Food Politics by Marion Nestle

Carlo Petrini and Slow Food acolytes in Turin, 2016.   As a member of Slow Food USA, I received its notice about the death of its founder, Carlo Petrini, at age 76 in Bra, Italy. A visionary leader and public intellectual with a profound commitment to the common good, human relationships, and the natural world, […] The post RIP Carlo Petrini: a huge loss to the food world and to humanity appeared…

When I wrote about dogs getting stoned on cannabis edibles last week, I had no idea this was a thing. From Bill Nesheim (my sort of son-in-law): This has been a fairly big problem for hikers in New Hampshire.   I’ve seen a number of situations where dogs needed to be rescued from the mountains due […] The post Dogs and cannabis edibles: readers weigh in appeared first on Food Politics by Marion N…

You might think of GLP-1 drugs as miracles of modern medicine, but the food industry views them as a threat. Why?  Eating less is bad for business. The Threat Data: Alarming new research reveals threat GLP-1s pose to food and drink sector: New research has revealed that as many as 8% of Britons now use weight […] The post The effects of GLP-1 drugs on the food industry: A collection of recent ite…

While we are on the subject of stocking standards for grocery stores, take a look at what’s happening in Scotland. Less sugar, more pressure: Scotland’s HFSS rules force a food industry rethink:  With Scotland’s HFSS restrictions arriving in October, food manufacturers are under mounting pressure to reformulate products without sacrificing taste, texture or brand identity… […] The post Scotland’s…

The USDA has announced that retailers who serve SNAP recipients will now have to carry more real food.  As of fall 2026, Retailers authorized to accept SNAP benefits must now carry seven varieties of items across four categories of staple foods: protein, grains, dairy, and fruits and vegetables. This change more than doubles the requirement […] The post USDA expands stocking standards for retaile…

Navid Teimouri, who is at the School of Public Health, University of Queensland, sent me his team’s recently published analysis of meat industry sponsored nutrition studies and their outcomes: Is Meat Industry Affiliation Associated With Study Conclusion in Nutrition Research? A Meta-Research Review. This is a classic study of what the late Sheldon Krimsky called […] The post Meat industry: the f…

I am a big fan of Whole Dog Journal, a terrifically interesting and useful publication about anything you might want to know about having a dog as a pet—or family member. One of its recent articles: What to Do If Your Dog Eats Marijuana (Edibles, Weed, Vape Cartridges, etc.) I wrote about cannabis edibles in a chapter […] The post Weekend warning: pets and cannabis edibles appeared first on Food …

Secretary Kennedy promised to define ultra-processed foods by April (after a call for input), but then said it may be too complicated to define these foods for policy purposes. Apparently not. Healthy Eating Research convened an expert panel. It made three recommendations: I.  Definition A food product is ultra-processed if it contains at least one […] The post Ultra-processed food defined: not a…

The USDA has announced its implementation of President Trump’s Whole Milk for Health Kids Act. This act (see Federal Register notice): Removes requirements that school milk be fat-free or low fat, flavored or not. Permits schools to also offer whole and reduced-fat milks, flavored or not. Excludes the saturated fat in milk from counting toward […] The post Whole milk in schools: Will it make kids…

Let me start with a summary from Food Safety News: The final four in the [meat] consolidation game are: JBS – This Brazil-based food giant is the world’s largest beef processor. It owns facilities that slaughter and pack over 20,000 cattle per day in the U.S. Tyson Foods – Known for chicken, Tyson is also the second largest […] The post Meat industry consolidation: a national security issue? appe…

As I endlessly repeat, industry-funded studies tend to favor the sponsor’s commercial interests.  The correlation between industry funding and study outcome is not 100% however.  Exceptions do occur. Here’s one sent to me by a reader, Matthew Kadey: “Marion, a rare industry funded study with results that likely did not please the sponsors.” The study: Effects […] The post A rare exception: an ind…

I just got my copy of the University of California Press catalog for Fall 2026. The full catalog does not seem to be online yet (mine is hard copy), but the UC Press entry for Sugar Coated is here. The publication date is September 8. It can be pre-ordered: Amazon(opens in new window) Barnes & Noble(opens […] The post Official announcement: Sugar Coated appeared first on Food Politics by Marion N…

I saw this on AgWeb: I knew this came from USDA’s Food Dollar series, which reports measurements of where the food dollar goes in the chain of production. The USDA also illustrates the dollar in reports.  The most recent, with figures from 2023, is here. These USDA illustrations used to be easier to read, so […] The post Farmers get short-changed in our current food system appeared first on Food …

In the way this administration announces things, I saw this on X. The FDA’s one-page summary says the agency had tested more than 300 samples of infant formulas with these results: If there is a more detailed report, I can’t find it. Food Safety News points out The FDA did not say which brands it […] The post FDA says infant formulas are free of toxic metals (mostly) appeared first on Food Politi…

Last week, I wrote about what I consider to be a national tragedy: the splitting up and relocation of crucial USDA units. The latest is USDA’s renaming, splitting up, and relocating the Food and Nutrition Service, the agency responsible for running SNAP and other food assistance programs. USDA’s actions: I.  Rename the Food and Nutrition […] The post More tragedy: USDA renames, splits up, relocat…

I spotted this one in the Journal of Nutrition, and took a guess at who must have paid for it. The study:  The Effect of Three Daily Servings of Full-Fat Dairy for 12 Weeks on Body Weight, Body Composition, Energy Metabolism, Blood Lipids, and Dietary Intake of Adults with Overweight and Obesity.  J Nutr 2026 Apr;156(4):101373. doi: […] The post Industry-funded study of the week: Full-fat dairy a…

Nick Chater & George Loewenstein.  It’s On You: How the Rich and Powerful have convinced us that we’re to blame for society’s deepest problems.  WH Allen, 2026.  345 pages. This book directly addresses an issue I’ve fussed about for ages: putting the blame for poor diets on individuals and ignoring the social and political forces […] The post Weekend reading: It’s all your fault appeared first on…

I am not usually a fan of techno foods, but I have to admit: this one might have possibilities. World’s first cell-based chocolate bar developed with Mondelēz: The first-ever milk chocolate bars made with cell-cultivated cocoa butter have been produced… Read more Here’s how this works: Celleste Bio uses cell suspension culture technology to produce […] The post Cell-based chocolate? Oh, why not.…

One of the reasons for Monday’s rally at the Supreme Court (see Monday’s post) is the food industry’s efforts to be able to continue to use whatever additives it chooses, without regulatory oversight. A press release from the Environmental Working Group warns: ‘FRESH’ and Affordable Foods Act is rotten to the core. This refers to […] The post Preempting the GRAS loophole: not a good idea appeared…

It’s deja vu all over again. During the Trump I administration, I wrote repeatedly about the tragic relocation of the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) to Kansas.  As I said, the Government Accountability Office confirmed my analysis. Why tragic?  I don’t have anything against Kansas, but expecting long-time residents of the Washington, DC area to […] The post American tragedy redux: USDA is…