5@5: House committee approves funding boost for FSMA | Raley's pilots imperfect produce program

Friday, June 19

House Appropriations gives FSMA $41.5 million increase

via Food Safety News

But the increase approved for the FDA's food safety activities for 2016 is still less than half of what President Obama's budget requested. Read more...

Raley's to pilot imperfect produce sales

via Supermarket News

The California retailer has partnered with Imperfect Produce to offer misshapen produce to customers at a lower price. Read more...

Chocolate, chocolate, it's good for your heart, study finds

via NPR

Researchers think it's polyphenols that led to habitual chocolate eaters having lower risk of cardiovascular disease in a new study. Read more...

McDonald's to shrink in U.S., first time in decades

via AP

A sign of the times! For the first time since at least 1970, McDonald's plans to close more restaurants than it opens this year. Read more...

Nestle USA exec: 'Americans are just simply not dieting anymore'

via Food Dive

Jeff Hamilton, president of prepared foods for Nestle USA, says consumer focus is shifting to what's in food and where it comes from. That means some of the company's brands like Lean Cuisine are in need of an update. Read more...

Thursday, June 18: Way Better Snacks gets growth equity investment | KRAVE moves into protein bars

Way Better Snacks announces investment from Alliance Consumer Growth

via BusinessWire

With the investment, the snack food company plans to accelerate distribution, expand product development and increase consumer awareness and adoption. Read more...

KRAVE Jerky to launch low-sugar protein bars

via Bakery and Snacks

The bars, coming this winter, will be made of a blend of meat, vegetables, fruits and grains and have around 4 grams of sugar per serving. Read more...

Monster Beverage, AG Schneiderman fight over energy drinks, alcohol

via Natural Products Insider

The story of the New York attorney general's three-year probe into the energy drink maker's marketing. Read more...

Humane-certified chicken giant caught on video abusing chickens

via Mother Jones

Footage obtained by animal-rights group Mercy for Animals shows chickens at Foster Farms facilities in California being tossed, slammed and handled carelessly by workers. Read more...

King Soopers launches organic e-commerce website

via Progressive Grocer

The Colorado-based branch of Kroger Co. is testing a website that will offer more than 36,000 natural and organic products to local online shoppers. Read more...

Wednesday, June 17: Sen. McCaskill questions retailers on brain health supplement claims | A trans fat loophole?

Senator McCaskill questions retailers, search engines about supplements targeting seniors

via US News and Report

The senator sent letters asking 15 companies how they vet supplements to prevent selling products that make unfounded claims about protecting seniors from memory loss and dementia. Read more...

The FDA's so-called trans fat ban has one massive loophole

via Takepart

Ingredients other than partially hydrogenated oils that contain trans fat will still be allowed to be used, and manufacturers won't have to disclose trans fat content that's less than half a gram per serving. Read more...

GMO ban off to bumpy start in Oregon's Jackson County

via Food Safety News

An ordinance passed by voters in Jackson County, Oregon, banning genetically engineered crops went into effect Saturday, but the county isn't yet enforcing it because of concerns over the cost of enforcement. Read more...

The pegan diet: When paleo met vegan

via CNN

Combining the philosophies of these two diets may make be "very sustainable for the average person," a Cleveland Clinic doctor says. Read more...

Chipotle thinks it can build a better tortilla with fewer ingredients

via Food and Wine

From 11 ingredients to four: whole wheat flour, water, oil and salt. Read more...

Tuesday, June 16: Partially hydrogenated oils no longer GRAS | Big Food influencing nutrition research?

The FDA finally caught up to science on trans fat

via Time

Researchers have known for years that trans fat was linked to an imbalance between good and bad cholesterol. Dr. Steve Nissen, chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine for the Cleveland Clinic, says the move is "correcting a 50-year mistake in dietary advice to Americans." Read more...

Is the leading nutrition science group in Big Food's pocket?

via Mother Jones

A new report from public health lawyer Michele Simon explores the American Society for Nutrition's ties to the food and beverage industry. Read more...

Fortune 500 CEO: The non-GMO trend is an 'emotional' issue

via Fortune

Ingredion CEO Ilene Gordon says the science doesn't point for or against GMOs at this point, and that the ingredient supplier provides "what the consumer wants to eat." Read more...

Robotic grocery store planned for Des Moines

via The Des Moines Register

As part of an experiment to bring healthy food to a food desert, a local nonprofit is hoping to bring a 260-square-foot touch-screen store to the Polk County Health Department parking lot by August. Read more...

Organic pioneer sees hope for movement's future

via National Geographic

Fred Kirschenmann, an organic and sustainable farming visionary, says: "One difficulty is that a lot of organic agriculture is now becoming more monoculture. We have to start thinking about organic in terms of a regenerative agriculture, that is, that the practice of agriculture regenerates the resources of agriculture." Read more...

Monday, June 15: Sugar vs. nutrients: Which do children's vitamins have more of? | France bans Roundup in garden stores

The big problem with children's vitamins and supplements

via Newsweek

Gummies and Flinstones vitamins may taste great to kids, but recent studies suggest that that many kinds of children's vitamins don't contain the amount of vitamins listed on the bottle. They do, however, have lots of sugar. Read more...

France bans sale of Monsanto herbicide Roundup in nurseries

via AFP

"France must be on the offensive with regards to the banning of pesticides," says Ecology Minister Segolene Royal. Read more...

How Utah became a bizarre, blissful epicenter for get-rich-quick schemes

via Talking Points Memo

When multi-level marketing and supplements collide. Read more...

Judge to FDA: When are you going to make a decision on evaporated cane juice labeling?

via Food Navigator

Lawsuits involving Healthy Beverage LLC's and Late July Snacks's use of evaporated cane juice on their labels have been put on hold until FDA clarifies its position on the labeling. But the courts have been waiting since March 2014. Read more...

Can better grazing help dairy farmers cope with drought and climate change?

via Yahoo! Food

This Oregon dairy farmer rotates his cows between field segments to keep the cows—and the soil—healthier. Read more...