Roundup Of Food-Related News Items April 2025
The Defender’s Big Food NewsWatch brings you the latest headlines related to industrial food companies and their products, including ultraprocessed foods, food additives, contaminants, GMOs and lab-grown meat and their toxic effects on human health. The views expressed in the excerpts from other news sources do not necessarily reflect the views of The Defender
Inside the Mouth-Watering Race to Master Lab-Grown Chocolate
It is by far the rarest and most exclusive chocolate I have ever eaten. In fact, you can’t even buy it in shops. It doesn’t look that special, though — just a few flattened droplets a slightly lighter shade than most dark chocolate, sealed in a tiny plastic bag. It smells like dark chocolate and tastes like it, too, but better — less bitter. Most of all, for me, there is no doubt that this is the real thing.
That is important because what I am eating wasn’t made using cocoa beans sourced from trees like normal chocolate. Rather, it was grown in a glass flask by California Cultured, one of several firms aiming to mass-produce chocolate in vats using cell culture technology.
Cultured chocolate could be even better than the tree-grown kind, claims Alan Perlstein, CEO of the company, with higher levels of chemicals such as polyphenols that might have health benefits, no contaminants such as heavy metals taken up from the soil or pesticides sprayed on crops, and a taste that rivals anything on the market now. “We’re trying to create flavours that are almost unobtainable through traditional chocolate manufacturing,” he says.
Two States Move to Ban Soda, Candy From SNAP Benefits
Arkansas and Indiana submitted waivers to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) seeking permission to ban soda and candy from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Details: Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) said, “It is clear that the current system encourages and subsidizes the overconsumption of unhealthy, highly processed and addictive food and beverages,” and that she hopes this change to SNAP will help reduce chronic illness in her state.
The plan, which would take effect in July 2026, will exclude soda, fruit and vegetable drinks with less than 50% natural juice, “unhealthy drinks,” candy, and artificially sweetened candy. It would also allow SNAP benefits to apply to rotisserie chicken, which is currently excluded.
For Context: SNAP runs through the USDA but is administered by individual states, and benefits can be applied to “any food or food product intended for human consumption,” except alcohol, tobacco, and hot foods.
How the Media Covered It:
The Washington Times (Lean Right bias) focused on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s support, including his remark to Huckabee, “I urge every governor across America to follow your lead.” Associated Press (Left) and The Hill (Center) both included comments from opposition groups, including The American Beverage Association, The National Confectioners Association, and antihunger groups, all of which argued that SNAP participants are no more likely than other low-income Americans to be unhealthy or buy sugary drinks and snack foods.
RFK Jr.’s Autism Prediction and Neurodevelopment Pathology Linked to Ultraprocessed Food
At a Cabinet meeting of the Trump administration held on April 10, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) reported that “…we’ve launched a massive testing and research effort that’s going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world.” RFK Jr. then predicted, “By September we will know what has caused the autism epidemic, and we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures.” President Trump commented that one out of 31 children are affected by autism today.
Among dietary exposures, the rising consumption of ultraprocessed foods has drawn significant attention due to their potential impact on brain health. Ultraprocessed foods are often laden with chemical additives, such as phosphate compounds, which are used to enhance flavor, texture, and shelf life.
Evidence from my peer-reviewed research article published in Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine suggests that excessive dietary phosphate intake may disrupt phosphate metabolism, leading to neuroinflammation, gliosis, and other pathological changes associated with ASD.
This editorial summarizes key details from my published research which could contribute to RFK Jr.’s predicted discovery of the cause of the autism epidemic. The following text describes the neurodevelopmental pathology linked to phosphate additives in ultraprocessed foods.
RFK Jr.: If You Eat Doughnuts or Smoke, Should Society Pay for Your Health Care?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked whether society should pay for the health care of Americans who eat doughnuts or smoke when they know those habits can contribute to poor health outcomes.
“If you’re smoking three packs of cigarettes a day, should you expect society to pay when you get sick?” the nation’s top health official asked in an interview released Wednesday with CBS News chief medical correspondent, physician Jon LaPook.
Kennedy went on to say that it is an American’s choice to “eat doughnuts all day” or drink sodas, and he promised not to take those choices away.
“But in terms of, should you then expect society to care for you when you predictably get very sick at the same level as somebody who was born with a congenital illness?” he asked. “The best answer to that is to realign our incentives so that the economic incentives, the individuals and the industry align with the public health outcomes that we desire.”
Local Egg Farmers Say They Haven’t Faced Impacts of Bird Flu, Increased Prices
The Dallas Morning News reported:
Tricia Ray giggles with excitement as she talks about putting on her boots, letting her hair down and tending to her flock of chickens. Ray, a nurse by trade, runs Candy Girl Chicks & Livestock in Hutchins.
After a full morning of work, she makes her way to her backyard to tend to her produce and livestock. “I’ll go home and I’ll get dinner together,” Ray said. “And then I’m on the ground doing garden chores, feeding the animals, changing out the water, planting plants, dropping seeds.”
Over at Bonton Farms, Adam Wernsman and his team begin in the morning with a Bible study before heading out to the farm. Wernsman, a farm lead who’s been with Bonton for a year, runs through the day’s checklist with farm apprentices. These local farmers say their farming practices have helped insulate their flocks from bird flu and kept their egg prices stable while retail egg prices soared.
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