The latest push to get nutrition into medical education: maybe this time it will work?
Last week's big announcement: Secretary Kennedy and Secretary McMahon Celebrate Medical School Commitments to Increase Nutrition Training for Future Doctors The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)…
Cold Spring NY: Glynwood
The Glynwood Center for Food and Farming is hosting this event. Details to follow.
Online: Culinary Institute of America (Napa)
Contact the CIA in Napa for information.
Why the dietary guidelines matter: Avocado marketing!
I received this e-mailed message from the Avocado Nutrition Center, sponsored by the Haas Avocado Board (a USDA-sponsored research & promotion---checkoff---program). Indeed, the New Pyramid does highlight avocados. What a gift to the Haas…
Sweet thought for the weekend: Reese’s v. Hershey’s
This story starts here with this post. Really? When I go to the Hershey's site, I get this: Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Chocolate, Skim Milk, Milk Fat, Lactose, Lecithin, PGPR); Peanuts; Sugar; Dextrose; Salt; TBHQ & Citric Acid (TO…
Keeping up with chocolate; the crisis and what to do about it
The chocolate industry, it appears, is in crisis. Here's my collection of recent items on the topic. Trends The future of chocolate: An era of bold innovation and ultra indulgence: Chocolate is undergoing a dramatic transformation.…
How to explain glyphosate hypocrisy? Bayer’s lobbying and revolving door
Here's one place where the MAHA and Food Justice movements agree: on glyphosate. Here is a post from thefoodbabe (@Vani Hari): LOBBYING This refers to U.S. Right to Know's Bayer lobby tracker. Federal disclosures show Bayer…
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins 150th Anniversary
Feeding the Future: Food, Climate, and Global Stability, 6:00 p.m. at Shriver Hall. Register here. Join former White House Chef Sam Kass, who helped shape national conversations about nutrition and food policy; Samuel Myers of the Johns Hopkins Institute…
More MAHA hypocrisy in action: Dicamba, Mercury, and PFAS
One of the major items on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's agenda has been to get toxic chemicals out of the food supply. He's not doing a good job on that. Last week, I discussed his hypocritical backtracking on glyphosate. Here, I…
The supplement industry: questions of safety, adulteration, corruption
Since passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, supplement products became basically unregulated. The FDA is no longer allowed to monitor these products and only gets involved in situations of…
New York: Columbia University Epidemiology Grand Rounds (CUEGR)
Register to attend in person here. Register to attend via Zoom here.
Weekend reading: My latest publication: Dietary guidelines: Brazil vs. U.S.
I was invited by Brazilian colleagues to collaborate on a brief paper comparing the new US guidelines to those in Brazil. Neves FS, Nilson EAF, Mendes LL, Khandpur N, Nestle M. The 2025-2030 US Dietary Guidelines: A…
Op-ed: Can the Food Justice Movement and MAHA Find Common Ground?
Nick Freudenberg and I wrote this op-ed for Civil Eats to start a discussion of what we think is a topic that needs it. Can the Food Justice Movement and MAHA Find Common Ground? A cross-cutting food justice movement could improve…
R.I.P. Ray Goldberg, “the father of agribusiness”
Ray Goldberg died last week at the age of 99. He was still going pretty strong the last time I saw him last fall at the annual meeting of PAPSAC (Private and Public Scientific, Academic and Consumer Food Policy Group) at Harvard's Kennedy School.…
60 Minutes: RFK Jr on non-regulation of ultra-processed food
On February 15, CBS News' Bill Whitaker interviewed RFK Jr, former FDA Commissioner David Kessler, and journalist Michael Pollan about ultra-processed foods and what to do about them. Transcript of the entire program Michael Pollan clip…
MAHA hypocrisy in action: glyphosate
RFK Jr may have lied to the Senate about vaccines, but it is now evident that he also lied to his supporters about getting toxic chemicals out of the food supply. Let's start here: Well, it wasn't his USDA (he's Secretary of HHS), apparently. Now we have…
Weekend reading: Dietary Guidelines from the food industry’s perspective
I subscribe to lots of food industry newsletters from the William Reed company, all of them written by top-notch reporters who cover topics thoroughly and accurately. They write about things food companies need to know…
Why no opportunity for comments on this blog: an explanation
Readers have asked---and expressed considerable frustration---that this blog does not accept comments. An explanation seems in order. When I started doing this blog in 2007, I took comments and enjoyed the back-and-forth with readers.…
What should dietitians/nutritionists say about the new dietary guidelines?
A reader writes (my edit to preserve requested anonymity): It's been quite the undertaking to update what to tell patients and clients about the new DGA. So many resources I've always referred to with MyPlate, eating…
What’s happening with prices at the grocery store?
If you think food prices are increasing, you are right. I've been sent an analysis from Trace One. Trace One says "grocery prices rose 0.7% in December, the largest one-month increase since October 2022—underscoring how food costs remain a major…
Industry-funded study of the week: Whole Milk and weight loss
To many people, full-fat milk tastes better and is more satisfying, which is reason enough to prefer it. But the "drink full-fat milk" advice in the new dietary guidelines doesn't make much sense to me. Most of the nutrients in milk…
Weekend reading: The alcohol-free trend: it’s hot!
I subscribe to Beverage Daily, an industry publication, to learn about current trends I might otherwise miss. I hadn't been paying much attention to the alchohol-free trend, other than to notice the astonishing rise in the number of flavored water…
Is the Dietary Guidelines’ prioritizing of meat about industry lobbying or personal ideology?
In my post last week, "The government is actively promoting meat and dairy intake," I said The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans actively promote meat and dairy intake, especially full-fat dairy. The…
FDA says food companies can claim “no artificial colors” if they use natural dyes.
HHS issued a press release last week: FDA takes New Approach to "No Artificial Colors" Claims Companies will now have flexibility to claim products contain ‘no artificial colors’ when the products do…
The Super Bowl ads: Processed food kills
I guess I have to say something about the Super Bowl ads. Much as I am in favor of eating real food and reducing ultra-processed foods, I was trained in science. I would never go as far as this astonishing Super Bowl ad featuring Mike Tyson. The scientist…
New York: National Arts Club
This is a book event. The National Arts Club is at 15 Gramercy Park South. For information, click here. Register here.
Industry-influenced conference of the week: reducing methane emissions
A reader, Harish Chintakunta, sent this suggestion for one of my Monday posts on conflicted science. Subject: UC Davis Methane Summit—A Case Study in Industry-Framed Science? Dear Dr. Nestle, ...UC Davis hosted a “State of the…
Weekend reading: Food education standards
Food and nutrition education is hard to come by these days. As Laura Reiley wrote in Civil Eats, The end of SNAP-Ed leaves underserved communities with even fewer resources. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated the program in July, giving program…
