THIS SECTION IS FOR NEWS AND INTERESTING STORIES RELATED TO FOOD, NUTRITION AND FOOD PROCESSING. THEY ARE NOT NECESSARILY RELATED TO KOSHER BUT MAY BE OF INTEREST TO THE KOSHER CONSUMER, MANUFACTURER OR MASHGIACH.
March 30, 2026 from Green Queen:
"Mississippi has banned the production and sale of cultivated dairy products, such as milk, cheese and more, becoming the first state in the country to do so.
"The law will come into effect on July 1, and businesses found violating it could have their licenses revoked or suspended, and be fined up to $500 a day, with a maximum penalty of $10,000.
"It comes a year after Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed a bill to prohibit the sale of cultivated meat, which is produced using a similar technology.
"The bill was introduced by Representative Bill Pigott, a beef and dairy farmer who has long been an opponent of alternative proteins.
"HB 1153 defined cultivated dairy products as those “intended to replicate or to substitute for milk” and “derived from animal cells cultured outside of a live animal”.
"It doesn’t include precision-fermented products, which do not use animal inputs in their products, instead relying on yeast to produce recombinant dairy proteins and fats. Several companies have already received approval and commercialised animal-free dairy products produced with this technology.
"Pigott’s proposal travelled through the legislative chambers without much opposition, which is why Governor Tate Reeves allowed the bill to pass without his signature.
"The attack on cultivated dairy seems a bit futile, given that no such product has reached market anywhere in the world so far. And very few companies seem to be working on this specific technology, such as Opalia, Wilk, Senara, and Brown Foods.
April 23, 2026 from the CPSC :
Bauhini SDADI Kitchen Step Stools have been recalled because the kitchen step stools pose a risk of serious injury due to the instability of the product, which can cause entrapment, tip overs and fall hazards.
Consumer Action: CPSC urges consumers to immediately stop using the toddler step stools and destroy them by disassembly and then dispose of them. Do not sell or give away these hazardous toddler step stools.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning consumers to stop using Bauhini SDADI Kitchen Step Stools immediately. The kitchen step stools pose a risk of serious injury due to the instability of the product, which can cause entrapment, tip overs and fall hazards.
About 3,600 kitchen step stools were sold online at Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Target.com, and Best Buy.com for between $45 and $155.
Bauhini SDADI Kitchen Step Stools are wooden standing towers for kids. They are about 35 inches high, 18 inches wide, and 18 inches deep. The towers were sold in grey, white, and natural wood colors.
Bauhini of China has not responded to requests for a recall.
CPSC urges consumers to immediately stop using the toddler step stools and destroy them by disassembly and then dispose of them. Do not sell or give away these hazardous toddler step stools.
April 23, 2026 from the CPSC :
AMZCMJ DGD Children’s Tower Stools have been recalled because the recalled tower stools can collapse or tip over while in use and a child’s torso can fit through the openings on the tower’s sides, posing a risk of serious injury and death due to tip over, fall and entrapment hazards.
Consumer Contact: AMZCMJ DGD by email at dgdtoddlertowerrecall@dchskj.cn.
Description: This recall involves AMZCMJ DGD-branded children’s tower stools. The wooden kitchen stools measure about 15 inches deep, 22 inches wide and 34 inches tall. They are foldable and convert into a table and a chair and have a blackboard. The brand name is printed on the product’s order receipt.
Remedy: Consumers should stop using the recalled tower stools immediately and contact AMZCMJ DGD for a full refund. Consumers will be asked to destroy the stool by writing "recalled" in permanent marker on all sides, disassembling it and sending a photo of the destroyed stool to dgdtoddlertowerrecall@dchskj.cn. Consumers should then dispose of the destroyed product.
Sold Online At: Amazon.com from February 2025 through March 2026 for between $85 and $100.
April 23, 2026 from the CPSC :
Wiifo Children’s Tower Stools have been recalled because the recalled tower stools can collapse or tip over while in use, and a child’s torso can fit through the openings on the tower’s sides, posing a risk of serious injury and death due to tip over, fall and entrapment hazards.
