Food & Nutrition

USDA Invests to Support Indigenous Foods in School Meal Programs 

USDA announced an investment of approximately $2.3 million for grant award funding to support the service of Indigenous foods in school meal programs and an additional $42 million under the Indigenous Animals Harvesting and Meat Processing Grant Program. Under the new suite of funding, USDA will award five organizations to support child nutrition programs to serve more Indigenous foods to Tribal communities. The funding will be used to support culturally relevant nutrition education and the use of traditional Indigenous foods in school and summer meals and snacks. This investment supports the agency’s commitment to expand the use of traditional Indigenous foods in school meals and other child nutrition programs. 

Lawmakers Send Letter Concerning Alcohol Guidance in DGA Review Process

Representatives Brad Finstad (R-MN) and Jim Costa (D-CA) sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra detailing the group’s concerns regarding the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) review process pertaining to alcohol guidance. In the letter, the group urged the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) to re-examine the current decision to have the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provide alcohol consumption guidance alongside the DGA review process. The group requests five questions be answered by June 14, 2024, including that the agencies provide a coordinated plan for examining alcohol science, how the members of the scientific review panel were selected, and the timeline for when the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and SAMHSA will report their findings and recommendations to Congress, among others. The final DGAC public meeting is scheduled for September 25-26, 2024.

SBM Releases Policy Statement in Support of Mandatory FOP Nutrition Labeling 

The Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) released a position statement in support of a mandatory front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labeling policy to improve nutrition literacy and healthier food purchasing behaviors in the U.S. The position statement cites the growing recognition among health experts for mandatory FOP nutrition labeling systems that offer clear, standardized information about the nutritional content of foods and beverages and highlights existing FOP nutrition labeling policies that have shown improvements in the nutritional quality of their respective country’s food supply to best address diet-related chronic diseases. SMB also urged Congress to pass the TRUTH in Labeling Act of 2023 which would direct FDA to develop mandatory FOP nutrition labels, and requested that the agency issue regulations that require that the FOP labels be mandatory, nutrient-specific, include calories, and that call attention to high levels of nutrients such as added sugars, sodium, and saturated fat. FDA intends to publish a FOP nutrition labeling proposed rule as early as Fall 2024.

Food Safety

Consumer Reports Investigates Levels of Lead in Baby Food Products

Consumer Reports (CR) conducted an analysis that tested four cassava-based puff products and two sorghum-based puff baby food products for levels of lead. In the analysis, CR detected high amounts of lead, measured by percentage of California’s maximum allowable dose level (MADL), in two cassava-based puff products, which were found to contain the most amount of lead than any of the 80 baby foods CR has tested since 2017. However, the two sorghum-based puff products contained among the lowest levels of lead tested by the group. These findings prompted CR to urge FDA to progress in the agency’s Closer to Zero initiative and finalize limits for lead and other heavy metals in food consumed by babies and young children. FDA intends to release final guidance for action levels for lead in food intended for babies and young children by the end of 2024.

Agriculture

USDA Releases Proposed Rule and Data Dashboard to Promote Poultry Markets

USDA published an advanced copy of the proposed rule, Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems to increase transparency in broiler grower payments, poultry grower tournament systems, and capital improvement systems. The proposed rule would prohibit live poultry dealers from discounting or reducing a broiler grower’s contractually stated compensation rate and establish a duty to conduct fair comparisons, among others. The proposed rule is the third in a suite of USDA's Packers and Stockyards Act rule-makings to promote fairer poultry markets. Complementing the proposed rule, USDA also announced the forthcoming launch of the new Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR) Live Cattle Data Dashboard. The dashboard will let users view and access LMR live cattle market information, with public access, available in Summer 2024.

Global

International Food Policy Research Institute Publishes Global Food Policy Report

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) published its 2024 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR), which examines the role of food systems in influencing nutrition outcomes and provides evidence-based recommendations in ensuring healthy diets are desirable, affordable, and accessible while considering environmental impacts. The GFPR explores ways to sustainably improve diet quality and reduce malnutrition, including how to improve food environments, the role of both agricultural crops and animal-source foods, and governance for better diets and nutrition in low- and middle-income countries. IFPRI highlights that improving diets on a global scale will require addressing the interplay between dietary patterns, food environments, food production, and food-related evidence-based policymaking to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in eradicating hunger and promoting nutrition by 2030.

Fun Fact: Pea pods are botanically classified as fruits because they contain seeds and develop from the ovary of a flower.