I have raved about the benefits of food labeling. But a study by Dan Ariely finds that publishing calorie counts on menus does not work. Why? The authors surmise it is in part because customers don't know how many calories are too many.

Yum Brands (parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut…) is lobbying congress to require all restaurants (not just chains) to put calorie counts on the menu. More details are here. I basically agree because it would mean systematic information sharing.

According to a study from the U.S. Center for Disease Control, the average annual number of salmonella outbreaks reported between 1992 and 1997 was 3,640. That is about 303 per month. The Federal Drug Administration reports that there have been 1,167 salmonella cases reported since April of this year, that is about 389 per month ( Read more... )

Steve Hamm does a good job of outlining possible strategies for addressing food shortages:
*Lowering agriculture subsidies in all countries (i.e. free trade in commodities)
*Technological improvements in agriculture
*Improve crop yields in developing countries

Public health advocates are lobbying to get laws passed that will require restaurants to post calories content and general nutrition information on menus. I like the idea because it is more convenient than having to go to the restaurant website to look things up ( Read more... )

In the interest of the freedom of choice and informed choice, I think the FDA should require food products that include the meat or milk of cloned animals be labeled. Although the FDA’s research concluded that there is no difference between meat from cloned and non-cloned animals , the research has not looked at long-term effects given that ( Read more... )