TREND WATCH
A roundup of business developments spotted by other publications.
No-Calorie Diet: Dr. Roy E. Vartabedian of Dallas has invented a system for rating foods with what he calls Nutripoints. The system rates 3,000 common foods on 26 factors, including fat, sugar, vitamin, cholesterol, fiber and protein content. The rating may be positive or negative: Spinach has +75 Nutripoints; the same amount of romaine lettuce has +47.5 and a fried egg has -12.5. When drawn from various food groups, a total of 100 points a day constitutes a healthy diet, Vartabedian says. His book, “Nutripoints,” has just been released. Houston Post
Bills of Health: To keep down the cost of health insurance, employers offer cash or other incentives to employees who lose weight, stop smoking, have themselves checked for hypertension or participate in similar wellness programs. A survey of retail executives found that raising employees’ contributions and requiring second surgical opinions are still the most prevalent means of trimming insurance costs. But industry watchers believe that wellness incentives haven’t been fully exploited. Incentives usually come as credits to the employee’s benefits or cash on completion of a program. As flexible benefits become more prevalent in the next five years, expect the number of these incentive programs to increase. Pittsburgh Business Times, Discount Merchandiser
Rx for R&D;: The six largest pharmaceutical companies in Japan, looking to recoup rising research and development costs, have begun to build sales teams in the United States and Western Europe. Only one Japanese pharmaceutical company, Takeda, has placed in the top 15 in worldwide sales, and Japanese companies account for only 2% of the $70-billion annual market in Western Europe and the United States. Industry watchers expect the pattern to change. Already, many Japanese firms are entering research agreements with Western companies to break into biotechnology and diagnostics. Financial Times
Power Drain: The lack of rain and snow in the Midwest is worrying more than farmers. Utilities that rely on hydroelectric power also find themselves high and dry. Less hydroelectricity may mean more coal purchases and lower profits for utilities. Meanwhile, on the Gulf Coast, cold temperatures have spurred demand for heating oil but also forced some refineries to curtail production. Analysts at Houston-based Lyondell Petrochemical say a number of factors, including high European demand and tight environmental restrictions in the United States, may lead to a pinch in gasoline supply this summer and a short-term boom for refineries. Milwaukee Journal, Houston Post
