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Food News


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.

Newer news

KICIMPRO Brand Kitchen Faucets Recalled Due to Dangerous Lead Exposure for Young Children; Sold on Amazon.com by Kicimpro

May 29, 2025 from CPSC :

KICIMPRO Kitchen Faucets, model number KM800-01-06BN had been recalled because the recalled faucets were tested and found to contain lead that can leach into water at levels that can be particularly harmful to infants and young children.
Lead ingestion can cause harmful neurological effects on infants and young children, including attention-related behavioral problems, decreased cognitive performance and lower IQ.

Consumer Contact: Kicimpro by email at support@kicimprohome.com.

Description: This recall involves KICIMPRO kitchen faucets, model number KM800-01-06BN. The faucets are brushed nickel, single-handle kitchen faucets with a pull-down detachable spray and single-hole installation. Consumers can identify whether they have a recalled faucet by searching their Amazon purchase history for “Kicimpro” and “kitchen faucet” and looking for a description including pull-down sprayer, brushed nickel, high-arc, single-handle sink faucet with water lines, commercial modern RV stainless steel, grifos de cocina.

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using these faucets and contact Kicimpro about disposal and a refund. Consumers will need to provide a photograph of disposal and their order number to receive the refund. Kicimpro is contacting all known purchasers directly.

Until these faucets can be replaced, consumers should only consume water from the faucets after running the water for 15 seconds.

The previous item can be cited with the URL: https://www.kashrut.com/News/?alert=W1695

Nebraska Becomes Sixth State to Ban Cultivated Meat

May 22, 2025 from Swineweb:

"Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, a lifelong hog farmer and staunch advocate for conventional agriculture, signed LB246 into law this week, officially banning the production, sale, promotion, and distribution of cultivated (lab-grown) meat within the state.

"The new law makes Nebraska the sixth state in the U.S. to enact such a ban, marking a significant step in the national debate over alternative proteins and the future of food.

"This move follows an earlier Executive Order signed by Gov. Pillen in August 2024, which prohibited state agencies from purchasing lab-grown meat and mandated that state contractors support conventional meat producers without preference for cultivated alternatives.

"The ban aligns with growing efforts in several agricultural states to protect traditional livestock industries from the emerging competition of lab-grown meat technologies."

The previous item can be cited with the URL: https://www.kashrut.com/News/?alert=W1693

California Food Date Labeling Law to Impact Entire Food Industry

May 19, 2025 from The Acheson Group:

"In a little over a year, any food sold in California must meet a new date labeling regulation which vastly limits the allowed verbiage for a food quality or safety date label. The food and beverage products labeling regulation (AB 660) requires that the label of food manufactured for human consumption on or after July 1, 2026:

"Although it is a California law, not a federal law, the initiative impacts the entire food industry just as has California’s previous regulation banning brominated vegetable oil (BVO), potassium bromate, propylparaben, and red dye 3. Not only is it challenging, and often financially unfeasible, to formulate – or label – a food differently for California and the rest of the US, but the regulation is likely to further inform the federal discussion on food labeling.

"To clarify the required uses of the new date labeling, additional provisions of the California regulation state:

The previous item can be cited with the URL: https://www.kashrut.com/News/?alert=W1692

Osem Raises Prices On Essentials As Raw Material Costs Soar

May 15, 2025 from Matzav.com:

"Osem, the Israeli branch of Nestle, has announced another round of price increases, affecting a wide range of household staples such as baby formula, instant meals, coffee, and more—with some items rising by as much as 9%.

"In a statement released Thursday, Osem attributed the hike—averaging 2.2% across its product line—to mounting “production costs,” without offering specifics.

"Despite the stated average, reporting by N12 reveals that actual price jumps will be far more noticeable for consumers, with critical food and baby items seeing increases as high as 9%.

"According to the breakdown provided, snack prices will go up by 5%, powdered soup and croutons will also see a 5% bump, hot meals will become 4–6% more expensive, baby formula is set to climb by 7%, and coffee will take the biggest hit with a 9% surge.

"This marks the company’s second price hike since the beginning of 2025 and the third in less than a year. The previous raise, in January 2025, also averaged 2.2%, yet specific items like chocolate, coffee, baked goods, condiments, and Sabra-branded products saw sharper increases ranging from 4% to 9%.

