5@5: USDA seeks input for rules on GMO labeling | How Amazon+Whole Foods came to be

Animal welfare groups have a new tool: virtual reality

This week, the animal rights group Animal Equity released its third virtual-reality video that gives viewers an inside look at the conditions inside dairy farms in different parts of the world. Other groups are using virtual reality technology, which one advocate called "a game changer for animal advocates," as a powerful way to spread their messages, too. Read more at The New York Times...

USDA seeks comments on GMO labeling standards

As it works on drafting a proposed rule for national GMO labeling, USDA's Agriculture Marketing Service is asking for stakeholder feedback on 30 questions, including which terms should be interchangeable with bioengineering and which techniques should be considered. AMS is supposed to establish the standard and a process for implementation by July 2018. Read more at Feedstuffs...

Kroger goes to war with Lidl over similar sounding store-brand products

The German grocery chain that recently opened its first store in the U.S. has a private label line called Preferred Selection, which Kroger thinks sounds too much like its own house brand, Private Selection. Read more at Consumerist...

It started with a whisper: SEC filing spills on how Amazon-Whole Foods came to be

A proxy statement that Whole Foods Market filed with the SEC this week details how the merger came to be. Shortly after Jana Partners began putting public pressure on the grocer in April, it received a letter of interest from some unnamed company proposing a partnership. At the same time, though, company leadership was intrigued by a media report that Amazon had once been interested and sought out an introduction. The two companies entered a non-disclosure agreement at the end of that month and began talking about an acquisition. Read more at Benzinga...

MOM's Organic Market reopens Alexandria store with a buzz; adds beekeeping gear to shelves

A new expansion to the store, which upped its size by 40 percent, includes all the gear anyone would need for backyard beehives. Read more at WTOP...