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GMO Chocolate is better for the planet

Well and Good | Posted on February 7, 2019

Typically when food packaging mentions GMOs it’s to call attention to the fact that their products are devoid of genetically modified organisms. Brands go to great lengths to prove GMO-free status, boldly displaying a “non-GMO” label with a colorful butterfly. Companies whose products do contain genetically modified ingredients tend to keep that detail to themselves. There was a time you’d be hard-pressed to find a brand advertising the inclusion of GMOs. But a new line of chocolate bars, Ethos Chocolate, has just launched with a loud-and-proud “pro-GMO” label.Each of the brand’s four flavors features a fruit the brand claims GMO farming has saved.


Sales suspended from New York raw dairy over Listeria monocytogenes contamination

Food Safety News | Posted on February 7, 2019

New tests required before a New York raw milk dairy will be allowed to resume sales. Sales at the Shunpike Dairy in Millbrook, NY, were suspended Jan. 30 by New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard A. Ball. The state agriculture commissioner suspended sales because of possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination of the raw milk produced by Shunpike Dairy.


Ground beef from only one steer hits retail market

Meating Place (free registration required) | Posted on February 6, 2019

Frisco, Texas-based Nurture Ranch has launched “Nurture Ranch 1 Steer Ground Beef,” a grass-fed ground beef product made from the meat from just one steer per pack and a code tracing the product history from birth to harvest. Typically, grinding applicable cuts of beef from multiple steers creates ground beef products. Nurture Ranch is marketing its product in grocery stores across the Southeast as “Product of the USA” and as a “cleaner” ground beef product. It is priced at $9 a pound.  


Freshman lawmakers ask FDA to crack down on milk imitators

Feedstuffs | Posted on February 6, 2019

Group of 10 bipartisan members of Congress write letter to FDA urging strong action against mislabeled milk and dairy products.


Consumer Food Safety Practices: Raw Milk Consumption and Food Thermometer Use

USDA | Posted on February 6, 2019

 r\Researchers investigate the application of two Food and Drug Administration-recommended food-safety practices by taking a closer look at the estimated 14 percent of at-home meal preparers who use meat thermometers when preparing meat and the 2 percent who use nonpasteurized raw milk in a typical week.Each week, an estimated 2 percent of at-home meal preparers, or 3.2 million people (1.3 percent of the U.S. population age 18 or over) consumed or served raw milk. • Of at-home meal preparers that consumed or served raw milk, 80 percent or 2.6 million people lived with at least 1 other person; 44 percent or 1.4 million had a spouse; 36 percent or 1.1 million lived with at least 1 child; and 28 percent or 0.9 million lived in a household with at least 1 person age 62 or older. • Each week, an estimated 14 percent of at-home meal preparers, or 19.5 million people (7.9 percent of the U.S. population age 18 or over) used a food thermometer when preparing meals with meat, poultry, or seafood. • Of at-home meal preparers who used a food thermometer, 87 percent or 17 million lived with at least 1 other person; 65 percent or 12.6 million had a spouse; 39 percent or 7.5 million lived with at least 1 child; and 30 percent or 5.8 million lived in a household with at least 1 person age 62 or older


People Strongly Against GMOs Had Shakier Understanding Of Food Science

NPR | Posted on February 4, 2019

People who most intensely oppose genetically modified food think they know a lot about food science, but they actually know the least, according to a peer-reviewed paper published in January in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. GMOs are widely considered safe by scientists, but opponents have said they want more science on the potential harm so that subjective arguments aren't part of the equation. However, previous surveys have shown that providing more scientific facts about GMOs to people doesn't change their minds.The survey, conducted by four universities, asked 2,000 people in Europe and the United States how much they knew about genetically modified food, what their opinion was and how intense it was. The study asked a series of true-or-false questions about science, ranging from basic issues like whether the core of the Earth is hot or cold to questions on genetics, like "Does a non-genetically modified tomato have genes?" The results showed the more strongly people reported being opposed to GMOs, the lower their test score."A lot of people are upset by genetically modified food," said Sydney Scott, a marketing professor at Washington University in St. Louis, one of the schools that ran the study."We have to get people to recognize gaps in their knowledge before we try to teach them new things and have a meaningful discussion," she added.

 


We’ll Always Eat Meat. But More of It Will Be ‘Meat’

Bloomberg | Posted on January 29, 2019

More and more people are choosing to eat less and less meat. The trend is spawning a rapidly expanding industry for meat substitutes, both plant-based and a new high tech generation grown from animal cells in laboratories. From Bill Gates to Leonardo DiCaprio, investors are betting hundreds of millions of dollars that the appetite for meat alternatives will mushroom.Overall meat consumption continues to increase on a global scale, buoyed by rising affluence in developing economies such as China and Brazil. But while per capita consumption in the U.S., the world’s biggest beef consumer, is also growing, countries such as France, Germany, Spain and Sweden are cutting back on meat. What’s more, there’s a discernible shift in attitudes in wealthy nations, including the U.S. In a 2015 study, two-thirds of Americans said they had reduced their meat intake and a recent Gallup poll showed the number of U.S. vegans had risen by more than 3 million between 2012 and 2018 to about 3 percent of the population. 


Survey shows plant-based food label confusion

Voice of milk | Posted on January 29, 2019

 In a marketplace increasingly crowded by plant-based imitation dairy products, the results of a new survey show that customers are confused about whether those products are indeed dairy foods and whether they carry the same nutritional value.  The research evaluated three plant-based foods that mimic dairy cheese to understand if the packaging and descriptions are confusing. The survey, conducted by Ravel, was commissioned by Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA), Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, based in Wisconsin. The findings were included in comments that WMCA and Edge submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is collecting public input as the agency considers changes to its enforcement of non-dairy labeling rules.


We'll always eat meat. But more of it won't be "meat"

Bloomberg | Posted on January 27, 2019

More and more people are choosing to eat less and less meat. Concerns over the environment, personal health and animal welfare are driving the change. The number of people committing to a strictly plant-based (vegan) diet is rising in many developed countries, as are the ranks of “flexitarians” — those who only occasionally consume meat. The trend is spawning a rapidly expanding industry for meat substitutes, both plant-based and a new high tech generation grown from animal cells in laboratories. From Bill Gates to Leonardo DiCaprio, investors are betting hundreds of millions of dollars that the appetite for meat alternatives will mushroom.Overall meat consumption continues to increase on a global scale, buoyed by rising affluence in developing economies such as China and Brazil. But while per capita consumption in the U.S., the world’s biggest beef consumer, is also growing, countries such as France, Germany, Spain and Sweden are cutting back on meat. What’s more, there’s a discernible shift in attitudes in wealthy nations, including the U.S. In a 2015 study, two-thirds of Americans said they had reduced their meat intake and a recent Gallup poll showed the number of U.S. vegans had risen by more than 3 million between 2012 and 2018 to about 3 percent of the population. While a third of U.K. consumers have lowered or stopped meat


EAT-Lancet Commission agenda ensures hunger, malnutrition

Feedstuffs | Posted on January 24, 2019

The EAT-Lancet Commission's alarmist, agenda-driven, speculative diet transformation appears to ensure sustainable hunger and malnutrition. "Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems." The paper calls for "transforming the global food system" to in part achieve the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris Agreement. The paper does raise ideas about and lofty thoughts on our global food production system that merit reasoned consideration as one seeks to responsibly feed all individuals in a nutritious and sustainable manner.  However, after reading the paper, one may conclude that the "great food transformation" would ensure sustained hunger and malnutrition.The paper appears to be written with an end-in-mind conclusion and thus the search for data points to justify the conclusion. 


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