5@5: 250 companies join forces to end plastic waste | USDA rethinks criteria for 'healthy' food products

250 organizations are joining forces to end plastic waste

Companies representing around 20 percent of all plastic packaging produced in the world have joined forces this month in an effort to create a “circular economy for plastic.” This union was led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and aims to bring these organizations together to work in a more cohesive way while creating sustainable packaging and changing the behavior that sends even recyclable products to the trash. Read more at Fast Company ...

Gum, bottled water, pizza bagels want to be called ‘healthy’

As nutrition science barrels forward, the FDA has been pressured into changing its criteria for the kinds of products that can market themselves as ‘healthy.’ This push comes after many a brush with food companies whose products may have had, for example, too much fat from nuts to make the cut. Fairly recent science has proven that these fats are good for us, but the FDA’s regulations on fat content has remained the same for more than two decades. The main problem with the term is that “healthy” is relative–“Subsisting on broccoli alone, for instance, wouldn’t be healthy.” Read more at AP News …

Why is CBD everywhere?

Both the ‘natural’ derivation of CBD and its tension-relieving effects have contributed to the supplement’s becoming “a perfect cure for our times,” according to The New York Times. Retailers are adding CBD to everything—alcoholic drinks, melatonin gummies and beauty products alike. However, separating hype from science will be crucial in moving forward; CBD is not a cure-all, although its safety and efficacy in a number of maladies will make it a mainstay in the supplement industry for years to come. Read more at The New York Times  …

Food stamps for soda: time to end billion-dollar subsidy for sugary drinks?

A 2016 report from the USDA found that recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) spend about 10 percent of their food dollars on sugary drinks, as opposed to only 7 percent of the rest of the US population. These drinks have been proven to impact both weight gain and Type 2 diabetes, and yet changing the SNAP program so as to push recipients toward healthier options is an intimidating venture. Read more at NPR …

Why peanut reactions have become ‘almost epidemic’—and what to do about food allergies

Peanut allergies have tripled since 1997, meaning that about two children per classroom are likely to have life-threatening allergic reactions to certain foods. Dr. Scott Sicherer, director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at New York’s Mount Sinai hospital, believes that this may be because of a collective lack of exposure to germs that help build up immunity as children grow up. When kids become accustomed to the “clean living” of computers and sanitized spaces, the immune system begins to attack foods rather than germs. Read more at CNBC …