Friday, June 26

Senate Agriculture Committee mulls options on COOL

via Food Safety News

Two weeks after the House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal country-of-origin labeling for beef, pork and chicken, the debate opened in the Senate. Read more...

The state of fresh: Are fresh foods really stealing sales from non-fresh foods?

via Nielsen

It's kind of complicated. Fresh food sales have increased 5 percent over the past four years, but that may not be why center store department sales are struggling. Read more...

The problem with David Perlmutter, the Grain Brain doctor

via NYMAG

Why has this bestselling author escaped the kind of public criticism that's plagued Dr. Oz and Food Babe? Read more...

Rodale opens medicinal garden filled with homeopathic plants in Kutztown

via LancasterOnline

A new garden opening at The Boiron Medicinal Garden shows off the medicinal properties of plants. Read more...

UK: GM wheat fails to repel pests in field trials costing almost £1m

via International Business Times

Another blow to genetically modified crops: A variety of wheat developed overseas to resist pests has failed in field trials. Read more...

Thursday, June 25: Cost of cleaning up ingredients? Papa John's says $100 million | The myth of gender-specific foods

Papa John's is spending $100  million a year to clean up menu

via Bloomberg Business

A year after removing MSG from its ranch dressing a trans fat from its garlic sauce, the pizza chain is banishing corn syrup, artificial colors and various preservatives. Read more...

Here's what happens when a man eats nothing but food made for women

via Thrillist

This male writer's experience with Special K, Activia, Luna Bars and other "food for women" takes down the idea of gendered food marketing. Read more...

Pet supplements sales add up

via Pet Product News

After years of modest growth, pet supplements are ready to take off, according to research firm Packaged Facts. Read more...

Dairy farmers launch campaign to strip 'American cheese' of its name

via Mashable

A social media campaign spearheaded by farmer-owned dairy cooperative Tillamook asks Americans to shun processed cheese, just in time for the Fourth of July. Read more...

Genetically modified salmon: Coming to a river near you?

via NPR

For nearly two decades, Massachusetts biotech firm AquaBounty Technologies has been trying to get the FDA to approve an engineered an Atlantic salmon that grows twice as fast as the conventional farm-raised kind. Read more...

Wednesday, June 24: Whole Foods accused of overcharging customers | Chemical safety reform bill passes House

Whole Foods chain faces NYC probe after investigators found ‘worst case of overcharges’

via New York Daily News

According to the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, Whole Foods sells prepackaged goods with mislabeled weights which cause shoppers to be overcharged. Read more...

House OKs bill revising chemical regulations

via The Associated Press

If enacted, the bill would update the Toxic Substances Control Act by setting safety standards for tens of thousands of chemicals that are now unregulated. Read more...

Fast food chains are demanding ethical products. How will farmers keep up?

via Eater

The biggest challenge lies in that chains tend to use just part of an animal, leaving farmers to sell the rest of the pig, chicken or cow elsewhere. Read more...

FDA trans-fat order sets the table for more food product 'regulation by litigation'

via Forbes

The FDA's wording--and what it didn't say in its trans fat ruling, opens the door for lawsuits related to the presence of partially hydrogenated oils in foods. Read more...

Allergen-free peanuts lead USDA report highlighting new innovations in ag

via USDA

USDA research last year also led to process for faster egg pasteurization, new methods of mosquito control. Read more...

Tuesday, June 23: Clif Bar, Organic Valley fund organic research initiative | Can small brands avoid selling out to Big Food?

Clif Bar spearheads $10M investment to fund 5 endowed chairs focused on organic agricultural research

via Clif Bar & Co.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is the first of five schools expected to receive an endowment from Clif Bar and partner Organic Valley to fund chairs dedicated to organic plant breeding. Read more...

Can mission-driven food companies avoid selling out?

via Civil Eats

Equal Exchange, a fair trade, worker-owned coffee producer, says that more small companies would stay independent if they knew how to raise capital on their own terms. Read more...

A little fish with big impact in trouble on U.S. West Coast

via Yale Environment 360

Scientists are concerned that officials waited too long to order a ban on U.S. Pacific sardine fishing that goes into effect July 1. Read more...

Public interest groups call on Subway: Save antibiotics!

via NRDC

Groups including Natural Resources Defense Council, Friends of the Earth, Consumers Union and Center for Food Safety sent a letter to Subway's CEO asking for the chain to phase out meats produced with routine use of antibiotics. Read more...

Equal Exchange believes that “more mission-driven companies like ourselves and so many small food enterprises would stay independent, and on mission, if they only knew a way to raise capital on their own terms—not those of Wall Street or private equity firms. - See more at: http://civileats.com/2015/06/23/can-mission-driven-food-companies-avoid-selling-out/#sthash.JUJ0OUKY.dpuf

Equal Exchange believes that “more mission-driven companies like ourselves and so many small food enterprises would stay independent, and on mission, if they only knew a way to raise capital on their own terms—not those of Wall Street or private equity firms. - See more at: http://civileats.com/2015/06/23/can-mission-driven-food-companies-avoid-selling-out/#sthash.JUJ0OUKY.dpuf

Equal Exchange believes that “more mission-driven companies like ourselves and so many small food enterprises would stay independent, and on mission, if they only knew a way to raise capital on their own terms—not those of Wall Street or private equity firms. - See more at: http://civileats.com/2015/06/23/can-mission-driven-food-companies-avoid-selling-out/#sthash.JUJ0OUKY.dpuf

Ryan Gosling urges Costco to sell cage-free eggs

via Huffington Post

In response to The Humane Society of the United State's investigation into Hillandale Farms that surfaced last week, Gosling wrote to Costco calling the retailer "appalling" for selling the supplier's eggs with "deceptive labeling." Read more...

Monday, June 22: Why General Mills will cut fake flavors from cereal |  GMO fights increase in Vermont and Argentina

The real reason General Mills will cut fake flavors from cereals like Trix and Lucky Charms

via The Washington Post

About 60 percent of General Mills's cereals — like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cheerios, Kix and Total — are already free of artificial colors, but the rest of the company's cereal aisle will drop the fake stuff by 2017. Prices won't change, the company said, when the new Trix and Reese's Puffs hit shelves this winter. Read more ...

Vermont, grocers' group in a fight over GMO labeling

via Providence Journal

Vermont's first-in-the-nation law requiring the labeling of foods made with genetically modified organisms could cost the nation's grocers up to $10 million a day in fines, according to a letter from an industry organization that is suing the block the law.

Avocado are smash [video]

via CNN Money

Avocados made a Super Bowl debut this year, but their popularity beyond the guacamole bowl is adding up to big business for Mexico. Watch here ...

Department of Agriculture imposes precautionary interstate quarantine orders for live bird markets, breaker eggs

via Pittsburgh's Action News 4

A new interstate quarantine order aims to protect Pennsylvania from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) by establishing strict testing requirements on shipments of domesticated poultry and eggs from states with cases of HPAI that confirm the shipments as disease-free. Read more ...

Argentinian Federal Judge Accepts Lawsuit to Ban GMOs and Pesticides

via Sustainable Pulse

A federal judge in Argentina has ruled that an unprecedented class action lawsuit, demanding a ban on the release of GMOs and their associated pesticides, can proceed. Read more ...