Organic food fraud leads Congress to weigh bill doubling USDA oversight

After a year in which numerous reports called to question the authenticity of some products labeled as organic, Rep. John J. Faso (R-NY) and 33 cosponsors introduced bipartisan legislation in Congress that would nearly double USDA’s budget for its oversight of the organic program. The bill would gradually increase the funding that’s available to regulators over the next five years to manage the National Organic Program. It also calls for modernization of the technology that USDA uses to track imports of organic food. Read more at The Washington Post…

Why the US food system ranks poorly in the 2017 Food Sustainability Index

The Economist Intelligence Unit and the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition released their 2017 Food Sustainability Index, which ranks countries based on sustainable agriculture, nutritional challenges and food loss. This year, the U.S. placed 21st out of 34, dragged down by high greenhouse gas emissions and high consumption of meat, saturated fat and sugar. Top-ranked countries include France, Japan and Germany. A bit of good news, though—the U.S. ranked ninth in food loss and waste. Despite some of the highest end-level user food waste levels in the world, the U.S. scored high marks for a commitment to halving food waste by 2030 and a relatively low rate of lost food as a portion of total food production. Read more at Huffington Post…

General Mills second-quarter sales beat, boosts full-year organic sales view

General Mills beat Wall Street’s expectations in the second quarter, thanks to a focused effort on re-invigorating its cereal business and strong demand for Nature Valley granola bars. Its revenue climbed 2 percent, but gross margins fell 2.6 percent. For the year, General Mills expects organic sales growth to be flat or down 1 percent. Read more at CNBC…

Could Pepsi buy Hain Celestial?

A number of potential suitors are reportedly interested in exploring an acquisition of Hain Celestial. As perhaps the largest remaining independent natural food company, Hain could be a logical target for Big Food companies as they try to build their natural and organic portfolios. Read more at The Street…

Greek yogurt waste could be used in jet fuel and livestock feed

Liquid whey, a byproduct that remains after protein has been strained from milk, could feed bacteria that would turn it into bio-oil, according to Cornell University researchers. They published a study in Joule, a sister journal to Cell, detailing how the waste could be recovered to fuel a more circular economy. Read more at Newsweek…