5@5: Companies rush to meet cage-free egg deadline | Amazon suppliers panic over purge

Companies are rushing to meet cage-free egg deadline

Although many big food companies have pledged to sell only cage-free eggs by 2025, producers are only a quarter of the way to fulfilling these commitments. This, as well as the enormous cost of the transition, has prompted the Humane Society of the United States to ask for progress reports, making it easier for consumers and investors to see which companies are actually making good on their promises. Read more at Bloomberg …

Amazon suppliers panic amid purge aimed at boosting profits

Amazon has begun encouraging vendors to sell directly to consumers on its platform in place of buying, storing and shipping products from wholesalers. This move marks an effort to boost the company’s core e-commerce profits, but vendors are becoming increasingly frustrated with Amazon’s abrupt cessation of routine orders and lack of communication. Read more at The Seattle Times …

Tonight’s dinner? In a cooler-sized robot that knows where you live

Food companies are betting on autonomous food-delivery robots to reduce the prohibitive cost of delivery by up to 40 percent. However, consumer hostility about the reach of technology in everyday life, coupled with recent state laws calling for robot regulation, is making some delivery robot manufacturers nervous about widespread resistance. Read more at The Wall Street Journal …

Social media may sway kids to eat more cookies—and more calories

Viewing images of popular social media influencers eating junk food had an adverse effect on children ages 9 to 11 in a recently held study. Those children were found to have consumed “32 percent more calories from unhealthy snacks compared with the children who viewed no food being eaten,” which translated to an extra 90 calories per day. According to one spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, it only takes 70 extra calories each day to push a child of normal weight into the overweight category. Read more at NPR …

FDA lifts import ban on genetically modified salmon that reach market twice as fast

An import ban that once preventing genetically modified salmon from reaching U.S. retailers has been lifted by the FDA as of last Friday. Following the news, several consumer, environmental and fishing groups filed a lawsuit to overturn the lifted ban, citing concerns “that the fish could escape and breed with unmodified salmon in the wild” and possible consumer confusion over the unfamiliar “bioengineered” label. This product will be the first genetically modified animal engineered for human consumption to enter the U.S. market. Read more at Gizmodo …