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☆ Michael Bennet demonstrates his go-to piquant tuna sandwich recipe after chatting with cookbook author Mark Bittman
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Michael Bennet discussed food politics with cookbook author Mark Bittman in a new podcast. Bennet shared how he devoured Bittman's recipes during the pandemic and now cooks them regularly. Bennet told Insider he whips up a briny tuna sandwich creation every chance he gets. "I'm going to show you how to make the most sublime thing that is in Mark Bittman's cookbook," the Colorado Democrat says as he walks social media fans through a savory offering punched up by anchovy-spiked olive tapenade. "And I rattled off Mark Bittman's recipe for stir-fried tofu."

☆ Michael Bennet demonstrates his go-to piquant tuna sandwich recipe in chat with cookbook author Mark Bittman
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

☆ U.S. baby formula supply is still vulnerable, former FDA official tells lawmakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. supply of infant formula industry is still vulnerable to safety issues and supply disruptions more than a year after a nationwide shortage that left parents scrambling to feed their children, a former Food and Drug Administration official told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday. The FDA announced a nationwide recall on that day of Abbott Nutrition 's popular Similac, Alimentum and EleCare baby formulas that sparked the nationwide shortage. The infant formula was recalled after several infants became sick with bacterial infections and two died. The plant was shuttered for months, sharply reducing formula supply across the U.S. He pointed to structural and cultural issues within the agency, a failure to monitor the food supply chain and inadequate public health surveillance of the fatal bacteria, Cronobacter sakazakii, that contaminated Abbott's formula.

☆ FDA Proposes Overhaul in Wake of Baby Formula Shortage
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Kristina Peterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed consolidating the leadership of the food side of the agency Tuesday, in response to criticism of its slow response to the baby formula shortages and other food safety concerns. The plan unveiled by FDA Commissioner Robert Califf reorganizes the overlapping food divisions by putting a single deputy commissioner in charge of food policy and regulation within the agency.

☆ FDA official overseeing food policy and response to resign in wake of baby formula shortage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Frank Yiannas, a top official at the Food and Drug Administration in charge of the agency's food policy and response office, announced Wednesday that he is stepping down from his role as deputy commissioner. His resignation comes days after Abbott Laboratories confirmed that the Justice Department was investigating the company over its Michigan baby formula plant. "Today, I informed Commissioner [Robert] Califf that I will be resigning my position as Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Food Policy and Response effective February 24 ," Yiannas tweeted. Yiannas' resignation announcement comes weeks after an expert panel issued a scathing report on its investigation of the FDA's processes and organizational structure for its foods program. That investigation, was ordered by FDA Commissioner Robert Califf in July, following growing criticism that the agency had mishandled the formula crisis after illnesses were reported.

☆ In wake of baby formula crisis, critical report recommends major food safety changes at FDA
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

It enforces food safety regulations, works with local governments on food safety information, promotes dietary guidelines, and develops food safety information and education, as well as overseeing nutrition labels on most food and being responsible for promoting good nutrition practices to the US public. Another would have the FDA develop a strategy to increase funding for the Human Foods Program, with help from Congress. “The current culture of the FDA Human Foods Program is inhibiting its ability to effectively accomplish this goal” of protecting public health,” the report says. “The work of these independent evaluators will help to inform a new vision for the FDA Human Foods Program,” Califf said in a news release. Some critics have suggested that food safety takes a back seat to the FDA’s regulations of drugs and medical devices.

The United States has just about 90 million planted acres of corn, and there's a reason people refer to the crop as yellow gold. In 2021, U.S. corn was worth over $86 billion, according to calculations from FarmDoc and the United States Department of Agriculture. "We're really good at [corn production]," Seth Meyer, chief economist at the USDA, told CNBC. Corn is in what we buy, including medications and textiles, and corn is turned into ethanol, which helps to fuel cars across the nation. "Do we get the corn acres because we've got the support, or do we have the support because we have the corn acres?"

Rising salinity in the Delta has multiple causes, experts and farmers say, including overextraction of groundwater and excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides. "With time, with the sea level higher, that line of salinity will go down into the Delta. EVAPORATIONSea water intrusion and salinity also threaten the Mekong Delta in Vietnam and the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta in Bangladesh. "You have to do much better job in a place like the Nile Delta because the water just evaporates quickly," she said. Rice cultivation helps wash the soil, but the government has imposed restrictions on the crop in parts of the Delta to conserve scarce water.

Companies Hormel Foods Corp FollowNov 15 (Reuters) - Hormel Foods' labeling of a meat product line as "natural" despite using the same hogs and production methods as its other brands shows the U.S. meat labeling system needs reforms, said consumer advocates and documents released on Tuesday from a lawsuit the company is close to settling. “This is an endemic problem, not a Hormel problem.”Hormel said the company complies with USDA rules and guidelines for labeling and that it stands behind its Natural Choice products. "The term ‘natural’ is practically unregulated and can/will be used widely – as a result there is little to no difference between ‘natural’ meat and ‘conventional’ meat," read the slides, which were part of the document release. The presentation also advised companies to appeal to consumers' desire for wholesome products by packaging their meat in cardboard. Hormel and ALDF asked the court to dismiss the case last Thursday after agreeing to settlement terms.

☆ Food inflation might be slowing — but that doesn't spell good news for food prices just yet
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Food inflation is easing, but food prices are still high by historical standards. The UN's Food Price Index fell for the sixth straight month in September, but was still up 5.5% on-year. Aside from raw material prices, other factors — such as labor costs — also affect food prices. His comments came just after the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization released data on Friday showing its food price index fell for the sixth straight month in September. There are also many moving parts to food prices.

☆ It is taking up to 2 weeks to inspect tankers carrying grain from Ukraine, causing a massive backlog of 150 ships
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Stephen Jones | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

150 Ukrainian grain ships are waiting to be cleared by UN inspectors, the agency told Insider. The progress of the grain ships has been closely monitored since the beginning of the Ukraine war. Exports virtually stopped following Russia's invasion, prompting concerns over the possible impact less Ukrainian grain being available could have on global food security. The Financial Times first reported the backlog of ships waiting inspection, citing figures published by SovEcon which tracks Black Sea agricultural markets. As of Monday, more than 90 ships are yet to reach their final destination, according to the Black Sea Grain Initiative's tracker, although some of these left port recently.

☆ Ex-FDA Official Says Baby-Formula Industry Remains Vulnerable to Problems
▼ + stars: | 2022-02-17 | by ( Kristina Peterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Frank Yiannas helped lead the FDA’s response to the baby-formula recall and ensuing shortages. WASHINGTON—The baby-formula industry remains as vulnerable to safety problems and supply disruptions as it did more than a year ago, when a recall led to nationwide shortages, a former Food and Drug Administration official says in testimony submitted for a congressional hearing Tuesday. “The nation remains one outbreak, tornado, flood, or cyberattack away from finding itself in a similar place to that of February 17, 2022,” Frank Yiannas , the former deputy FDA commissioner for food policy and response, says in testimony prepared for a hearing by the House Oversight Committee’s healthcare panel. Mr. Yiannas helped lead the agency’s response to the formula recall and ensuing shortages.

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