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.
AFebruary 4, 2021 - from Reuters:
"U.S. congressional investigators found 'dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals' in certain baby foods that could cause neurological damage, a House Oversight subcommittee said in a report released on Thursday in calling for new standards and testing requirements."
"The panel examined products made by Nurture Inc, Hain Celestial Group Inc, Beech-Nut Nutrition and Gerber, a unit of Nestle, it said, adding that it was “greatly concerned” that Walmart Inc, Campbell Soup Co and Sprout Organic Foods refused to cooperate with the investigation. The U.S. baby food market was worth an estimated $8 billion in 2020, according to Euromonitor."
"The report said internal company standards 'permit dangerously high levels of toxic heavy metals, and documents revealed that the manufacturers have often sold foods that exceeded those levels.'"
"The report urged U.S. regulators to set maximum levels of toxic heavy metals permitted in baby foods and require manufacturers to test finished products for heavy metals, not just ingredients, while baby food companies said they were working to reducing levels of metals that occur naturally in food products."
"A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) spokesman said the agency was reviewing the report."
January 28, 2021 - from Hamodia:
Quality Poultry in Csengele, Hungary is a "3 1/2-year-old slaughterhouse that supplies nearly 40% of Europe’s kosher poultry market and a large portion of the foie gras sold in Israel."
"Companies like Quality Poultry have found new export markets since the European Union’s highest court last month upheld a law in Belgium’s Flanders region that prohibited slaughtering animals without first stunning them into unconsciousness. But the European Court of Justice ruling also has provoked fears of eventual EU-wide prohibitions on ritual slaughter, and aroused memories of periods when Europe’s Jews faced cruel persecution."
"The EU has required the pre-stunning of animals since 1979, but allows member states to make religion-based exceptions. Most do, but along with Flanders and the Wallonia region of Belgium, Slovenia, Denmark and Sweden, as well as non-EU members Switzerland, Iceland and Norway, have done away with religious exemptions, meaning kosher and halal meat must be imported."
"Laws requiring the pre-slaughter stunning of animals appeared in some European countries as early as the late 19th century. Adolf Hitler mandated the practice in 1933 just after becoming chancellor of Germany, one of the first laws imposed by the Nazis."
"Jewish and Muslim groups challenged the Flanders law in Belgium’s Constitutional Court, which referred it to the European Court of Justice for a ruling on its compatibility with EU law."
"The Court of Justice’s advocate general advised the court to strike the Flanders law down, arguing it violated the rights of certain faiths to preserve their essential religious rites. But the court disagreed, finding the law 'allow(s) a fair balance to be struck between the importance attached to animal welfare and the freedom of Jewish and Muslim believers to manifest their religion.'"
"The animal welfare minister for the Brussels region of Belgium, where stunning is not mandatory, said the ruling would breathe new life into the mandatory stunning debate there. The Brussels chapter of the New Flemish Alliance, a center-right party whose members led the push for the law in Flanders, said it would now submit a proposal for an ordinance to ban slaughter without stunning in the capital region."
"The Hungarian government helped finance the slaughterhouse in Csengele, and Prime Minister Viktor Orban joined Jewish groups in condemning the court’s decision as an assault on religious freedom. "
January 22, 2021: from the The Counter:
"Though intended to send additional food aid to families most impacted by the pandemic, the order could lead to a permanent expansion of the amount of money people receive each month."
"President Biden on Friday will sign an Executive Order directing the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to find ways to provide additional food aid to families that rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) and free school lunch."
"These changes are meant to supplement the extra 15 percent in across-the-board benefits authorized by December’s stimulus package, which will run out at the end of June. They include boosting payments made to parents of schoolchildren through the Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT) program and instructing USDA to find a way to increase SNAP payments to the lowest-income families. Perhaps most significant in the long run, Biden’s administration has also directed the agency to revise the calculation that determines how much money people receive through SNAP. (This revision was mandated by the 2018 Farm Bill but has yet to materialize.)"
