The purpose of this paper is to confirm the presence of an asymmetry of information needs anddisclosure on the food chain. We assume that the food chain consists of a producer through to aconsumer, as in Shannon's information channel. In addition, the need for information on the food chainis increasing while information disclosure is decreasing. We defined the “information gaps” that ariseas differences between information needs and disclosure regarding the food chain. For thishypothesis, we applied the non-parametric method for individual data, such as the Wilcoxon ranksum and Jonckheere-Terpstra tests. Moreover, we discussed solving these information gaps, thereliability of information sources, and some political implications.
It is clear that information gaps are expanding downstream in the food chain. They function asstrong evidence on food safety information for consumers, particularly in cases of “pesticide residue”and “cultivation method.” The results suggest that upstream actors, such as a producer anddistributor, cannot recognize the information gap for consumers.
To solve these information gaps and take advantage of the traceability system, practicalinformation sharing on the whole food chain is of high importance.

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Recently, with the social requirement, traceability systems come into use for recognition of thehistory or origin of the food product. However, there remain important problems: what and how muchinformation should be supplied to consumers. Some people argue that the information should beoffered as much and detailed as possible. Others suggest that because a deluge of information is notdesirable, we should sort out or summarize the information and then provide to consumers.
In this paper, for inquiring the desirable quantity of information with traceability systems, weanalyze the consumers' ability of processing information by using discrete choice models. Throughthe experiment by increasing the quantity of information, two interesting results are obtained. First, we identify the point at which the effect of information overload occurs. The result shows thatinformation entropy indexes are lowest at 6 attributes and become higher at more than 6 attributes.
These imply that information overload effect appears around 6 attributes. Second, “knowledge” and“product involvement” are found to be dep ressant factors of information overload. People who havehigh knowledge or high involvement have relatively low entropy index.
From these findings, we can argue that to provide too much information to consumers isproblematic because it makes consumers confuse. To avoid this, we should select what is importantinformation for them. It is also important to offer an appropriate education and enlightenment inorder to heighten their knowledge and involvement.

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This study aimed to classify consumers into several types based on their concerns and attitudesabout meals at home and restaurants and to find corresponding information needs for the ingredients.
First of all, there were four conceptual factors that were found as motivation components by thefactor analysis. There were (1) Food safety and health, (2) Rationally saving a cooking time, (3) Preference-first and trying maximum satisfaction, and (4) Economy priority. Then, based on thecluster analysis, we obtained three behavioral attitude types of consumers, such as (a) Insisting highclass food safety and health, (b) Seeking convenience, and (c) Price-orientation.
The type (a) consumers had the strong consciousness about food safety and healthful food andneeded the particular account of ingredients. The type (b) ones showed the interest in thenutritional balance of the ingredient, although their awareness was relatively weak. The type (c) ones did not show significant wants for the information about ingredients.
Based on the result of this study, we could conclude that there were several types of consumers'attitudes toward dining at restaurants, and the necessary information was required to be provided by the restaurant for each type consumers. Thus, restaurants would have to consider contents of theinformation as one of the factors to promote their sales.

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“Grain Majors” developed as the dominant players in the global agribusiness arena in the 1970's, but their real strategies and activities have not been widely known due partly to the complex natureof these entities and partly to significant changes in the global food system including the introductionand rapid expansion of biotechnology in the form of GM products.
This article focuses on three dimensions of these leading grain companies; 1) the evolutions oftraditional grain majors, 2) their current strategies including their stance toward GMOs, and 3) theirpossible future directions. As specific cases, Cargill, ADM, and Bunge are selected, and theirstrategies are explained respectively. Cargill's long-term vision with strong strategic intent, pursuingvalue-added products and services through global supply chain network, and managing worldwide“Cargill” brand, ADM's traditional focuses on processing and particularly recent shifts towards bioenergies, and Bunge's logistics-based expansions and intensive shift of assets to South America arestressed for their evolutions. In addition, each company has established strong ties with genedevelopment companies such as Monsanto and DuPont through either formal or informal alliances. In today's highly competitive market, effective alliances as well as strong product developmentabilities are the key factors of success.From the viewpoint of effective strategy, today's global companies must show strength on threedimensions: 1) “market understanding” including customers and competition, 2) “customer interface”including technology and business system, and 3) “organizational resources”. Cargill appears to bewell balanced along these three dimensions. ADM's most important competencies are processingknow-how (they see even GM grains through the eyes of processing.), but now their strategic focushas shifted to biofuels. Bunge's aggressive investment in Brazil has been based on a deepunderstanding of their local customer's needs, and what and how they could respond to these needs.

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