"A similar move occurred in May 2024, when Osem adjusted prices on a slew of items—such as baked snacks, drinks, pre-made dishes, and ptitim—raising them by anywhere from 2% to 7%."

The previous item can be cited with the URL: https://www.kashrut.com/News/?alert=W1691

Onasti Toddler Tower Stools Recalled Due to Serious Fall and Injury Hazards; Sold Exclusively on Amazon.com by Blissful-Time

May 15, 2025 from CPSC :

Onasti Toddler Tower Stools have been recalled because the stools can collapse or tip over while in use, posing serious fall and injury hazards to children.

Consumer Contact: Blissful-Time toll-free at 833-999-9327, email support@onasti.net, or online at https://onasti.com/pages/product-recall-information or https://onasti.com/ and click “Product Recall Information” for more information.

Description: This recall involves Onasti-branded toddler stools. The plastic, foldable, triangular-shaped tower stools were sold in beige/white, blue/gray, green, gray/white, light blue and pink. They measure about 25 inches long, 24 inches wide and 32 inches tall, and have handles and an adjustable platform that can be raised or lowered from two to three steps. The Onasti logo appears on the warning label on the side of the stools.

Remedy: Consumers should stop using the recalled stools and store them away from children until repaired. Contact Blissful-Time to receive a free repair kit, including shipping. The repair kit consists of two steps, one base, and one guardrail. Blissful-Time is contacting all known purchasers directly.

Incidents/Injuries: Blissful-Time has received four reports of the stool collapsing or tipping over, including two injuries, with one causing bruising and the other a brain injury to a toddler.

Sold Exclusively Online: Amazon.com from March 2024 through December 2024 for between $72 and $90.

The previous item can be cited with the URL: https://www.kashrut.com/News/?alert=W1690

Boyro Baby Recalls High Chairs Due to Risk of Serious Injury or Death from Fall and Entrapment Hazards; Violations of Federal Regulations for High Chairs; Sold Exclusively on Amazon.com

May 15, 2025 from CPSC :

Boyro Baby Convertible High Chairs have been recalled because the high chairs pose a deadly fall hazard to babies because the restraint system is not attached to the product and the locks or latches can fail. In addition, the high chairs pose an entrapment hazard because the opening between the seat and tray is large enough that a child can become entrappe

Consumer Contact: Boyro Baby by email at boyrobaby@outlook.com, or online at www.boyrobaby.com/testimonial or www.boyrobaby.com and click on “Safety Recalls” for more information.

Description: This recall involves Boyro Baby-branded high chairs. The 4-in-1 high chairs were sold in green, gray and pink and have a removable seat cushion, a detachable tray, a footrest and storage space underneath the seat. They convert from a high chair into a low chair, rocking chair and slide.

Remedy: Consumers should stop using and disassemble the recalled high chairs immediately and contact Boyro Baby for instructions on receiving a full refund. The instructions will include instructions on cutting the restraint system and seat cushions, and emailing photos of the disassembled and destroyed pieces of the high chair to boyrobaby@outlook.com. Once the photos have been received, Boyro Baby will issue a refund.

Sold Exclusively Online: Amazon.com and from October 2023 through November 2024 for between $70 and $90.

The previous item can be cited with the URL: https://www.kashrut.com/News/?alert=W1689

Igloo Expands Recall of 90 Qt. Rolling Coolers Due to Fingertip Amputation and Crushing Hazards; Total Recalled Now Nearly 1.2 Million

May 8, 2025 from CPSC in Conjunction with the Government of Canada:

About 130,000 additional coolers (In addition, about 20,000 in Canada and 5,900 in Mexico) (More than one million Igloo coolers were previously recalled in February 2025)

This recall expansion involves an additional 130,000 Igloo 90 Qt. Flip & Tow Rolling Coolers manufactured prior to January 2024. The date of manufacture is imprinted on the bottom of the cooler in a circular pattern with an arrow pointing to the month of manufacture and the last two digits of the year of manufacture inside the circle. <>p>The recalled coolers have a tow handle, and “IGLOO” is printed on the side of the coolers. The coolers were sold in multiple body and lid color combinations. The following cooler models with tow handles are included in the recall expansion. The model number is located on labels affixed to the bottom of the cooler.

