5@5: GMA fined $18M over GMO labeling battle | Tech entrepreneur tackles roadside convenience food

Grocery group fined $18M in fight against GMO food-labeling initiative

The Grocery Manufacturers Association intentionally violated campaign-finance laws by hiding the identities of individual companies that contributed some $11 million to fighting Washington's GMO labeling initiative in 2013, to protect them from consumer backlash, according to a superior court judge's ruling handed down this week. Read more at The Seattle Times...

Cisco co-founder Sandy Lerner's next big idea: Redefining road food

You might not guess it, but the former tech executive (and founder of cosmetics company Urban Decay) owned the first farm in Virginia to be certified both organic and humane. Now she's opening a series of new retail and grocery stores along highways, offering healthy take-home meals and a $5 organic hamburger. Read more at The Washington Post...

Tien Ho

Meet the chef Whole Foods Market hired to boost its prepared foods prowess. Read more at edible Austin...

CDC: Kids continue to consume too much salt, putting them at risk

Sugar may have supplanted salt as America's biggest food villain, but that doesn't mean salt is off the hook. A new study by researchers from the CDC says packaged bakery and snack foods are contributing to high levels of salt intake in kids. They found the average sodium intake for children to be around 3,200 mg per day—way higher than the recommended 2,000 mg per day. Read more at Statesman...

Food labels may confuse shoppers with allergies

Precautionary allergen labels—those that state that a product "may contain" certain ingredients—are voluntary, yet as many as half of shoppers who either have food allergies or buy for people with food allergies think they're required, according to a new survey. Read more at UPI...