Food

How do you define milk? Does almond milk or soy milk count? That question is now the focus of federal legislation. Senator Tammy Baldwin introduced the “Dairy Pride Act”, it fights back against non-diary products that are labeled as milk, yogurt, and cheese — and local dairy famers are definitely behind her. On a farm near Eldorado, Janet Clark has about 130 cows to milk and she’s one of many dairy farmers in the state now fighting for more transparency when it comes to labels placed on food products. “The FDA has already defined that milk comes from a dairy animal. [node:read-more:link]

“Clean eating” is a phrase thrown around a lot in the health-and-wellness scene. I use it all the time. I like it because there’s no formal definition, and it’s not a one-size-fits-all plan. [node:read-more:link]

The first batch of fresh eggs from the United States will arrive in South Korea on Saturday to ease the country's egg shortage caused by its worst-ever bird flu epidemic, industry sources and an agriculture ministry official said on Wednesday. South Korea's two major airliners -- Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, will each carry 100 tonnes of eggs, for a total of 2.98 million, said two industry sources with knowledge of the matter. Spokesman from both airlines confirmed the shipments. These are the first fresh egg imports from the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

It’s been said and blogged before that many, if not all, of the cage-free purchase pledges made by restaurant companies are a little vague, if not confusing.  When a company says it will source “100 percent cage-free eggs” they don’t typically define what cage-free means. They also often don’t specify exactly what products to be sold and served will contain cage-free eggs. A recent press release issued by Taco Bell, a Yum! Brands subsidiary, illustrates the latter. [node:read-more:link]

Consider the best cheese in the world. It's safe to assume you're thinking of something creamy and tough to pronounce from France. A slab hailing from Wisconsin would probably be a lot further down the list. But that is exactly where the Roth Grand Cru Surchoix, recently named one of the world’s best cheeses, is from.  At the 2016 World Cheese Championships, the Alpine-style cheese was named Best in Show. This marked the first time a cheese from the US had won the prize since 1988. The judges scored it 98.8 out of 100, and described the Gruyere-like offering as “perfect”. [node:read-more:link]

A Saudi entrepreneur who runs a California-based raw milk network that stretches across the United States is on notice from the FDA to stop making illegal claims about the therapeutic benefits of unpasteurized milk, including raw camel milk. In a warning letter dated Sept. [node:read-more:link]

Concerns over animal antibiotics potentially getting into consumers' food prompted the federal government to pass a new law.  "The government created what we call a VFD or  veterinarian food directive, and what that means is any livestock animal that is going to be fed an antibiotic in their feed or in the water as a water soluble will now have to have a veterinarian directive on how that goes into the feed," said Tom Pastor, Swine Industry employee.  The Food and Drug Administration says the law aims to prevent overuse of antibiotics. [node:read-more:link]

The escalation of alternative eggs in Mexico, whether they are organic, free-range or cage-free, seems unstoppable. Just a year ago, there were a few brands. Today, there is a great variety.  From the marketing point of view, it has opened the range of supply, consumers can use their judgment and they have a variety to choose from, and companies are given the opportunity to differentiate themselves and have other brands. Not to mention that there are more profit margins as well. Here is where I want to talk about one little detail: the price of these eggs and the margins. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. potato industry has taken umbrage with a popular dietary fad, which is based on the premise that humans ate healthier during the Stone Age than following the advent of agriculture. The Paleolithic diet — coined by Colorado State University emeritus professor Loren Cordain — promotes foods that would have been available to hunter-gatherers more than 10,000 years ago — such as grass-fed meat, wild game, nuts, fruits and non-starchy vegetables. [node:read-more:link]

Every generation influences society, and in recent years, it has been the millennials' turn. About a year ago, for instance, the millennials, generally thought of as adults from ages 19 to 35, became the age group to make up the biggest chunk of the American workforce. So it should be no surprise that when businesses want to attract the masses, they make sure what they're doing makes their millennial customers happy. [node:read-more:link]