Consumer Contact: Wiifo toll free at 888-505-6206 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, email at support@wiifo.net, or online at www.wiifo.net/recall or www.wiifo.net and click on “Product Recalls” at the top of the page for more information.
Description: This recall involves Wiifo-branded children’s tower stools. The wooden kitchen tower stools were sold in white, natural and light wood finish, and measure about 18 inches deep, 18 inches wide and 34 inches tall. “Model LT005” printed on label on the underside of the standing platform.
Remedy: Consumers should stop using the recalled tower stools immediately and contact Wiifo for a full refund. Consumers will be asked to destroy the stool by disassembling it and send a photo of the destroyed stool to support@wiifo.net. Consumers should then dispose of the destroyed product. s Wiifo-branded children’s tower stools. The wooden kitchen tower stools were sold in white, natural and light wood finish, and measure about 18 inches deep, 18 inches wide and 34 inches tall. “Model LT005” printed on label on the underside of the standing platform.
Sold Online At: Amazon.com from June 2022 through March of 2026 for about $60.
April 23, 2026 from the CPSC :
TOETOL Tower Stools have been recalled because the recalled tower stools can collapse or tip over while in use and a child’s torso can fit through the openings on the tower’s sides, posing a risk of serious injury and death due to tip over, fall and entrapment hazards.
Consumer Contact: TOETOL HOME via email at TOETOLHOMEStepStoolsrecall@outlook.com.
Description: This recall involves TOETOL HOME-branded children’s tower stools, model DETD0001. The wooden kitchen tower step stools were sold in white, gray and dark wood colors and measure about 20 inches deep, 15 inches wide and 36 inches tall with model DETD0001 printed on a label on the side.
Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled tower stools and contact TOETOL HOME for a full refund. Consumers will be asked to destroy the stool by disassembling it and send a photo of the destroyed stool to TOETOLHOMEStepStoolsrecall@outlook.com. Consumers should then dispose of the destroyed product.
Sold Online At: Amazon.com from October 2024 through March 2026 for about $130.
April 21, 2026 from the Nutrition Insight
April 21, 2026 from the Jewishbreakingnews.com
"A dramatic and highly unusual fight between halacha and the legal system is taking place after a major cookie manufacturer filed a 3 million shekel lawsuit against a prominent posek, after putting out a new psak right before Pesach.
'The controversy began when Rav Binyomin Chuta gave a shiur and public psak advising consumers not to eat Papushado cookies on Pesach, he argued longstanding halachic concerns regarding the products and how they are made.
"The cookies, produced by Papushado, have for years been discussed in the Halacha world. While many Rabbonim allow these products, others strongly discourage eating them, due to potential issues of chametz.
"However, what is typically a classic halachic debate has now exploded into something much bigger and more unusual. The company is accusing Rav Chuta of causing severe financial damage by issuing what they claim was a misleading and harmful psak at the height of the Pesach shopping season. The lawsuit argues that while Rabbonim are entitled to express halachic opinions, presenting them in a way that impacts a specific product crosses into questionable territory.
"The company has points to prior Rabbonim backing for its cookies, including relying on lenient opinions associated with leading Sephardic Poskim, arguing that the cookies have long been accepted in parts of the kosher market."
April 13, 2026 from the FDA
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration is releasing data from a sampling assignment carried out in 2025 to test domestic and imported honey for economically motivated adulteration, a term used by the FDA for food fraud. Food fraud occurs, for example, when a valuable ingredient or part of a food is intentionally left out, taken out, or is substituted or when a substance is added to a food to make it appear better or of greater value.
