Mind the junk food: London to ban ads for unhealthy eats on public transportation

As of February 2019, the city of London will ban junk food advertising—including cheeseburgers, sugary drinks, chocolate bars, and chips—across all of its public transportation network. The food and drink brands that once occupied wall space will be given the option to advertise their healthier options, partly in the hopes of encouraging the 37 percent of overweight or obese 10- and 11-year-olds in London to rethink their dietary choices. Read more at NPR …

Americans are divided over whether eating organic foods makes for better health

According to a new survey conducted earlier this year, US adults remain evenly divided over whether organic produce is better for one’s health. Results showed that younger people are more likely to believe in the health benefits of organics, but that there are no pointed differences between men and women’s views on the topic. Read to learn more about the findings. Read more at Pew Research  …

The science is clear: Dirty farm water is making us sick

In 2011, the Obama administration planned a fix for tainted produce—have produce growers test their water under a specific set of rules. These water-testing rules were shelved six months before the outbreak of contaminated romaine lettuce under President Donald Trump’s FDA in response to pressure from the farm industry. Now, the multiple deadly outbreaks of E. coli and Yuma underscore “that irrigation water is a prime source of foodborne illnesses,” but the FDA appears to be showing no signs of urgency. Read more at Wired ...

The palm-oil-free hazelnut spread that is taking on Nutella

Nutella has thus far had an uncontested hold on global chocolate spread sales—it currently takes up a whopping 54 percent of the market. However, the Italy-based Barilla Group are launching a rival product called “Crema Pan di Stelle” in January of 2019. The product is notably formulated without palm oil, an increasingly demonized ingredient among consumers that was the subject of a recent viral commercial. Read more at Munchies …

Sainsbury’s launches scheme labelling items useful to food banks

The 1,400-branch supermarket will be taking part in the Help Brighten a Million Christmases campaign, and making it easier for customers to “include priority items such as tinned fish, meat and vegetables, longlife fruit juice and dried or UHT milk” in their purchases for donation. The labels on these items mark them as a priority for local charities and have tripled donations thus far. Read more at The Guardian …