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Could Flesh-Eating Screwworms End up in Your Beef? USDA Reveals Risk Level
The return of the New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite eradicated from the U.S. in the 1960s, has raised fresh concerns about whether it could threaten the nation’s food supply. Unlike other foodborne diseases like norovirus, E. coli and salmonella, which sicken millions of Americans every year, experts say the screwworm is not a threat to the food on our dinner tables.
“The U.S. food supply is not compromised by New World screwworm, which is an animal issue, but not a foodborne pathogen issue,” Dr. Aaron Glatt, chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital, told Fox News Digital.
“While screwworm infestation is an infection of live animals, it does not result in meat, milk or produce becoming contaminated.” Screwworms die during standard meat processing and cooking, according to Glatt.
Ultra-Processed Food Lawsuits Multiply Despite Early Setbacks
Consumers of industrially processed food are suing the nation’s largest snack, breakfast, and beverage companies, intensifying litigation pressure even as federal and state regulators bear down on the sector.
The flurry of lawsuits — all but one filed since January — accuse nearly a dozen major “ultra-processed food” producers of failing to warn consumers about health risks associated with their products, which contain ingredients not found in most home kitchens like emulsifiers or guar gum. US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. frequently characterizes UPFs as “poison.”
The burgeoning area of litigation parallels a broader national push to advance understanding and oversight of industrialized food production as federal health officials and some states move to limit UPF consumption. But consumers seeking compensation from food manufacturers for the alleged health harms caused by UPFs hit a roadblock last month when a federal court permanently dismissed one such lawsuit.
PepsiCo’s Turnaround Stutters as Americans Rethink Snacking
European Supermarket Magazine reported:
Americans built one of the world’s great snacking cultures. Now PepsiCo is discovering just how fast that can shift. With one in five American households using GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, surging living costs, and a broader shift toward healthier eating, it is getting harder for the company to reignite growth. The pressure showed up in its quarterly results last week.
Sales in the Frito-Lay and Pepsi soda maker’s North American food business slipped 2%, while volume was flat in the second quarter ended 13 June, even after earlier price cuts of up to 15% on some of its biggest products including Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos and Tostitos.
That marked a reversal from the modest recovery investors thought they were seeing at the start of the year, when volume growth improved to around 2% in the first quarter, with the North America food business returning to growth. Volumes at its food business have fallen four times in the last six quarters.
The EPA Approved 3 New PFAS Pesticides — and One Has Already Raised Cancer Questions
There are three new pesticides coming for American crops. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) quietly approved three pesticides containing PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals,” for use on crops. The approved chemicals, EWG added, include one scientists have already flagged as potentially carcinogenic. Here’s what you need to know about the newly approved pesticides.
According to EWG’s July 13 analysis, the EPA approved trifludimoxazin, diflufenican, and epyrifenacil, all of which are PFAS-based pesticides. The chemicals, it added, can now be sprayed on staple crops, including wheat and citrus. Trifludimoxazin is particularly concerning to the group because its own data shows “suggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential.”
However, this wasn’t the only move the EPA made. According to EWG, it also expanded the approved uses of bifenthrin, a PFAS pesticide that the EPA had already classified as a possible human carcinogen. “The EPA’s hands-off approach to pesticide mixtures is leaving families exposed to a cocktail of forever chemicals on their food,” said Varun Subramaniam, a science analyst at the EWG, in a statement.
MPs Call for Ban on Fast Food Outlets Opening Near Schools to Tackle Obesity
Fast food chains such as KFC should be stopped from opening near schools, and advertising for junk food on billboards and public transport should be banned to help curb obesity, MPs will say today. The Commons health committee will also urge ministers to stop giving in to food industry lobbying and get tough to tackle a problem that costs the UK £74bn a year and causes huge illness.
Bold action is needed as the hundreds of initiatives implemented since 1992 to address rising levels of obesity have failed, according to the cross-party group of MPs. Two-thirds of adults (66%) and 28% of 13- to 15-year-olds in England are now either overweight or obese.
The report also criticises Keir Starmer’s Labour government, saying it has not followed through on pledges to introduce policies to tackle bad diets.
