Ben & Jerry’s strikes deal to improve migrant dairy workers’ conditions

The ice cream maker is working with a farmworkers’ group to make sure that the dairy farms it buys its milk from provide humane conditions for their employees. Its agreement with the group, which drew inspiration from the Fair Food Program that addresses issues in Florida’s tomato industry, establishes labor standards for its local suppliers and creates an enforcement strategy for workers to report violations. A 2014 survey of Vermont dairy workers found that many worked year round for low wages, and had substandard housing and few days off. Read more at The New York Times…

FDA rebukes bakery for claiming ‘love’ as an ingredient in granola

The clever folks behind Massachusetts-based Nashoba Brook Bakery listed love as an ingredient in their granolas. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn’t approve—it published a warning letter to the company this week declaring that, “’Love’ is not a common or usual name of an ingredient, and is considered to be an intervening material.” Read more at The Washington Post…

Dietary Supplement Caucus schools Congress on VMS benefits

The caucus briefed more than 60 Congressional staffers and guests last week on the importance of supplement use to help meet nutrition needs for U.S. adults. Currently, legislators are reviewing the proposed SNAP Vitamin and Mineral Improvement Act that would allow SNAP recipients to use their benefits to purchase multivitamins. Read more at Drug Store News… 

Kellogg looks to wellness market for corporate health; more CPG brands must follow

When it was launched more than 100 years ago, Kellogg’s flagship Corn Flakes were positioned as a better-for-you breakfast food. As the food industry evolved, taste and reduced cost took priority over health and wellness, but by hiring a former supplement company leader as its new CEO, the CPG company—and other—may be looking to return to its roots. Read more at Forbes…

The secret history of America’s oldest tofu shop

It’s now a vegetarian staple in the U.S., but tofu has humble beginnings in a Portland neighborhood in the early 1900s. Read more at Slate…