The FDA samples various foods to safeguard the integrity of the food supply and protect consumers against food fraud. This sampling was designed to identify products that contained undeclared added sweeteners that are less expensive than honey, such as syrups from sugarcane and corn. The FDA tested honey samples using a stable carbon isotope ratio analysis method, which measures carbon isotopes in both the overall honey and its protein content. If a sample's carbon isotope levels didn't match what is expected from real honey, FDA experts reviewed the results more closely. They considered factors such as natural variations of honey composition and the test's margin of error to determine if the honey was adulterated. This assignment follows previous honey assignments in 2021-22 and 2022-23 in an effort to continue monitoring industry compliance.
As part of the assignment, conducted in 2025, the agency tested 102 honey samples, including 54 domestic samples and 48 import samples. Of the 102 samples tested, the violation rate was about 4% for both domestic products (2 out of 54) and imported products (2 out of 48). In the 2022-2023 assignment, the agency collected and tested 107 imported honey samples and found 3% of those samples to be violative. In 2021-2022, the agency collected and tested 144 imported honey samples and found 10% of those samples to be violative. For imported violative samples, the FDA stopped the products and future shipments of these products from entering the U.S. by placing the firms and products on import alerts. For domestic violative samples, FDA is working with firms on recalls and other corrective actions.
Even though the majority of honey products tested were in compliance, these findings highlight the ongoing vulnerability of honey to food fraud and reinforce the importance of the FDA's continued sampling efforts to ensure the integrity of the food supply and protect consumer interests. Moving forward, the FDA will maintain its surveillance of honey for food fraud through the agency's risk-based sampling programs and take appropriate follow up actions if violative products are detected.
April 15, 2026 from the Food Processing
"Israeli food biotech company Celleste Bio has unveiled what it’s calling the world’s first milk chocolate bars made with real cocoa butter using cell suspension culture technology, according to a release.
"Mondelēz International, which invested in the company in December 2024, produced about a dozen of the milk chocolate bars using the cell-cultured cocoa butter and found that they met its integrity and consumption standards for its products. Celleste is “on track to produce one ton of cocoa butter annually in a 1,000-liter bioreactor from a single bean,” explained Hanne Volpin, chief technical and scientific officer.
"Celleste was founded in 2022 and announced this product in October 2025 as the first chocolate-grade cocoa butter made using plant cell culture technology. This latest milestone, making chocolate bars with the product using real-world production standards, demonstrates that Celleste’s cell-cultured cocoa butter functions identically to traditional cocoa butter, delivering the same texture, melt profile and sensory experience, the announcement noted.
"Further, the company said, this sets the stage for production scale-up to reach market-ready quantities of the cocoa butter product within the next two years. Celleste also is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) computational modeling to customize melting points and taste experiences of its cocoa butter to meet specific customer demands." .
April 16, 2026 from the CPSC in conjunction with Government of Canada:
Fisher & Paykel Gas Ranges have been recalled because the ovens in the ranges can experience a delayed ignition, causing gas to accumulate and the oven door to open from combustion, posing a burn hazard to users.
Consumer Contact? Fisher & Paykel toll-free at 866-936-7327 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, email at techphotos@fisherpaykel.com, with the title “Ignitor Inspection” or online at https://support.fisherpaykel.com/s/product-recall/professional-ranges or fisherpaykel.com and click on “Support” and then “Product Recall” for more information.
Description: This recall involves Fisher & Paykel 30, 36 and 48-inch stainless steel, free-standing or self-contained gas ranges (RGV3 models). The gas ranges come in natural gas or liquified petroleum gas. The recalled models have a serial number starting with EEV, ERV, EAV, EYV, EUV, ELV or RFV. The model and serial numbers are printed on the rating plate located on either the back of the product or behind the front kick strip. The recalled gas ranges include:
A full list of recalled products is hereC
Remedy: Consumers should stop using the ovens in the recalled gas ranges immediately and contact Fisher & Paykel for a free inspection and repair. Fisher & Paykel will provide professional in-home repair of the oven’s ignitor. Consumers can continue to use the cooktop burners on the range.
Sold At: Factory Builder Stores, Albert Lee Inc and other appliance retail stores nationwide from June 2025 through March 2026 for between $6,200 and $14,000.
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