Sasha Chavkin

Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports CR tests of 23 popular protein powders and shakes found that most contain high levels of lead.

my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements

we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)

www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...

A food industry group sues to overturn West Virginia's ban on certain food dyes and additives, saying it usurps the power of the FDA and has no scientific grounding

The case is worth watching because the most concrete actions on food additives are all at the state level

Trump administration says immigration enforcement threatens higher food prices U.S. farmers face labor shortages and potential food price hikes due to Trump’s immigration policy, the administration acknowledged in a Federal Registry document.

Remarkable admission in an obscure Labor Dept filing:

Trump's immigration crackdown is threatening “the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S. consumers”

This free speech group at Columbia is taking on Trump when the university won’t – and winning The Knight Institute is defending free speech at a school now synonymous with compromising on it

Columbia's Knight Institute won a landmark free speech ruling defending a campus activist targeted by ICE - while the university cut a deal with the administration

“In some ways, it’s rescued Columbia’s reputation," a former ACLU director says of the Knight Institute

Help Us Investigate Book Bans and Educational Censorship Around America 404 Media has gotten a grant to unearth public records about systematic censorship of books, schools, and libraries in the U.S.

Some exciting news: 404 Media just won a grant via Muckrock to investigate book bans and educational censorship in the U.S. The plan is to file hundreds of public records requests around the country and to report on and archive all the documents for public use:

www.404media.co/help-us-inve...

What Is Really Going on With All This Radioactive Shrimp? - Consumer Reports Here’s the latest on how shrimp and spices got contaminated with cesium-137, how the FDA has responded, and why consumers should not panic.

after the 10th radioactive shrimp recall in 7 weeks, i decided to do some digging

little did i know it would lead me to an underreported industrial accident that may have released an airborne plume of radioactive debris over swaths of indonesia
www.consumerreports.org/health/food-...

Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers Do you work with brands to recommend or endorse products? If so, you need to comply with the law when making these recommendations. One key is to make a good disclosure of your relationship to the bra...

One caveat: Its not clear from the story if the social media post itself was paid for, though "unboxing" videos are a common type of paid promotion

Free samples are included as a "material connection" that must be clearly disclosed
www.ftc.gov/business-gui...

FTC crackdown The agency said food and sugar industry trade groups and nutrition influencers failed to adequately disclose who was behind paid advertising.

“We're disappointed to see this kind of influencer marketing,” a top FTC official said at the time

Here's our story with @caitlingilbert.bsky.social & Anahad O'Connor
www.theexamination.org/articles/ftc...

This violates FTC guidelines requiring "clear and conspicuous disclosures" of sponsors in paid social media messages

When @theexamination.org reported with WaPo about registered dietitians who posted paid promotions without naming their sponsors, the FTC sent them warning letters

California becomes the first state to phase ultraprocessed food out of school meals The law, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on Wednesday, sets a 10-year deadline for the change to take place.

A new law moves California to the forefront of state action on UPFs

The policy will phase out "UPFs of concern" based on "addictive potential, scientific evidence of their health risks and existing bans, restrictions or warning labels in other states or countries"

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

Horrific reporting from the AP on the Myanmar families watching their kids starve to death from Trump and Musk’s aid cuts apnews.com/article/myan...

This is why we started @theexamination.org, an investigative newsroom that holds powerful actors accountable for the world's leading causes of death

Our core beats are Big Food (linked to #1 killer), Big Tobacco (linked to #2) and Industrial Pollution (linked to #2, #5 & more)

The Industry Ties Within Trump’s Food and Ag Leadership Many of the president’s top officials at USDA, EPA, HHS, and FDA have connections to chemical, agribusiness, or fossil fuel interests.

Good @civileats.com rundown of industry ties in Trump's food policy leadership. Among them:

- Undersecretary for Food Safety nominee described by Congress as "meat industry's go to fixer"
- Food Safety Inspection Service administrator helped w controversial "climate-friendly beef" label at Tyson

Governo divulga nova Lista Suja da escravidão e JBS fica de fora Cadastro oficial de empregadores responsabilizados por trabalho escravo foi atualizado e conta agora om 691 nomes ao todo

JBS Aves, the poultry division of meat giant JBS, was excluded from Brazil's newest "Dirty List" for slave labor despite an inspection finding modern slavery conditions in its supply chain

The Labor Minister personally intervened to keep the company off the list

How Big Agriculture got its way in the latest MAHA report Alarmed by the first MAHA commission report, the agriculture industry mobilized to shape the next installment. Those efforts seemingly paid off.

“We were heard" - CEO of pesticide trade group CropLife America praises last month's MAHA report

Language criticizing the health effects of pesticides in an earlier MAHA report was eliminated after a lobbying blitz

Startups Are Eating Big Food’s Lunch Smaller brands are capturing much of the growth in packaged foods.

