High Stakes, Higher Sweets

Welcome back Food Junglers. The US debate on healthy eating takes the spotlight this week, as California prepares a bill to ban ultra-processed foods for kids, the farming of octopuses may become illegal nationwide, and warning labels may be displayed on food products in Texas. Health is wealth, people! Let’s dig in.

THE BREAKDOWN…

Oreo Lawsuit: Mondelēz International has filed a lawsuit against retail chain Aldi, alleging that the retailer has ‘blatantly’ copied the packaging designs for several of Mondelēz’s well-known cookie and cracker brands.

Emissions Cover-up: Leading climate scientists have accused politicians in New Zealand and Ireland of using an “accounting trick” to back their sheep and cattle industries, warning their support for methane-emitting livestock could undermine global efforts to fight climate change.

Smaller Wallets: Consumers are becoming choosier, cutting back on discretionary snack purchases and cooking more meals at home, according to Campbell's CEO Mick Beekhuizen.

Dairy M&A: General Mills has announced that the regulatory review for the sale of its US yoghurt business to Lactalis Group is complete and has been cleared.

“MAHA”: A new bill could require food and drink sold and manufactured in Texas to display warning signs if those products contain artificial ingredients that are banned in the EU, UK, Canada, or Australia, but still permitted in the US.

Cannabis Candy: The candy maker Haribo issued a recall for a batch of cola-flavoured sweets in the Netherlands after the authorities said that several people had fallen ill after eating candy that had been contaminated with cannabis.

Cultivated Progress: British pet food startup Meatly has announced a wave of breakthroughs that significantly slash the cost of cultivated meat, bringing it closer to price parity with chicken.

May Food Prices: Food prices fell in May as declines in corn and palm oil outweighed historically high prices for butter and bovine meat, data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations showed.

Cali Health: A bipartisan coalition of the California State Assembly voted to pass AB 1264, which lays out a plan to remove “particularly harmful” ultra-processed foods from the state’s school meals.

OCTOPUS Act: US senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Lisa Murkowski have reintroduced bipartisan legislation that aims to prohibit commercial octopus farming in the United States and ban the import of octopus farmed abroad.

FOOD IN PICTURES
UK FOOD INFLATION EDGES HIGER…