Natural food supermarket chain Whole Foods Market says it's pulling salad bar to-go containers after a study found it ranked worst of five major grocery chains for chemicals in the packaging. The coated paper hot bar containers were used because they were biodegradable, but ...read more
McDonald's is the first burger chain to announce plans to reduce antibiotic use in its beef products on a global scale. Suppliers for the world's largest fast-food chain will need to comply with the standards by 2021. The company says it will start in ten test markets as pilot ...read more
Much of the 2018 Farm Bill's language has still not been made public but one aspect of the bill is getting a lot of people talking: the expected legalization of industrial hemp. Hemp, despite its lack of THC -- the compound in marijuana that gets you high -- fell under the ...read more
Amazon may soon bring its cashierless store concept to Whole Foods. It debuted the Amazon Go store two years ago, which operates without cashiers or self-checkouts. The online retailer acquired the natural food chain in 2017. The modest 1,800 square-foot Amazon Go store allows ...read more
Leading outdoor clothing, gear, and food manufacturer, Patagonia, says it will donate all of its $10 million in tax savings as a result of the Trump admininstration's tax cuts. The money will go to various environmental organizations. The California-based company has been a ...read more
A new study finds consumption of soft drinks -- soda in particular -- significantly increases the risk of developing type-2 diabetes. The new research, published in the journal BMJ found that "nutrient poor" beverages as well as other "free sugars" like sweets and pastries, pose ...read more
More than half of U.S. consumers think food additives contribute to serious health risks, a new report from the Pew Research Center revealed. “As consumers are confronted with new food technologies and ongoing debates over how what we eat can have a lasting impact on one’s ...read more
USDA and FDA say they will share the regulatory oversight of cell-based meat, also known as clean or lab-grown meat. The meat products, which have yet to make it to market, represent a new future for animal protein. Cell-based meat is "grown" after a cell sample is taken from an ...read more
As demand for plant-based products continues to rise, there's now a Certified Plant Based label from the industry trade group. The Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA) in association with certifying agency NSF International launched the program this week. The new certification ...read more
New research points to an increased connection between obesity and cancer. The study, out of Trinity College Dublin, have discovered what may be a breakthrough in the prevalence of cancer in obese people. The researchers noted that Natural Killer cells- - the body's front line ...read more
New data released by the Food and Drug Administration reveals that restaurants are the most common source of foodborne illness outbreaks. The agency identified five main risk factors from poor personal hygiene to improper food holding time and temperature to contaminated ...read more
Plant-based diets dominate the U.S. News & World Report's (USN) 2019 diet trend predictions. According to the publication, plant-based protein will be the top trend in the next year with ingredients like pea protein, beans, nuts, and seeds eking out space next to animal protein. ...read more
Vegan meat company Tofurky along with the Animal Legal Defense Fund, The Good Food Institute, and the ACLU of Missouri, have filed a preliminary injunction with the U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri, in Jefferson City earlier this week. The injunction is aimed at ...read more
Premier member-based supermarket Sam's Club says it is opening a spinoff store aimed at rivaling Amazon's new concept, Amazon Go. The new store concept, Sam's Club Now, is set to open soon in Dallas in what the chain is calling "the epicenter" of innovation for Sam's Club. "There ...read more
New research has linked regular consumption of organic food to a reduced risk of developing certain types of cancer. The research, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, looked at the health data of nearly 70,000 adults in France.The subjects reported to the research ...read more
The food waste produced by the world's richest nations, some $750 billion worth annually, could end world hunger -- twice over -- according to the United Nations World Food Programme. More than 800 million people were considered food insecure in 2017. David Beasley, head of ...read more
Popular fast-food chain Panera Bread will become the first chain of its kind to reveal the whole grain content of the bread it serves. The company says any bread, roll, or bagel that contains 50 percent or more whole grains per serving will feature the number of servings of ...read more
International consumer goods brand Unilever says it will support the #BeCrueltyFree campaign aimed at ending cosmetic animal testing within five years. The campaign is led by Humane Society International, the Humane Society of the United States, and the Humane Society ...read more
"Light" drinking, such as a daily glass of wine four or more times per week, may increase the risk of premature death says a new study from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings, published this week in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & ...read more
U.S. kids are eating more fast food these days despite widespread efforts to provide healthier options at home and at school as well as efforts to help them develop palates for healthy food. The news comes via the results of a 2016 Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at ...read more
Fast-food giant McDonald's says it has removed all artificial flavors, preservatives, and colors from its classic burgers in all 14,000 U.S. locations calling it the "next" major milestone for the chain's food journey "and another way the company is helping customers feel good ...read more
Climate change is taking its toll on America's national parks, new data reveal. The recent study found that the country's national parks are warming at twice the pace of the national average, with some expected to see the "worst effects" of climate change, the Guardian notes. ...read more
Candy maker Mars says the world's cocoa supply chain is broken -- rife with issues from deforestation to child labor and unsustainable sourcing. But a new $1 billion commitment from the M&Ms and Snickers brand hopes to change that. “The cocoa supply chain as it works today is ...read more
Coca-Cola may be getting into the cannabis market. The soda giant told Bloomberg News it's keeping an eye on cannabis-infused products, such as those containing the nonpsychoactive CBD compound, particularly as demand for sugary and diet drinks have waned in recent years. “We ...read more
McDonald's needs to up its animal welfare standards for chickens, according to 20 celebrities writing the fast-food chain earlier this week on behalf of the Humane Society of the United States. The celebrities, which include Alec Baldwin, Susan Sarandon, Kristen Bell, Joaquin ...read more