"USDA said in a press release on Friday that it would also immediately increase payments to families whose children receive free school lunch. Last spring, Congress created PEBT, a program intended to make up for the loss of school meals by providing parents with pre-loaded debit cards that maxed out at $5.86 per child per day. As Politico reported in late December, the program worked well in the spring and summer but was stymied by Congressional inaction and delays at USDA in the fall, leading to a gap in benefits for many children. The new executive order increases the per-day benefits by 15 percent, or about 88 cents per child per day. "
"The agency is also consulting with the Department of Justice to see if it can increase SNAP benefits for the lowest-income families. In normal times, SNAP is distributed on a sliding scale: people making the least money receive the maximum allotment, or about $680 for a family of four, and that allotment decreases as income goes up, bottoming out at $15 per month for the highest-paid single person who still qualifies. "
"In the spring, Congress allowed states to start sending every SNAP participant the maximum allotment. The policy didn’t provide any boost for the lowest-income people in the program—those who were already receiving the maximum benefit, an estimated 37 percent of participants. The stimulus package passed in December will increase benefits for everyone by about 15 percent, and the intent of the executive order is to find ways to further increase benefits for the lowest-income families. "
"The executive order also instructs USDA to immediately begin the process of revising the Thrifty Food Plan. This plan forms the basis for the government’s calculation of how much it costs to eat. Its assumptions about what people eat are, as it stands, quite weird. Developed in the 1970s, the diet suggests an adult woman may need to drink three cups of milk per day to meet her nutritional needs with the money allotted. (In 2019, the plan budgeted a maximum of $38.50 per week for women ages 19 to 50.) "
"It has other, more serious shortcomings: A recent USDA analysis found that model grocery baskets purchased under the financial constraints of the plan resulted in foods that exceeded the Dietary Guidelines for sodium and were deficient in Vitamin E and potassium. That said, adjusting the underlying assumptions in the Thrifty Food plan could increase SNAP allotments across the board, making it easier for people to purchase healthy groceries. There’s a wide gap between the current SNAP allotment and independent estimates of the cost of food: While SNAP maxes out at $204 for a single person, MIT’s living wage calculator estimates a single person living in New York City needs to spend $290 for food each month. "
"Biden will need help from Congress to enact more substantial change. "
January 24, 2021: from the Algemeiner:
"American Airlines is scheduled to begin a new direct flight this spring between New York and Israel, traveling to and from John F. Kennedy International Airport and Ben-Gurion International Airport."
"While the new direct route was announced in July, the date for the new launch (May 6) and the date for ticket sales (Jan. 25) are new."
"Flights will feature kosher food available for pre-order and kosher wine for passengers, regardless of their seating."
"Additionally, a direct American Airlines route between Dallas and Tel Aviv is scheduled to begin in September."
"American Airlines previously operated flights between Philadelphia and Tel Aviv; that route ended in 2015."
January 19, 2021 - from CPSC :
Rapala® Rechargeable Fillet Knives (Item No. RRFN) has been recalled because the battery can overheat and catch fire if non-Rapala chargers are used to charge the battery.
This recall involves the Rapala Rechargeable Fillet Knife with item number RRFN. The knife handles are black and gray. The Rapala logo is printed in red on the handle, along with the word ION in white.
Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled rechargeable fillet knife, remove the battery and look for a white ETL label on the battery. If the battery does not have a white ETL label, consumers should contact Rapala USA for a free replacement battery and for pre-paid return of the old battery to Rapala for proper disposal.
Rapala USA has received reports of 12 batteries overheating and catching fire, in some cases causing damage to surrounding areas. No injuries have been reported.
Sold At: Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Fleet Farm and sporting goods stores nationwide and online at rapala.com from March 2011 through December 2018 for about $101.
Consumer Contact: Rapala USA at 800-874-4451, by email atcustserv@rapalausa.com, or online at rapala.com and click the recall button for more information.
January 13, 2021 - from CPSC :
Sea to Summit Alpha and Sigma camping pots have been recalled because the nylon latch can disengage from the pot and cause the handle to detach, posing burn and scald hazards.
Consumer Contact: Sea to Summit toll-free at 888-201-4977 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. MT Monday through Friday, email at productsafety@seatosummit.com or online at www.seatosummit.com/productsafety or www.seatosummit.com and click on “Product Safety” at the bottom of the page for more information.
This recall involves Sea to Summit aluminum Alpha and stainless-steel Sigma camping pots with a black Nylon latch that keeps the handle in the open position while in use. Both the Alpha and Sigma camping pots also come with a lid. These pots were sold in 1.2, 1.9, 2.7- and 3.7-liter sizes and are used for cooking while camping. The Alpha pots are a matte gray and the Sigma pots are polished stainless steel and black. The pots have “Sea to Summit” written on the front, along with the pot size. The Alpha pots state “Hard Anodised Compact Cooking System” below the name and size; the Sigma pots state “Premium Stainless-Steel Compact Cooking System.” Handle usage guidelines and warnings are also written on the side of the pot. Only pots with a black latch that does NOT have a screw are part of this recall. The pots were sold individually and as part of camping cookware sets.
The full list of recalled products is here
Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled Alpha and Sigma pots with a black Nylon latch and contact Sea to Summit for a free latch repair kit.
Sold At: REI stores and other sporting goods stores nationwide and online at REI.com nationwide from January 2019 through November 2020 for between $40 and $130.
January 7, 2021 from the Fast Company
"If you order from DeliverZero, a third party delivery service in New York City, your food will look different than the usual pile of plastic containers: instead, it will come in reusable clamshells. Then, the next time you order takeout from the platform, you can hand over those containers to the delivery driver and they’ll be returned to a participating restaurant, washed, and reused for another delivery."
"Nationwide, food and packaging containers together account for almost 45% of landfill materials in the U.S. That’s not all takeout waste, but with the online food delivery market growing—it’s expected to be worth $200 billion by 2025—it’s easy to see how single use waste from food delivery adds up, especially during a pandemic that’s forcing more people to order in."
"DeliverZero replicates other third party delivery services like GrubHub or UberEats: You go to the website, enter your address, place your order; and the restaurant will see the order come in on a tablet. But when they fill that order, they’ll pack it up in DeliverZero’s reusable containers, and use delivery drivers who know to accept those empty containers back."
