80s pop rockers Daryl Hall and John Oates are suing Brooklyn cereal firm Haulin’ Oats alleging trademark infringement via a phonetic play on their name Hall & Oates.
The Brooklyn federal court filing accuses the artisanal granola producer of attempting to trade off the “fame and notoriety” associated with the musicians’ marks.
Hall & Oates named their first album ‘Whole Oats’; hit songs include You Make My Dreams Come True, Maneater and Rich Girl.
Healthy Minor Cereals scoop EU funding award
The European Commission will help fund a circa. €6.5m/$7m project led from the Czech Republic to help the commercial development of five minor cereals – spelt (pictured), rye, oats, einkorn and emmer wheats.
The Czech government-funded Vyzkumny Ustav Rostlinne Vyroby or Crop Research Institute (CRI) will lead the project (the EU will contribute €4.8m to it) but universities and research institutions from across the bloc will also take part.
Minor cereals 'hardly developed as commercial varieties' - EC
According to the Commission, there is consumer demand for healthy, nutritious, and innovative food produced sustainably. Minor cereals can address these needs, it says, and contribute to feed and non-food markets.
“However, they have been hardly developed as commercial varieties, with no major investment to exploit genetic diversity in breeding programs, and have low yields,” the EC said in a release.
The Healthy Minor Cereals project will genetically characterize and phenotype >800 genotypes from the five cereal species, and select traits linked to yield, nutritional quality and disease resistance – to develop genotypes for development of new varieties and cross breeding.
Food industry partners will use selected minor cereal grains to develop and test new food products, and a study will develop a framework to improve the grains’ market prospects.
Toufayan launches ‘first’ gluten-free pita chips
New Jersey-based Toufayan Bakeries yesterday announced the launch of what the company claims is the first gluten-free pita chips range in the US.
The ‘all natural, oven baked’ chips come in Sea Salt, Salted Caramel and Chili Lime flavors, and follow the company’s successful 2014 launch of its gluten-free wraps.
The chips provide 80 calories per serving, and Toufayan suggests that the certified non-GMO snacks be eaten with dips, as a snack or crumbled over soups and salads.
Karen Toufayan, marketing director at Toufayan cited a positive response to last year’s wraps gluten-free launch as the main reason why her company came up with this new range.
“We look forward to continuing to help retailers meet growing consumer interest in authentic, delicious gluten-free snacks,” she said.
(Hall & Oates image: Phil Guest/Flickr)