Food & Energy
During a Tuesday city council meeting in New York City, African migrants complained about the food they were given and having to leave the city accommodations after a set period.
One woman, speaking through an interpreter, told the Committees on Immigration and Hospitals that her children “cannot eat the food at the shelter.”
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Read MoreThe Trudeau government has announced its intention to bring in a Fuel, Alcohol, Cannabis, Tobacco, and Vaping (FACT) sales tax framework, specifically targeting Indigenous people as a “significant part of reconciliation”.
As part of the new tax, the federal government is negotiating First Nations Goods and Services Tax agreements with those Indigenous governments who are interested in implementing the tax and trying to facilitate similar arrangements between interested Indigenous governments and provincial and territorial governments.
According to the budget, this is being done “to enable Indigenous communities to meaningfully benefit from resource development.”
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Read MoreIf you live in Ontario or Quebec, you could be paying a lot more for gas as of April 18.
Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, is predicting the price will go up by 14 cents a litre on April 18, to an average of $179.9 in Toronto for regular gasoline and 209.9 for premium fuel.
“Whatever you’re paying today, look for an additional 14 cents to be added on to that by tomorrow,” Mr. McTeague told The Epoch Times. “Now, not every station is going to follow it, they may wait a day or two. But the markets are indicating 14 cents a litre. … And for Montreal and Quebec City, Ontario, these are prices we have not paid since August 2, 2022.”
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Read MoreConsumer Reports and the Environmental Working Group support state legislative efforts to ban food additives, prompting industry opposition, as concerns over regulatory expertise, consumer confusion and food safety arise. A representative from NCA explains why these matters should be left to the professionals at accredited government agencies like FDA.
At a Glance
Consumer groups are lobbying for state bans on food additives, arguing that these additives are unsafe.
NCA and other industry representatives oppose the proposed bans, citing concerns over regulatory expertise.
FDA is reviewing food additives and taking steps to remove some from the market, highlighting the ongoing regulatory process.
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Read MoreThe agency continue to investigate how the WanaBana cinnamon applesauce pouches became contaminated with lead.
The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it’s winding down some of its U.S. response to lead-contaminated cinnamon applesauce pouches, which have sickened hundreds of children across the country.
The FDA will continue to actively investigate how WanaBana’s apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches, which were recalled in late October because of high lead levels, became contaminated. However, much of the work the agency has done to ensure no one else buys the applesauce pouches has ended.
The agency has pulled the product from stores and prevented any more of it from being imported into the United States. Two other products made by WanaBana — Schnucks applesauce pouches with cinnamon and Weis cinnamon applesauce — were also recalled and removed from stores.
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Read MoreSwiss food firm’s infant formula and cereal sold in global south ignore WHO anti-obesity guidelines for Europe, says Public Eye
Nestlé, the world’s largest consumer goods company, adds sugar and honey to infant milk and cereal products sold in many poorer countries, contrary to international guidelines aimed at preventing obesity and chronic diseases, a report has found.
Campaigners from Public Eye, a Swiss investigative organisation, sent samples of the Swiss multinational’s baby-food products sold in Asia, Africa and Latin America to a Belgian laboratory for testing.
The results, and examination of product packaging, revealed added sugar in the form of sucrose or honey in samples of Nido, a follow-up milk formula brand intended for use for infants aged one and above, and Cerelac, a cereal aimed at children aged between six months and two years.
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Read MoreIn this week’s Field Report, shining a light on India’s exploited shrimp workers, the spread of avian flu, and the big banks undermining climate goals.
A few months ago, along the coast of Andhra Pradesh in eastern India, Josh Farinella drove 40 minutes out of his way to visit workers who peel shrimp for Choice Canning, where he worked as a shrimp factory manager. He didn’t travel to the rural area for any of his job responsibilities; he was there to document injustice. He observed a crew of local women quickly peeling shrimp along rusty tables in 90-degree heat, wearing street clothes and flip-flops. They worked for long hours in a shed in a dirt field, far from the main work site, easily escaping the notice of auditors.
“These peeling sheds aren’t supposed to be there. They’re not supposed to be used by anybody,” Farinella told Civil Eats. “There are 20,000 pounds of shrimp per day going through these peeling sheds that are landing on U.S. grocery store shelves.” The high temperatures in the shed could easily lead to pathogen growth, he warned.
Farinella started his work for Choice Canning in 2015 at a production facility in his hometown of Pittston, Pennsylvania. In 2023, when the company offered him a high-paying managerial position at a new facility in Andhra Pradesh, he accepted. But four months into the job, he decided to come forward as a whistleblower, exposing what he says are the deplorable and unsanitary conditions in one of India’s largest shrimp manufacturers.
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Read MoreMeatable hopes its cultivated sausages will satisfy the world’s appetite for meat without harming animals or the planet
Even before I see the sausages, I am greeted by their rich, meaty aroma. Sizzling in a pan of foaming margarine, they look like regular chipolatas being fried up for a Sunday breakfast, their pink-grey exteriors slowly turning a rich caramel brown.
Consisting of 28% pork fat, bulked out with textured pea, chickpea, soy and wheat protein, these mini-bratwursts would happily sit inside a hotdog or next to a plate of mashed potato. But these are no standard bangers.
Cultivated from cells plucked from a fertilised pig egg and grown inside steel fermentation vessels like those used to make beer, these slaughter-free sausages are being touted as the future of sustainable and ethical meat production.
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Read MoreWealthy households are taking the lion’s share of heat pump subsidies as even with generous taxpayer grants the £13,000 equipment is out of reach for those on lower incomes.
Analysis of government figures found that wealthier regions, including second-home hotspots, were far more likely to take advantage of a £7,500 voucher towards the installation of the green technology.
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Read MoreFinance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said this year’s federal budget will pave the way for Canada to build more homes at a pace not seen since the Second World War. The new investment and changes to funding models will also cut through red tape and break down zoning barriers for people who want to build homes faster, she said
Ottawa to spend $52.9 billion more than planned over the next five years.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland projects Ottawa will post a $40 billion deficit this fiscal year.
The budget includes $8.5 billion in new spending for housing.
Other major budget items include a $6 billion Canada Disability Benefit, a $1 billion national school food program and a $500-million fund for youth mental health.
Freeland will hike capital gain taxes paid by the rich and corporations to collect an estimated $19 billion in new revenue.
The cost to service the growing national debt has increased substantially — it’s now about $2 billion more than it was projected to be just a few months ago.
The government will spend more on servicing its debt than on health care this year.
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