Gluten-free bakery launches around the world have trended toward sweet territory, with certain products managing to make the treats sound some degree healthier than their mainstream counterparts.

Ticklebelly Desserts has introduced 27 new sweet treats at the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association Show.

Flowers Foods Inc., which makes Nature's Own bread, Tastykake treats and other baked goods, has agreed to buy Lepage Bakeries Inc.

Smart Balance has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Udi's Healthy Foods LLC for $125 million.

Starbucks Corp. is looking to offer a more tempting menu, with a $100 million cash deal to buy a small bakery chain.

Innovative Food Holdings has acquired Chicago based Artisan Specialty Foods Inc.

Very soon, bread and cereals will be blessed with wheat that will help as a protection against bowel cancer.

Levels of acrylamide have decreased in retail soft bread and biscuit products, according to new research from the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Sometimes a lack of big news during a year is actually good news. Bakery companies that remember the Atkins Diet and its characterization of carbohydrates as the devil incarnate can breathe a sigh of relief that 2011 did not bring about any such black swans. Still, 2011 will go down as a slightly off year for baked goods, with declines in some categories outweighing gains in other categories.

Teens are not consuming enough whole-grain foods, according to a recent study from the University of Minnesota at St. Paul, featured in the January 2012 issue of Food Nutrition & Science.