West coast supermarket chain Raley's says it will overhaul its checkout area selections in all 129 locations throughout California and Nevada. The Sacramento-based chain will remove all conventional candy brand options and move to stock healthier options more in line with ...read more
The popular UK fast-food restaurant chain LEON, which boasts an emphasis on "healthy" fast-food, is set to open its first U.S. location in the nation's capital, Washington, DC. The chain, which opened in London in 2004 by a former Procter & Gamble executive, bills itself as ...read more
A lot of things come to mind when you hear the name Oprah Winfrey. The free cars, the tears, Tom Cruise jumping up and down on the couch... There's the book club, the network, the speech. But...pizza night? That last one might not be on your radar. But that may soon change as ...read more
Publix, the leading supermarket chain in the Southeast with more than 1,200 stores throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and the Carolinas, will move its GreenWise natural grocery sets into more standalone stores, doubling its current roster, the company ...read more
A Missouri law set to go in effect today is being challenged in court by vegan meat producer Tofurky along with nonprofit organizations The Good Food Institute, the ACLU of Missouri, and the Animal Legal Defense Fund. The law aims to ban plant-based and vegan food producers ...read more
Imagine it's 1997, you've got "The Doggfather" on full-blast in your parents' smoky basement. You're polishing up your Air Jordans, ready to roll another fatty. Snoop Dogg was still cozy with Dr. Dre and souped-up Cadillacs, gin and juice firmly planted in one hand and a blunt ...read more
During a media training call in May, John Schnatter, founder of popular pizza chain Papa John's, reportedly uttered a racial slur that cost him his job. And now he wants it back, with an ad in his hometown paper, Louisville’s Courier-Journal. Schnatter, who founded the chain ...read more
More than sixty percent of baby food products tested by Consumer Reports were found to contain what the group labeled "worrisome" levels of heavy metals including mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and lead. The study found it made no difference whether or not products were organic; ...read more
Ask five people what the secret is to getting kids to eat healthier and you're likely to get five very different answers. But here's one answer you're not likely to hear: make sure they live near a forest. That's right. Forests. A new study, the first of its kind, looked at ...read more
Restaurants seeking to capitalize on the growing demand for organic food are misusing organic labeling, says an exposé in the New York Times. Companies like the popular fast food burger chain Bareburger display the word "organic" on packaging and marketing materials, but not ...read more
Concern about the safety of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide is ricocheting across the globe after a U.S. court found the agrochemical and seed company guilty of causing terminal cancer in a former groundskeeper who used the product on a regular basis. The California jury awarded ...read more
Pakistan's incoming prime minister, Imran Khan, is leading the nation to a greener future with the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami program, an environmental initiative that aims to bring ten billion new trees to the country in an effort to reduce the impact of climate change. The ...read more
Amazon Prime members can now pick up their Whole Foods orders in just 30 minutes, the retailer announced yesterday. Six months after launching Prime delivery with a two-hour window, the retail giant says it's now offering thirty-minute pickups in Sacramento and Virginia Beach ...read more
Good Catch Foods, the vegan seafood brand set to launch next year, has announced the closing of an $8.7 million Series A funding round to further its product development and launch. Funding came from key players in the organic and natural food industry: New Crop Capital led ...read more
Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork producer, now owned by China's WH Group, was ordered by a federal jury on Friday to pay nearly $500 million to residents; $23.5 million is for compensatory damages and $450 million was awarded in punitive damages for hog farm pollution ...read more
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are now showing resistance to alcohol-based hand sanitizers and disinfectants used in place of the controversial ingredient Triclosan in mitigating the spread of these harmful "superbugs." A recent study, published in the journal Science ...read more
The Kraft Heinz Company announced today that it will move toward a 2025 deadline to make all of its packaging globally recyclable, reusable or compostable. It says it will also work toward increasing the recycled content in its packaging and decreasing the overall volume of ...read more
Race may have played a role in the sale of defective seeds to a group of Black farmers, says a new lawsuit. The farmers, from Tennessee and Mississippi, say the Stine Seed Co. intentionally sold them defective seeds because of the farmers' skin color. Some of the farmers say ...read more
A new analysis from the Environmental Working Group finds residues of at least one of three EU-banned neonicotinoid pesticides – imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam -- on more than half of samples of potatoes, lettuce, and spinach tested between 2015-2016. More than a ...read more
Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables may help women to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer. The new research, published in the International Journal of Cancer and led by a team at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, found that cruciferous vegetables ...read more
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb says the agency will move to outline standards of identity for milk, threatening the booming $10 billion U.S. nondairy milk market. “An almond doesn’t lactate, I will confess,” Gottlieb said on Tuesday, in a reference to the agency's current ...read more
McDonald's and Starbucks have announced plans to develop a compostable and recyclable cup in a strategic partnership. The move comes after both chains announced plans to phase out and replace single-use plastic straws. The initiative, NextGen Cup Challenge, seeks sustainable ...read more
U.S. divisions of Danone, Mars, Nestlé, and Unilever, four of the largest food companies in the world, said on Thursday that they've started their own food lobby in order to push progressive new food policies as the market continues to shift toward transparency, clean ...read more
You get a healthy restaurant! And you get a healthy restaurant! And you get a healthy restaurant! That's perhaps how Oprah Winfrey would have announced her “significant equity investment” in a rising restaurant chain on her former talk show. But despite lacking the live audience ...read more
Starbucks says it plans to remove all plastic straws from its 28,000 stores across the globe by 2020 in an effort to reduce its environmental footprint. "Not using a straw is the best thing we can do for the environment," the company said in a statement. Starbucks says it was ...read more