Goldman feasts at expense of food company client, suit claims

UNFI is suing Goldman Sachs for “improperly extracting more than $200 million in advising the Providence, R.I., food distributor on its $3 billion acquisition of grocery chain Supervalu Inc.” Goldman has been accused of using aggressive tactics when UNFI objected to changes Goldman made in loan terms related to the deal, as well as manufacturing a default on the UNFI debt to win their CDS bets against the company. Read more at The Wall Street Journal …

Arsenic and lead are in your fruit juice: What you need to know

New tests from Consumer Reports show elevated levels of arsenic, mercury, cadmium and lead in 45 popular fruit juices sold nationwide—enough for even a half-cup-per-day juice drinker to be concerned. This news affects one juice-drinking demographic in particular: children, who are already particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of heavy metal consumption. These effects can compound into cardiovascular disease, bone damage, fertility problems and high blood pressure. Read more at Consumer Reports …

Eating breakfast may not be that helpful for weight loss after all

A recent meta-analysis of clinical trials assessing the benefits of eating breakfast found that “those who ate breakfast tended to eat about 260 extra calories per day and on average gain 0.44 kilograms [roughly a pound].” Encouraging people who are trying to lose weight to eat breakfast, it follows, may have been inducing the opposite effect this whole time. Although the researchers note their findings shouldn’t be taken as definitive, the breakfast-as-a-metabolism-booster notion appears to have been effectively dispelled. Read more at Gizmodo …

Purina wants to feed your dog crickets and fish heads

Purina is introducing new line of pet food that features invasive fish species and insects—a hot take in an increasingly anthropomorphistic industry where dogs are often served human-grade, organic meals. These high-nutrient, abundant food sources, while unpalatable for humans, would help feed beloved pets even as the challenge of feeding the world’s growing human population escalates. Read more at Bloomberg …

With Row 7 Seeds, Dan Barber is upgrading our ingredients

Seed company Row 7 “aims to connect farmers, chefs and breeders to create a collection of vegetables that appeal specifically to chefs.” Basically, the company takes your average fruit or vegetable and efficiently genetically modifies it to better adhere to chef and consumer preferences. For example, making large, unwieldy pumpkin breeds easily portable and richer in flavor. Eventually, the company hopes to facilitate a collaborative relationship between chefs and local, organic farmers to produce and serve more never-before-seen crops. Read more at Grub Street  …