Additional Recalled Coolers Model/SKU #Description  Date Codes 
34692 LATITUDE 90 QT ROLLER 07/2020-09/2021
34785 LATITUDE 90 QT ROLLER 10/2021-12/2022
34790 MAXCOLD LATITUDE 90 QT ROLLER 10/2021-02/2023

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled coolers and contact Igloo for a free replacement handle.

Since the recall was announced in February 2025, Igloo has received 78 reports of fingertip injuries, including 26 resulting in fingertip amputations, bone fractures or lacerations.

Sold At: Costco, Target, Academy, Dick’s, and other stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com, Igloocoolers.com, and other websites from January 2019 through January 2025 for between $80 and $140.


Igloo Recalls More Than One Million 90 Quart Rolling Coolers Due to Fingertip Amputation and Crushing Hazards

February 13, 2025 from CPSC in Conjunction with the Government of Canada:

This recall expansion involves an additional 130,000 Igloo 90 Qt. Flip & Tow Rolling Coolers manufactured prior to January 2024. The date of manufacture is imprinted on the bottom of the cooler in a circular pattern with an arrow pointing to the month of manufacture and the last two digits of the year of manufacture inside the circle.

The recalled coolers have a tow handle, and “IGLOO” is printed on the side of the coolers. The coolers were sold in multiple body and lid color combinations. The following cooler models with tow handles are included in the recall expansion. The model number is located on labels affixed to the bottom of the cooler. Additional Recalled Coolers Model/SKU #

Additional Recalled Coolers Model/SKU #Description Date Codes 
34692LATITUDE 90 QT ROLLER07/2020-09/2021
34785LATITUDE 90 QT ROLLER10/2021-12/2022
34790MAXCOLD LATITUDE 90 QT ROLLER10/2021-02/2023

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled coolers and contact Igloo for a free replacement handle.


Since the recall was announced in February 2025, Igloo has received 78 reports of fingertip injuries, including 26 resulting in fingertip amputations, bone fractures or lacerations.

Sold At: Costco, Target, Academy, Dick’s, and other stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com, Igloocoolers.com, and other websites from January 2019 through January 2025 for between $80 and $140.


Igloo Recalls More Than One Million 90 Quart Rolling Coolers Due to Fingertip Amputation and Crushing Hazards

February 13, 2025 from CPSC in Conjunction with the Government of Canada:

Igloo 90 Qt. Flip & Tow Rolling Coolers have been recalled because the tow handle can pinch consumers’ fingertips against the cooler, posing fingertip amputation and crushing hazards.

Consumer Contact: Igloo toll-free at 888-943-5182 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, email at igloo90qt@sedgwick.com, or online at www.igloo90qtrecall.expertinquiry.com or http://www.igloocoolers.com and click on “Recall Information” at the top of the page for more information.

This recall involves Igloo 90 Qt. Flip & Tow Rolling Coolers manufactured prior to January 2024. The date of manufacture is imprinted on the bottom of the cooler in a circular pattern with an arrow pointing to the month of manufacture and the last two digits of the year of manufacture inside the circle.

The recalled coolers have a tow handle. “IGLOO” is printed on the side of the coolers. The coolers were sold in multiple body and lid color combinations, some of which are pictured above. The following cooler models with tow handles are included in the recall. The model number is located on labels affixed to the bottom of the cooler.

A list of recalled products can be found here

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled coolers and contact Igloo for a free replacement handle.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received 12 reports of fingertip injuries, including fingertip amputations, bone fractures, and lacerations.

Sold At: Costco, Target, Academy, Dick’s and other stores nationwide, and online at Amazon.com, Igloocoolers.com, and other websites from January 2019 through January 2025 for between $80 and $140.

The previous item can be cited with the URL: https://www.kashrut.com/News/?alert=W1654

Cassava Flour, Chips, Bread, and More Contain High Levels of Lead

May 8, 2025 from Consumer Reports:

"Cassava has become a popular gluten-free alternative, but CR’s tests of 27 products found that more than two-thirds of them contain more lead in a single serving than our experts say you should have in a day

"Consumer Reports’ latest tests of 27 products found that for over two-thirds of them, a single serving exceeded the level of lead Consumer Reports’ food safety experts use as a threshold for an acceptable daily intake—some by more than 2,000 percent. CR has tested several categories of foods and spices for heavy metals. With the exception of some spices (for example, certain brands of basil, cinnamon, ginger, thyme, and turmeric), 'we’ve never seen lead levels as high as those we found in some of these cassava foods,' says James E. Rogers, PhD, director of product and food safety research and testing at Consumer Reports.

