Amazon tests Whole Foods payment system that uses hands as ID
Amazon is testing out a system with the code name “Orville” that allows Amazon Prime users to scan their handprints at a given Amazon-owned store to ring up their purchases. The biometric technology is set to launch in select Whole Foods stores as early as the beginning of 2020, but many technology ethics researchers are cautioning consumers against giving up their biometric data and risking it being hacked or stolen. Read more at The New York Post …
Tariff-related losses cost Nebraska farmers nearly $1B in 2019
As of Monday, Denmark is the first country to officially ban a class of chemicals known as PFAS, which are typically used as a nonstick coating for disposable containers and have been linked to cancer and endocrine disorders. A similar bill to ban PFAS in food packaging was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in May. Read more at Brownfield Ag News …
Burger King to launch meatless ‘Rebel Whopper’ in Brazil
69% of Brazilian consumers surveyed by Burger King reported that they were likely to buy a plant-based burger if the option was offered, which led the company to formulate a plant-based “Rebel Whopper” that will launch in the country in November. Brazil’s fast food market alone is worth around $97 billion, and the launch of plant-based fast food options continues to rise on a global scale as companies scramble to accommodate vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian consumers. Read more at Reuters …
What cell-cultured meat tells us about culture
The dream of feeding consumers products indistinguishable from meat that simultaneously incurred no animal suffering or ecological destruction has kept the cell-cultured meat industry moving forward—and recent technological achievements may push these products to market soon. Here, one expert argues that cultured meat is a both way for humans “to conserve a model of diet, and a way of living, and a set of ideas about markets and economic and population growth” while also changing the entire basis of human subsistence. Read more at New Food Economy …
Baked goods firm to add new Central Florida manufacturing site, more jobs
Smart Baking Co., producer of gluten-free and low-carb Smartcakes and Smartbuns, is investing in a new manufacturing site that will help it add jobs and keep up with consumer demand. The company plans to invest over $1 million to renovate a 50,000-square-foot plant located near its headquarters in Sanford, Florida. Read more at Orlando Business Journal …
