Food

Researchers describe two late Neanderthals with exceptionally high nitrogen isotope ratios, which would traditionally be interpreted as the signature of freshwater fish consumption. By studying the isotope ratios of single amino acids, they however demonstrated that instead of fish, the adult Neanderthal had a diet relying on large herbivore mammals and that the other Neanderthal was a breastfeeding baby whose mother was also a carnivore. [node:read-more:link]

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Researchers are looking for alternatives to traditional meat because farming animals is helping to drive up global temperatures. However, meat grown in the lab may make matters worse in some circumstances. [node:read-more:link]

Brucella bacteria in raw milk from Miller's Biodiversity Farm in Quarryville, Pa., has affected an "unknown number" of people in 19 states, according to the CDC. RB51, the strain of brucella found in the milk, is resistant to the antibiotic rifampin. [node:read-more:link]

When it comes to wasting food, hospitals are one of the most egregious culprits, with two to three times more waste than other food service sectors. UC San Francisco Medical Center, however, has found that one change cut the amount of food it wastes by 30%. It now serves food on-demand.Most hospitals produce food in bulk and serve it at predetermined meal times, which may or may not be in sync with a patient’s appetite or the timing of health care services being performed. [node:read-more:link]

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has a new DNA scanning tool to identify the entire DNA content of a food.The new analytical tool can proactively identify all the ingredients and their biological sources in a food, which will aid regulators in protecting consumers in relation to potential food fraud and/or misleading labelling.The FSAI worked with a commercial laboratory (Identigen) over the past two years in adapting a relatively new DNA sequencing technology known as “next generation sequencing”, so that it could be used as a DNA scanning tool in food.The idea is to compare the [node:read-more:link]

Minnesota House File 811 would put aside $2 million each year to reimburse schools or childcare providers that feed kids local fruits and vegetables through farm-to-school initiatives and would help farmers sell their produce to schools. [node:read-more:link]

For a world that has largely forsaken religion in favour of science to base its attitudes towards food on nothing more than belief and feeling is something that should make us uncomfortable and embarrassed. This is what seems to be happening. It’s alarming. It changes things for me as a writer. No longer is a column about food and agriculture about demonstrating truth — perhaps it never was. Instead, it’s now about staging an attractive argument, like a house that you can picture yourself living in.

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California dairy farmers have launched a customer loyalty program to reward consumers for buying real dairy milk. “Moo Money” rewards will be available through the end of April on any milk purchase made in-store or online in California. The California Milk Processor Broad says consumers just need to snap a photo of their receipt and submit online at moomoney.com to receive points toward cash rewards.  [node:read-more:link]

Good Food Institute (GFI), a nonprofit group that works with scientists, investors and entrepreneurs to develop meat alternatives, announced the recipients of $3 million to fund their projects. [node:read-more:link]