Food Roundup: Burger King Ends Whopper Sacrifice, Merisant Can Finance Stevia Product, and More

(MoneyWatch)  Burger King sacrifices Facebook application -- Citing "philosophical differences" with Facebook, Burger King has discontinued its Whopper Sacrifice campaign (which BNET covered last week). Burger King was giving free Whoppers to those willing to de-friend 10 of their Facebook contacts using the Whopper Sacrifice application. More than 230,000 friends were sacrificed, but Facebook said the app raised "privacy issues" because it notified users when someone had sacrificed them for a Whopper. [Source: Nation's Restaurant News]

Court clears PureVia roll-out -- Merisant received permission from bankruptcy court to continue normal operations, meaning the company will be able to proceed with its launch of the new stevia-based sweetener, PureVia. Whole Earth Sweetener Company, a subsidiary of Merisant, developed PureVia in partnership with PepsiCo. Merisant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week. [Source: FoodNavigatorUSA]

"Natural" is most popular new food claim -- A third of new food products launched in the U.S. last year were marked "natural," according to a Mintel study. This was 16 percent higher than in 2007. Claims about convenience and ethical or environmental claims were also popular. [Source: FoodNavigatorUSA]

Foodmakers tell Obama to boost FDA spending -- In light of recent food-contamination scares, the Grocery Manufacturers Association has urged President-Elect Obama and the new Congress to dramatically increase funding for the Food and Drug Administration. The group also called for an end to corn-based ethanol subsidies, which they say hurt the food industry -- and consumers -- by raising the price of corn. [Source: Reuters]