Food

A new biotech apple is about to hit grocery stores across the US as the country’s first harvest of the genetically modified (GM) fruit ships from orchards in Washington state. Unlike regular apples, this new variation on the fruit, commonly called the “Arctic apple,” does not brown when cut and exposed to oxygen. It will be sold as a sliced apple product in 10-ounce bags, available at 400 Midwest grocery stores early this month, according to Bloomberg.The Arctic apple, owned by Canada-based Okanagan Specialty Fruits, isn’t a new invention. [node:read-more:link]

Nearly half of all “new” milk produced in this country over the last 13 years has gone to markets beyond our borders. Since 2004, the expansion in U.S. dairy exports alone added an average of $1.25 per hundredweight per year to U.S. farm milk prices. That has meant an additional $36 billion in milk revenues since 2004. In an industry where a few percentage points can make the difference between breaking even and going broke, that is a very big deal. Export gains have lent critical support to U.S. milk production growth and the expansion of the entire U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Once a rarity on global dinner tables, salmon is a staple today, thanks to a fish farming industry that has expanded at breakneck speed in recent decades, including in Norway, where in 2016 around 1.18 million metric tons were produced. [node:read-more:link]

Sustainability is a hot topic across industries, but Tyson Foods CEO Tom Hayes told CNBC that even major food producers like his have to step up to the plate. "Here's the issue: If we're going to feed nine and a half billion people around the world by 2050, we have to be part of the solution. Big food has to get in the ballgame," Hayes told "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer when asked about sustainability efforts.Tyson is the country's largest chicken producer and has a large share of the beef and pork markets. [node:read-more:link]

The effects are more insidious than any overindulgent amount of “bad food” can ever be. By fretting about food, we turn occasions for comfort and joy into sources of fear and anxiety. And when we avoid certain foods, we usually compensate by consuming too much of others. All of this happens under the guise of science. But a closer look at the research behind our food fears shows that many of our most demonized foods are actually fine for us. Taken to extremes, of course, dietary choices can be harmful — but that logic cuts both ways. [node:read-more:link]

A pair of bills that Republicans say will reduce fraud in food stamp, Medicaid and welfare programs, but Democrats say are misguided, easily passed the House on Wednesday. The goal is “to protect the integrity of the entire SNAP program,” and “get the benefits to people who need them,” Rep. [node:read-more:link]

Dairy Farmers of America, a national dairy cooperative owned by family farmers, announced Nov. 2 the acquisition of Cumberland Dairy; a family-owned processor of ultra-pasteurized dairy products located in Bridgeton, N.J. [node:read-more:link]

Veggie legend Sir Paul McCartney, as part of his successful ‘Meat Free Monday’ campaign, yesterday released a new short anti-meat film, featuring a previously unreleased song from Paul himself! [node:read-more:link]

Cargill said it will launch an initiative this month in Canada to test new technologies for tracking cattle with the goal of developing a verified sustainability standard to give consumers more information about the beef they eat. Called the Cargill Canadian Beef Sustainability Acceleration pilot, the effort should move the company’s customers -- by the end of 2018 -- a step closer to providing consumers with beef from operations that have been audited from ‘birth to burger’ using an industry developed sustainability standard, Cargill said. [node:read-more:link]

Enter the Clean Label Project, which made a splash after releasing a study on Wednesday alleging that many of the best-selling baby food and infant formula products on the market (determined by Nielsen data) contain arsenic, lead, acrylamide and other “contaminants.” Sounds scary, if these contaminants in our precious babies’ tummies were a justified fear. They’re not. Fact-checking site Snopes published an analysis on Friday, explaining that the project hasn’t published data to substantiate its claims, and has not subjected its study to peer review. [node:read-more:link]