"Root vegetables—including cassava, carrots, beets, and sweet potatoes—grow in the ground and are known to take up some lead along with other heavy metals and contaminants. There’s nothing about the cassava plant that should make it more likely than other root vegetables to absorb lead, according to Ganga Hettiarachchi, PhD, a professor of soil and environmental chemistry who studies trace metal and nutrient chemistry at Kansas State University in Manhattan. But it is possible that some cassava could be grown in highly polluted areas, or handled or processed in ways that introduce lead, she says.

"Several studies have found that cassava can be a significant dietary source of lead exposure in people who eat it frequently. For example, in a 2015 study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, researchers found that cassava grown in one region of Ghana was high enough in lead to raise the risk of health problems among people who ate it regularly.

"had between 200 and just over 600 percent of that level per serving. These should be limited, but they’re okay to eat occasionally. The flour with the lowest lead levels in our tests is Tonomi Cassava Flour; one serving supplies 215 percent of CR’s level of concern. Our experts say it’s okay to have up to three servings of it per week.

"Of course, no one eats flour (cassava or otherwise) straight. Still, when we reviewed several recipes for baked goods made with cassava flour, we saw that consuming that ¼ cup in one sitting isn’t difficult. For example, recipes that yield 12 muffins call for 1½ to 1⅔ cups of cassava flour. That means that 2 muffins would supply about ¼ cup.

"Cassava chips also had high lead levels in our tests. Of the eight products we looked at, two are on our avoid list, and one had lead levels high enough that our experts advise eating no more than one serving per week. The lead levels in an ounce of these three products ranged from about 600 to 1,700 percent of CR’s level of concern. The chips with the lowest lead levels were Goya Yuca Cassava Chips. An ounce supplied 10 percent of CR’s level of concern for lead (see chart here.

"Consumer Reports assumes one serving a day of the product in its risk assessment calculations."

The previous item can be cited with the URL: https://www.kashrut.com/News/?alert=W1688

FDA approves 3 natural colors to accelerate food industry transition from artificial dyes

May 13, 2025 from Food Dive:

The previous item can be cited with the URL: https://www.kashrut.com/News/?alert=W1687

Passover Sabotage: Arab states tried to undermine Israel's sale of leavened food

May 9, 2025 from the Israel National News:

"In a dramatic and unsettling revelation, Hussein Jaber of Abu Ghosh, the man entrusted with purchasing Israel’s leavened food ahead of Passover, has disclosed that representatives from Qatar, Dubai, and Kuwait made covert offers to buy the entire stockpile he legally acquired from the State of Israel. The offers, first reported by Matzav Haruach, were not business ventures but what Jaber calls an attempt to 'cause severe economic damage' to the country.

"'These were not offers based on need or trade,' Jaber claimed. 'They were designed to invalidate the religious legality of the sale and to eliminate vast inventories of leavened food, everything from warehouses and food plants to dairies and even industrial machinery.'

"The timing and nature of the proposals suggest a calculated effort to exploit a critical religious-economic tradition in Israel. Under Jewish law, leavened food must be removed or sold to a non-Jew before Passover. Any leavened food owned by Jews during Passover becomes forbidden even after the holiday ends.

"To avoid massive economic waste, businesses and institutions sell their leavened food in a legal transaction under Jewish law. For years, Jaber has served as the state's non-Jewish buyer in this arrangement, a trusted, if symbolic, role now revealed to carry geopolitical weight.

"Jaber noted that this is not the first time he has faced such pressure. 'In the past, even Saudi Arabia approached me with a similar offer,' he said, recalling that they, too, had no real use for the goods. 'Saudi Arabia didn’t need Israeli biscuits,' he remarked wryly, “they just wanted to cause damage.”

The previous item can be cited with the URL: https://www.kashrut.com/News/?alert=W1686
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