"The platform has more than 100 restaurant partners, up from five when it first launched in November 2019, and Farbiarz says they’re adding about five to ten new restaurants a week. DeliverZero chose to make its own delivery platform, rather than partner with existing ones like other reusable container companies, because it solves the often-annoying problem of returning the reusables."
"Customers can also return the containers—which are made out of a sturdy, BPA-free polypropylene plastic and good for up to 1,000 uses, the company says—by dropping them off at any participating restaurant. After ordering food, customers have six weeks to return the containers, and if they don’t, they’ll be charged $3.25 plus tax for each container they keep."
"Though each container is a bit pricey compared to disposables (which can cost around 75 cents a piece), DeliverZero says its reusables will save restaurants money in the long run. The platform doesn’t charge per container so restaurants don’t feel pressured to use fewer than necessary, or have fees for signing up or using its tablet. It does charge a commission based off of the amount of food a restaurant sells, which the startup says is typically about half of what the larger delivery services take for restaurants that handle their own delivery and two-thirds for restaurants it delivers for."
"DeliverZero will expand to Amsterdam this winter and then to Chicago. "
January 5, 2021 from the Food & Beverage Insider
"USDA recently responded to a petition filed by two consumer groups over certain statements on processed meats.
"An agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture intends to propose barring the statements, “No Nitrate or Nitrite Added” and “Uncured” on products that have been processed using any source of nitrates or nitrites—substances that preserve processed meats like bacon, hot dogs and deli corn beef.
"The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) made the disclosure in a Dec. 10 letter to a representative of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which along with another consumer organization, requested the relief more than a year ago."
"While “No Nitrate or Nitrite Added” statements containing non-synthetic sources of nitrates or nitrites must contain a disclaimer that identifies the non-synthetic source, the disclaimer is confusing to consumers, according to a 2019 petition by CSPI and Consumer Reports. And the consumer groups argued labels like “Uncured” and “No Nitrate or Nitrite Added” for meats processed from non-synthetic sources, such as celery powder, may mislead consumers into thinking the products are healthier than their competitors."
"'Both synthetic and non-synthetic nitrates and nitrites may cause cancer, and product testing results released today by Consumer Reports show that processed meats made with celery powder and other non-synthetic sources of nitrates and nitrites can contain residues of these substances, just as do meats that use synthetic sources,' the consumer groups wrote in their Aug. 29, 2019 petition to FSIS."
"The petition was met with opposition from the National Turkey Federation, which urged FSIS to keep its current regulations, noting the role of nitrates and nitrites in eliminating the risk of botulism in certain products."
"In the recent letter to Sarah Sorscher, CSPI’s deputy director of regulatory affairs, an FSIS official, Rachel Edelstein, said her agency was partially granting the consumer groups’ petition. In addition to plans to bar the statements, "No Nitrate or Nitrite Added" and "Uncured" on products that have been processed using any source of nitrates or nitrites, FSIS also intends to approve non-synthetic sources of nitrates or nitrites as curing agents."
"'However, rather than requiring disclosure statements about the use of nitrate or nitrites on labels of meat and poultry products, as requested in the petition, FSIS intends to propose to amend and clarify its meat and poultry labeling regulations to establish new definitions for ‘Cured’ and ‘Uncured,’' Edelstein wrote.
"'When consumers see a claim like ‘no nitrates added’ on meat, they think the product is healthier,' Sorscher said in a press release in response to FSIS’ letter to her. “A lot of us are surprised to find out that a healthy food like celery can be extensively processed to make the same compounds in the body as synthetic nitrites do when eaten. Removing the ‘no nitrates’ claims will help, but without a clear disclosure many consumers are not going to recognize that these meats are processed with nitrates and nitrites.”?
January 5, 2021 from the Meatingplace
"Israel-based Aleph Farms Ltd. has signed a memorandum of understanding with Mitsubishi Corp.’s Food Industry Group to bring cultivated whole muscle meat to the Japanese table as early as 2022."
"Aleph Farms will provide its scalable manufacturing platform (BioFarm) for cultivation of whole-muscle steaks. Mitsubishi will provide its expertise in biotechnology processes, branded food manufacturing and local distribution channels in Japan.'
"The agreement also ties in with the Japanese government's goal of achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions. In April 2020, Aleph Farms committed to eliminating emissions associated with its meat production by 2025 and reach the same net-zero emissions across its entire supply chain by 2030."
October 12, 2020 from the National Provisioner
"According to industry estimates, at least one-third of food recalls in North America may directly be related to sanitation, hygiene and material handling issues in food facilities. On an associative note, the CDC lists unsanitary equipment and surfaces as one of the top five contributing factors of foodborne illness outbreaks."
"In summary, we cannot rely only on cleaning and sanitizing surfaces to achieve the broader sanitation goal of keeping food safe across the process chain. An emphasis on hygienic zoning, building and tools combined with personnel hygiene and preventive maintenance are other key controllability factors that need to be explored in this vital risk-based decision equation."
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