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Food and Drug Administration

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    Did Michelle Obama get the president to create a national Food Policy Council?

    Michelle Obama kicked off her campaign against childhood obesity today. Among the provisions are a revamping of the school lunch program, a small boost in funding for farmers markets, a major initiative to “end” food deserts by 2017, a focus on maintaining children’s exercise levels, a set of broad public-private partnerships, along with reforms to […]

    Tom Laskawy Politics

  • Whatever happened to the government’s war on raw milk? Just a shift in tactics

    When the current phase of a nearly century-long government campaign to convince American consumers to abandon raw milk launched in 2006, heavy-handed intimidation tactics were the order of the day. Kentucky farmer Gary Oakes was questioned so intensively by agents from the Ohio Department of Agriculture and U.S. Food and Drug Administration while delivering milk […]

    David Gumpert Food

  • FDA on BPA: Our hands are tied

    The FDA finally released its report on Bisphenol A. The good news is that the FDA now admits that BPA — the endocrine-disrupting, heart disease–causing ingredient in plastic food packaging and can linings — isn’t entirely safe (contradicting the agency’s statement from 2008 that it was), particularly for infants and children. The bad news? There’s […]

    Tom Laskawy Technology

  • Scientists confirm link between BPA and heart disease in humans

    The FDA’s new report on the safety of endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A is months overdue and there is still no sign of when or if the agency will release the report. Perhaps they are waiting for that piece of “smoking gun” evidence that BPA represents a clear and present danger to human health? Well, thanks […]

    Tom Laskawy Technology

  • [UPDATED:] FDA’s food safety blogger doesn’t think meat safety is a problem

    The WaPo and the NYT are now reporting that Michael Taylor has been officially named deputy commissioner for foods at the FDA. What remains fascinating is that both articles, like Taylor’s blog post at the Atlantic, continue to ignore meat safety. It’s only mentioned in passing in the context of Taylor’s past stint as head […]

    Tom Laskawy Politics

  • Is the Obama administration about to eat the foodies’ lunch?

    These are heady times for foodies — you know, the people who love farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSAs), and hate Big Ag. They’ve turned the documentary movies “Food Inc.” and “Fresh!” into big hits. And they’ve turned “Slow food” into a generic term (there actually is an organization by that name that boasts […]

    David Gumpert Politics

  • U.S Gov’t official: ‘avoid BPA’ in food packaging

    Oh, you wanted it poison-free? Let’s hope this report represents a tipping of the government’s hand on bisphenol A and not a case of someone going rogue: The head of the primary federal agency studying the safety of bisphenol A said Friday that people should avoid ingesting the chemical–especially pregnant women, infants and children. “There […]

    Tom Laskawy Technology

  • FDA moves to reform nutrition labels

    Still smarting over the industry’s shenanigans over the “Smart Choices” label, the FDA has decided to pick up the pace of change. Marion Nestle dug up a set of proposed new front-of-package nutrition labels that the FDA is studying, one of which may ultimately get the agency’s final approval. Here they are: My faves are […]

    Tom Laskawy Politics

  • While scientists fight over BPA studies, Congress could just act

    Joining Tom Philpott on the anti-BPA bandwagon, the New York Times columnist Nick Kristof had an op-ed Sunday detailing the mounting evidence against the hormone disrupting chemical. One comment in particular summed up the debate nicely: “When you have 92 percent of the American population exposed to a chemical, this is not one where you […]

    Tom Laskawy Food