Food

"An unidentified illness has killed scores of people and infected hundreds in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization has reported, with preliminary investigations tracing the outbreak to three children who in January ate a bat and died."

"Climate change is behind the windfall gains, and growers are worried about whether they can adapt."

"The nation’s biggest egg producer has seen rising revenues and profits. Now some Democrats are calling for an investigation into pricing practices in the industry."

"The head of the food division at the US Food and Drug Administration has quit in protest over sweeping staff cuts that he warns will hamper the agency’s ability to protect public health."

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that, over the weekend, it accidentally fired "several" agency employees who are working on the federal government's response to the H5N1 avian flu outbreak. The agency said it is now trying to quickly reverse the firings."

"President Donald Trump is moving to reverse a federal push away from plastic straws, declaring that paper straws “don’t work” and don’t last very long."

"Microplastics contamination is widespread in seafood sampled in a recent study, adding to growing evidence of the dangerous substances’ ubiquity in the nation’s food system, and a growing threat to human health."  "The peer-reviewed study detected microplastics in 180 of 182 samples comprising five types of fish and pink shrimp".

"As the Trump administration moves to shutter international humanitarian aid efforts, a host of environmental and climate programs have also been impacted."

"US regulators are failing to address concerns about toxic PFAS chemicals in foods despite having the scientific tools to do so, according to a lawsuit filed by an environmental group in Tucson, Arizona."