Niche brands selling higher-end, more specialized products are beating out Big Food

These "insurgent brands" make up less than 2% of products but drove almost 39% of category gains in 2024, WSJ reports, while Big Food's market share erodes

Justiça obriga JBS a agir contra trabalho escravo em granjas Decisão liminar da Vara do Trabalho de Soledade (RS) obriga JBS Aves a adotar 17 medidas para monitorar granjas fornecedoras

Brazil's Justice Department orders JBS Aves, the poultry division of the world's biggest meat producer, to take 17 actions to ensure its supply chain is free of forced labor

An inspection found forced labor at a JBS Aves supplier last December, @reporterbrasil.org.br is on top of the story

Beverages: Nicotine-Infused Energy Drinks: The Rise of Cognitive Fuel for Performance Users What is the Nicotine-Infused Beverage Trend?The Nicotine-Infused Beverage Trend is the emergence of ready-to-drink (RTD) products that combine microdosed nicotine with conventional energy ingredients ...

Nicotine-infused energy drinks are marketing themselves as "clean fuel" to customers seeking better cognitive performance

Welcome to 2025, everyone

10 Really Risky Foods Right Now - Consumer Reports In this look at 10 really risky foods right now, CR shows you how to protect yourself from food poisoning from these foods and in general.

Since they’ve cut food inspections at the FDA, the burden is now more on consumers to protect ourselves from contaminated food: www.consumerreports.org/health/food-...

Walmart Ditching Dyes, Other Artificial Ingredients in Its Food Brands The retail giant said it is working to remove synthetic dyes from all its store-brand foods, including Great Value, Marketside, Freshness Guaranteed and Bettergoods.

Walmart is getting rid of synthetic dyes and cutting 30 ingredients from preservatives to artificial sweeteners from store brand foods by January 2027, changes likely to ripple through the US food supply chain

“The customer is just getting louder and louder on this,” a Walmart VP tells WSJ

Trump’s USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. Children died waiting. USAID antimalarial and HIV supplies valued at nearly $140 million were delayed in the first half of the year or not delivered at all due to the Trump administration’s foreign aid pause, The Post found...

The real-life impact of Trump and Musk’s freeze on USAID

Drugs and food, intended for global aid, instead languished and rotted in warehouses — and some children withered and died.

Sweeping, damning investigation by my @washingtonpost.com colleagues.

Trader Joe’s and Walmart Frozen Meals May Have Listeria Linked to Outbreak

The CDC made reporting listeria optional. Listeria in ready-to-eat pasta has killed four and hospitalized 19.

States Target Ultraprocessed Foods in Bipartisan Push - KFF Health News States are taking aim at chemicals and additives in foods as Republican and Democrats alike embrace at least one aspect of the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” push. It’s a shift fo...

One policy that California and Texas have in common: cracking down on ultraprocessed foods

At least 30 states across partisan lines have passed or are considering limits on chemicals in food or food packaging, advocates tell @kffhealthnews.org

Sin licencia y en un local insalubre: así operaba el proveedor de sangre de pollo para las ollas comunes de Lima Salud con lupa revela que el Consorcio San JoseMaría procesaba sangre de pollo refrigerada sin la licencia sanitaria correspondiente y en un local que incumplía las normas de higiene. La Municipalidad...

The contractor that provided more than 600k kilos of chicken blood to government soup kitchens in Lima, Peru had no sanitary license and operated in filthy conditions

Soup kitchen leaders said the product smelled like dead dogs, finds a stomach-turning investigation from @saludconlupa.com

Food Policy Tracker The Civil Eats Food Policy Tracker is your daily, go-to source for actions taken by the President, federal agencies, and Congress that directly relate to or have significant implications for the food ...

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins suggests at an agriculture industry forum that the upcoming Dietary Guidelines for Americans will "boost demand for U.S. beef and whole milk"

Officially, they are being revamped to remove industry influence and give Americans unbiased nutrition advice

Contra decisão de Marinho sobre JBS, fiscais deixam cargos Fiscais deixam cargos em protesto contra medida de Luiz Marinho de puxar para si decisão final sobre entrada da JBS Aves na Lista Suja

At least nine auditors in Brazil's Labor Ministry jointly resigned in protest of Labor Minister's personal intercession to keep JBS - the world's largest meat producer - off the "Dirty List" for forced labor and modern day slavery

‘Too much and too little’: U.S. rejects U.N. declaration on non-communicable diseases Why is the U.S. splitting from the rest of the world on tackling chronic diseases?

After demanding that health systems be revamped to tackle chronic disease, RFK Jr rejects a global declaration calling for the same.

He offered few details and the objections he did make - on gender & abortion - aren't even mentioned in the text

@foodfixco.bsky.social digs in

Democratic lawmakers demand answers from TV station owners that pulled Jimmy Kimmel's show ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" returns Tuesday night, but Nexstar and Sinclair are keeping the show off their affiliate stations.

Lawmakers write to TV station owners that cancelled Kimmel while they had mergers pending before the FCC, seeking answers about "a possible quid-pro-quo arrangement that could implicate federal anti-corruption laws"

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Mexico wants more health taxes; the United States fights UN treaty on chronic diseases Mexico wants to raise taxes on tobacco and sugary drinks and add health taxes on things like artificial sweeteners and online betting. Plus, global health updates across our beats.

Mexico has proposed sweeping health taxes on products from sugary drinks to junk food to tobacco, one of the world's most ambitious policy efforts to combat chronic disease.

I wrote about it for our newsletter this week