A new Trump rule could take food stamps away from 755,000 people

USDA-head Sonny Perdue has proposed a farm-bill workaround that targets “able-bodied adults without dependents” aged 18 to 49 and prevents them from accessing food stamps for more than three months each three-year period. Besides the fact that there’s little to no evidence that the SNAP program discourages people from working, nutrition advocates have stated that this new rule would make life harder on the most vulnerable Americans. Read more at Vox …

Here’s a first look at the label that must appear on all GMO foods by 2022

The USDA has officially posted its GMO label law, which will affect mass-market snacks, cereals, freezer meals as well as new bioengineered fruits, vegetables and seafood such as the non-browning Arctic apple. Take a peek at the official label that will be showing up on GMO and GMO-containing grocery store items in the coming years. Read more at New Food Economy …

Toblerone’s halal certification outrages the far right

Beloved chocolate candy Toblerone achieved halal certification this past April, prompting members of Europe’s far right to call for a mass boycott despite the fact that Toblerone’s recipe did not change. Toblerone’s parent company, Mondelez, has publicly stated that the boycott is “an expression of Islamophobia and nothing else." Read more at CNN …

Unilever buys meat-free food company The Vegetarian Butcher

The booming market for meat alternatives has wooed Unilever into buying The Vegetarian Butcher brand for an undisclosed sum. Unilever has stated that this acquisition “fitted its strategy to move into healthier plant-based foods with a lower environmental impact.  Read more at The Guardian  ...

Can this ‘sleep-friendly’ ice cream really help you catch more zzzs?

The latest in functional food: A $4.99 pint of ice cream that has “a balance of fiber, protein, and (less) sugar” to sidestep regular ice cream’s disruption of the nervous system right before bed. Nightfood’s creators have resisted putting ingredients such as melatonin and CBD in their products in order to avoid becoming too niche, and they cite the wild success of better-for-you low-cal Halo Top ice cream as a signifier that consumers are willing to switch to brands that make them feel less guilt around snacking. Read more at Fast Company  …