beneficial efficiencies that result in emissions reductions and other environmental improvements, as well as cost savings to the companies. The Partnership currently has more than 1,000 partners.

For more information about the SmartWay Transport Partnership, visit ww.epa.gov/smartway. For more information about Tree of Life, call (800) 223-2910 or visit www.treeoflife.com.

Salba Corp., N.A. (Toronto, ON Canada) announced that it has granted Core Naturals, LLC (Maitland, FL) the exclusive license to distribute Salba® in the United States. No other manufacturers, either currently on the market or in product development phase, are authorized to sell products bearing the “Salba,” “Salba Smart” or “Salba Life” trademarks.

“Salba Corp. N.A. chose Core Naturals as the exclusive distributor because of its staunch dedication to providing the highest quality evidence-based nutraceutical products on the market,” said Larry Brown, president of Salba Corp., North America. “Core Naturals has proven itself through its hard work in not only bringing Salba to the US consumer but also to making sure that all statements regarding efficacy, quality and nutritional value are substantiated with science.”

For more information, call (416) 915-4166 or visit www.salba.info.

On September 24, US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced five new appointees to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which is overseen by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. One of those five new appointees is organic industry veteran John Foster, senior manager of organic integrity for Earthbound Farm (San Juan Bautista, CA). Foster will hold one of two handler positions on the 15-member board and his five-year term commences January 24, 2010.

Also appointed to the NOSB are Joe Dickson, certification director of Whole Foods; Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides; Wendy Fulwider, an organic farmer from Viroqua, WI; and Annette Riherd, an organic fruit and vegetable farmer from Oologah, OK.

Foster will bring more than 17 years of experience in organic production, processing, inspection and auditing to his seat on the NOSB. Prior to joining Earthbound Farm in 2007, he spent 10 years as an inspector, technical reviewer and interim executive director with Oregon Tilth, an organic certification agency. During his career, Foster has also been a researcher, a nursery manager, a horticulture instructor and an organic farmer; in fact, there’s little in the organic food chain or its certification authorities with which he hasn’t been intimately involved, Earthbound Farm said.

“This is quite an honor, and I take very seriously the responsibility that comes with this appointment. I believe the NOSB’s most important role is to ensure long term trust in organic,” said Foster. “I have been fortunate to have visited certified organic farms and processing plants of all sizes and know firsthand the importance of upholding organic integrity throughout the production chain, from soil to shelf. Organic is organic—there’s no such thing as ‘almost organic.’”

According to USDA, “The [NOSB] Board is authorized by the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 and makes recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture regarding the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances for organic operations. The NOSB also may provide advice on other aspects of the organic program.”

“We’re extremely proud of John Foster’s accomplishments and view the NOSB appointment as one of many examples of his organic industry leadership on a national level,” said Charles Sweat, Earthbound Farm’s CEO and president. “Our company joins John in his commitment to long term trust in organic, and, therefore, growth in organic acreage and products as an important way to protect our fragile environment.”

To ring in the decade on a healthy note, Organic Valley (La Farge, WI) is offering its retailer partners Organic Rising, an in-store campaign featuring national media, a contest and prizes to generate increased sales of delicious organic breakfast products from the farmer-owned cooperative. Organic Rising’s message encourages consumers to begin a new year and a new day with a wholesome, organic breakfast. The chance to win exciting prizes, save money and trigger a donation to the Rodale Institute will enhance sales of Organic Valley products and drive home the point that eating organic is good for the body and the planet, the company said.

Organic Valley has designed a wide array of bold and informative promotional materials to ensure that Organic Rising is a friendly wake-up call to shoppers at the shelf. The campaign is supported with national consumer advertising, online educational content and public relations. Thanks to the health and environmental benefits of Organic Valley’s products, Organic Rising will not only generate additional sales, it will enhance each retailer’s image as a sustainability leader by identifying them on the program’s website.

Besides an eye-catching in-store presence, Organic Rising inspires consumers to start their year off right with tear-off pads of coupons offering a $2 savings on any two Organic Valley products. More valuable coupons are available online.

Organic Rising’s promotional materials will direct consumers to www.organicrising.com, where they can enter a contest to win prizes complementing the healthy choices they make when purchasing Organic Valley products. Organic Valley will award free subscriptions to Organic Gardening magazine, five winners will be awarded a year of free Organic Valley breakfast products and three grand prize winners will win a Trek bicycle.

Each entrant in the Organic Rising contest also triggers a $1 donation to the Rodale Institute, which will add up to thousands of dollars for organic health and environmental research, said Organic Valley.

Retailers interested in more information about participating in Organic Rising can contact their Organic Valley regional sales manager for details, or order in-store materials online at www.organicvalley.coop/promos before November 27, 2009, while supplies last.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it has approved final revisions to the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act.

The notice incorporates several changes to the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers. The Guides were last updated in 1980.

Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides—which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical”—the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor.

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long-standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers—connections that consumers would not expect—must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other word-of-mouth marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service. Likewise, if a company refers in an advertisement to the findings of a research organization that conducted research sponsored by the company, the advertisement must disclose the connection between the advertiser and the research organization. And a paid endorsement—like any other advertisement—is deceptive if it makes false or misleading claims.

Celebrity endorsers also are addressed in the revised Guides. While the 1980 Guides did not explicitly state that endorsers as well as advertisers could be liable under the FTC Act for statements they make in an endorsement, the revised Guides reflect Commission case law and clearly state that both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement—or for failure to disclose material connections between the advertiser and endorsers. The revised Guides also make it clear that celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media.

The Guides are administrative interpretations of the law intended to help advertisers comply with the Federal Trade Commission Act; they are not binding law themselves.

International food and nutrition policy consultancy EAS recently released the first publication in its “how to” series with the focus on helping companies successfully apply mutual recognition when bringing food products into different EU markets.

The guide, entitled “How to apply mutual recognition for the free trade of food products across the EU,” gives an introduction to the principle of mutual recognition and clarifies the rights and obligations of both companies and EU member states according to the new mutual recognition regulation, which became applicable in May this year.

“Mutual recognition is one of the fundamental principles of the EU internal market, giving companies access to the markets of 27 member states without having to reformulate or change products, so it is imperative that companies understand how to use it successfully,” said Elodie Lebastard, EAS regulatory adviser. “The new mutual recognition regulation now makes mutual recognition the rule, and it will create substantial business opportunities, especially for food supplements and functional food manufacturers, which will be very welcomed in these difficult economic times.”

The new mutual recognition regulation specifically obliges the EU member states to apply mutual recognition as a rule. It also reduces the national authorities’ abilities to restrict market access of products lawfully marketed in another member state.

The EAS guide clarifies the conditions under which EU member states can refuse to apply mutual recognition, covers the application of mutual recognition in borderline cases and explains why the principle is not applied in many cases. It also covers the recourse for companies when mutual recognition is not applied by a member state, such as Product Contact Points (PCPs), the SOLVIT system and ways of making complaints about the non-application of mutual recognition.

Visit www.eas.eu for more information about the EAS guide “How to apply mutual recognition for the free trade of food products across the EU.”