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Food News

Fresh Deli Cuts Muscle Out Packaged Meats

Wall Street Journal | Posted on April 1, 2019

Meat companies are using the deli counter to showcase new and higher-priced products, as customers eschew prepackaged cold cuts in favor of healthier and more natural foods. Hormel Food Corps, Kraft Heinz,Tyson and other companies are buying smaller deli brand and reformulating their recipes to meet rising demand for fresher cuts.


How eating vegan became a billion-dollar business

Christian Science Monitor | Posted on April 1, 2019

Meat consumption continues to grow worldwide, but so does the number of people considering, carefully, the ethics of eating any product derived from animals.You don’t need to store your grill in the garage just yet. Meat consumption continues to grow worldwide – especially in emerging economies like China. And strict vegans still comprise a fraction of the population in rich countries: just 2.3 percent in Canada, and 3 percent in the United States. But the fundamentals of veganism, centered around plant-based eating, have been promoted by everyone from Beyoncé and Bill Clinton, to environmentalists, doctors, and government officials. The past five years have ushered in a new era for the legume, the pulse, tofu, and tempeh.


'Impossible' meatless patty gets Burger King Whopper test

Reuters | Posted on April 1, 2019

Vegetarian burgers may finally be getting the recognition they need to go mainstream. On Monday Burger King and Silicon Valley startup Impossible Foods announced the rollout of the Impossible Whopper in 59 stores in and around St. Louis, Missouri.


Emails show FDA worry after romaine outbreaks

AP News | Posted on April 1, 2019

After repeated food poisoning outbreaks tied to romaine lettuce, a U.S. food safety official shared his concerns in an internal email, saying the produce industry’s water testing “failed in an epic and tragic way.” How the industry tests water to grow leafy greens is “unacceptable” and needs to change, James Gorny, a senior adviser for produce safety at the Food and Drug Administration, wrote to agency leaders.The message last November, obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request, came days before the agency warned people to avoid romaine ahead of Thanksgiving. Just months earlier in April, another E. coli outbreak linked to romaine had sickened more than 200 and killed five. That was later linked to an irrigation canal near a massive cattle lot in Arizona; the fall outbreak was linked to a water reservoir in California. In both cases, regulators never confirmed how the water became contaminated.


Debate over what is considered milk and how to label it heats up

WAFB | Posted on March 28, 2019

If you walk through the dairy aisle, there’s quite the variety: two percent, whole milk, almond, and soy milk. Those last two are now in question as the battle over what is considered “milk” is heating up.Louisiana State Senator Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, has introduced a bill that would remove the term “milk” from anything that is not dairy. For farmers like Mike Brian, it could help sagging profits.Sen. Thompson believes Senate Bill 39, which he authored, is a possible solution."What we're trying to do is make sure people know that almond milk is not cow’s milk,” Thompson said.He says by labeling these milk alternatives as such, it will help consumers understand what they’re buying.


EAT-Lancet report corrected, critics say errors remain

Watt Ag Net (free registration required) | Posted on March 28, 2019

An international study suggesting low-meat diets will slow global warming has received several corrections in recent weeks, but critics of the report say the corrections don’t go far enough. The medical journal indicated that several citations and internal references have been corrected; a paragraph regarding vitamin B12 deficiency in plant-based diets was also corrected. However, some scientists who reported errors in the EAT-Lancet report say they do not believe their concerns have been addressed. Frank Mitloehner, a professor of animal science at University of California, Davis, who complained that the report appeared to inflate the impact of agricultural emissions of methane, said he hadn’t heard anything from the journal after receiving an email he said seemed meant to “quiet me down.” In the email, EAT’s science director acknowledges that Mitloehner’s “points on methane emissions from livestock are really important,” but claims that “the meat consumption limits proposed by the commission were not set due to environmental considerations, but were solely in light of health recommendations.”


MillerCoors sues Anheuser-Busch over controversial ad campaign

CNBC | Posted on March 26, 2019

MillerCoors is suing Anheuser-Busch InBev for its controversial Bud Light Super Bowl ad. The lawsuit is the latest retaliation from MillerCoors for the ad that shamed Miller Lite and Coors Light for using corn syrup during its brewing process.MillerCoors is seeking an immediate halt to the campaign, which it claims is false advertising.


Pesticides in food: Strawberries, spinach, kale have the most residue

USA Today | Posted on March 25, 2019

If you're looking for another reason not to eat spinach or kale, you now have one. The leafy greens are ranked second and third, respectively, on Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen, a list of the fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide residue. At the top of the advocacy group's latest roster, released Wednesday, is strawberries; nectarines and apples round out the top five. The group found that more than 90 percent of samples of strawberries, apples, cherries, spinach, nectarines and kale tested positive for residues of two or more pesticides, while multiple samples of kale indicated the presence of 18 pesticides.


FDA issues update on possible tie between grain-free diets and heart disease

Veterinary 360 | Posted on March 20, 2019

The FDA has issued an update to its investigation into reports of dogs developing dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) while eating certain pet foods, according to a release from the agency. Since first announcing it would investigate the issue in July 2018, the agency has analyzed reports it has received from January 1, 2014, through November 30, 2018. This update doesn’t include reports received in December 2018 and January 2019 because of a loss of appropriations during the government shutdown in that time period, and it was unable to continue its investigation at that time, the release notes. 


As Home-Cooked Cottage-Food Industry Grows, States Work to Keep Up

Pew Trust | Posted on March 20, 2019

As more consumers shop at farmers markets and “eat local,” U.S. local food sales, including cottage-food sales, have soared from $5 billion annually in 2008 to a projected $20 billion this year. Every state except New Jersey now allows home-kitchen cooks to make and sell non-hazardous foods with a low risk of causing foodborne illness such as baked goods, jams, jellies and other items that do not require time and temperature controls for food safety.Maine, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming have gone further, enacting “food freedom” laws that exempt home producers from food-safety rules that apply to grocery stores, restaurants and other food establishments.Advocates see food freedom as a matter of personal liberty and think informed consumers can make their own choices. The issue is a cause among those who want less government regulation.


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