Each day at 5 p.m. we collect the five top food and supplement headlines of the day, making it easy for you to catch up on today's most important natural products industry news.

December 17, 2018

2 Min Read
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How maple syrup could improve antibiotics

The overuse of antibiotics in recent decades has led to a frightening rise in the numbers of drug-resistant bacteria. However, researchers may have found an unlikely ally in the beloved tree sap we all know as maple syrup. A concentrated extract of the liquid contains phenolic compounds and was particularly effective at combatting certain prevalent bacterial strains in conjunction with antibiotics. Read more at Futurity …

 

America can’t move its cheese

 

Records show that approximately 1.4 billion pounds of American, cheddar and other cheeses are “socked away at cold-storage warehouses across the country” and that we’re facing “the biggest stockpile since federal record-keeping began a century ago.” The excess began when Mexico and China, major US dairy purchasers, instituted retaliatory tariffs on US cheese and whey. It doesn’t help that retailers are shifting their priorities to stocking imported and specialty cheeses, rather than the oh-so-American sliced cheddar and string cheese brands. Read more at The Wall Street Journal 

 

How millions of cartons of ‘organic’ milk contain an oil brewed in industrial vats of algae

Can organic milk supplemented with corn syrup-fed algae oil that was brewed in closed, stainless steel vats still call itself organic? Horizon is now facing consumer backlash after its popular DHA Omega-3-fortified milk was found to have obtained those omegas thanks to the addition of factory-produced algal oil. Consumers who purchased the milk likely assumed that the omega-3s were by-products of sounds organic farming practices, which allows cow milk to contain more omega-3s naturally. Read more at The Chicago Tribune  …

 

Pesticides threaten all 4,000 bee species in North America. Why does research focus on saving just one?

“Save the Honeybee” is a mantra familiar to those in the natural products industry. But scientists have recently concurred that we simply don’t know enough about the other thousands of bee species, in spite of their prominent role in agricultural production. These bees, while less easy to study, have an equally important position in the pollination process, and protecting them is important because, as the article states, “dependency on a single bee species, like the honeybee, sets us up for disaster."  Read more at New Food Economy  ...

 

Dollar stores are taking over the grocery business, and it’s bad news for public health and local economies

Dollar stores have exploded in popularity in rural and low-income areas, but are typically lacking in affordable fresh food options. These stores’ grocery sections, though, are highly appealing to urban consumers in the midst of food deserts who “may be choosing between medicine and rent and food.” Some argue these dollar chains are unfairly undercutting independent grocery stores that might otherwise offer healthier and fresher options to these consumers. Read more at Civil Eats  

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